title: Joker (2019 film)

text: "Joker" deals with the themes of mental illness and its effects. While its depiction of the Joker has been described as reminiscent of those who commit mass shootings in the United States as well as members of the incel community, Christina Newland of "The Guardian" concludes that Fleck is not an incel, but wrote that incels are likely to relate to him. Vejvoda, Hammond and Newland interpreted the film as a cautionary tale—society's disregard of those who are less fortunate will create a person like the Joker. Stephen Kent, writing for the "Washington Examiner", described Arthur Fleck as blending shared aspects of mass shooters and interpreted its message as a reminder that society is riddled with men like the Joker. Writing in "People's World", Chauncey K. Robinson said the film "walks a fine line between exploration and validation" of Joker's character and is "ultimately an in-your-face examination of a broken system that creates its own monsters."


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: Some writers have expressed concern that "Joker" sympathetic portrayal of a homicidal maniac could inspire real-world violence. Richard Lawson of "Vanity Fair" found the film was too sympathetic towards "white men who commit heinous crimes" and that the sociopolitical ideologies represented in the film are "evils that are far more easily identifiable" to people "who shoot up schools and concerts and churches, who gun down the women and men they covet and envy, who let loose some spirit of anarchic animus upon the world—there's almost a woebegone mythos placed on them in the search for answers." Jim Geraghty of "National Review" wrote he was "worried that a certain segment of America's angry, paranoid, emotionally unstable young men will watch Joaquin Phoenix descending into madness and a desire to get back at society by hurting as many people as possible and exclaim, 'finally, somebody understands me! Contrarily, Michael Shindler, reviewing the film in "Mere Orthodoxy", while agreeing that "Joker" depicts a sympathetic wish fulfillment fantasy, contends (drawing on insights from Sigmund Freud and Jacques Lacan) that it is for precisely that reason that the film will, if anything, preemptively quell real-world violence by rendering "the Flecks of the world into meek somnambulists."


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: British neurocriminologist Adrian Raine was impressed by how accurate the film's depiction of the psychology of a murderer was. In an interview with "Vanity Fair", he described it as "a great educational tool" and stated that he planned to present film clips during his classes. Psychiatrist Kamran Ahmed highlighted the factors in Arthur's childhood such as parental abuse and loss and family history of mental illness in the genesis of his condition. American psychiatrist Imani Walker, who is known for her Bravo television series "Married to Medicine Los Angeles" and working with violent criminals with mental disorders, analyzed the Joker's apparent mental disorders and circumstances and noted that Arthur tries to find help before his downfall, only to be abandoned. She says of Arthur and others in poverty who have mental illness: "We as a society don't even pretend that they're real people and that's what this movie is about. He never had a chance." Forensic psychiatrist Ziv Cohen criticized the film as misrepresenting the mentally ill as violent. He argued the film conflates psychopathy (a lack of conscience) with mental illness, thereby creating a false impression of the mentally ill as dangerous.


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: Micah Uetricht, managing director of "Jacobin", opined in a review published by "The Guardian" that he was shocked that the media did not understand the movie's message: "we got a fairly straightforward condemnation of American austerity: how it leaves the vulnerable to suffer without the resources they need and the horrific consequences for the rest of society that can result"; Uetricht thus declares that "Joker" presents a world that has devolved into "barbarism". Uetricht states that these themes are unsubtle to the extent that it was surprising that most media outlets had not identified them. Ahmed also highlights the lack of funding for already-stretched mental health services worldwide being alluded to.


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: During a Five Star Movement event in October 2019, Italian comedian and politician Beppe Grillo gave a speech wearing the Joker's makeup. Yusuke Kawai, the governor of Chiba Prefecture, appeared on NHK with a Joker costume in 2021. References to the character were also found in anti-government protests worldwide. During the 17 October Revolution, a group of graffiti artists called Ashekm painted a mural of the Joker holding a Molotov cocktail and it was also reported that there was a Joker facepaint station at the protests in Beirut. In Los Ángeles, Chile, during the 2019–2022 Chilean protests, the phrase "We are all clowns", which is adopted by Gotham City protesters in the movie, was written at the foot of a statue. In Hong Kong, protesters challenged an emergency decree prohibiting the wearing of masks by wearing those of fictional characters such as the Joker. In France, during the Yellow Vest Protests, firefighters donned Joker makeup holding placards. In 2020, during the George Floyd protests, Argentine president Alberto Fernández compared the pictures of the protests to those seen in the film.


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: One of the locations seen in the film, a set of stairs in the Bronx, New York City, has been dubbed the Joker Stairs. The stairs have become a tourist destination and the subject of internet memes, with visitors often reenacting the scene from the film in which Fleck dances down the stairs in his Joker attire. Ukrainian boxing champion Oleksandr Usyk wore a suit resembling that of Joker in a pre-fight press conference leading up to his fight with Anthony Joshua.


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: While "Joker" was intended to be a standalone film with no sequels, Warner Bros. Entertainment also intended for it to launch a new franchise named DC Black, which would include DC Comics-based films unrelated to the DCEU with darker and more experimental material. In August 2019, Phillips stated that he would be interested in making a sequel, depending on the film's performance and Phoenix's interest. He stated that the movie was pitched as standalone, "one movie, and that's it." In October 2019, Phoenix stated in an interview, "I can't stop thinking about it...if there's something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting," and concluded, "It's nothing that I really wanted to do prior to working on this movie. I don't know that there is [more to do]...Because it seemed endless, the possibilities of where we can go with the character."


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: In November 2019, "The Hollywood Reporter" announced that a sequel was in development, though this was later disputed by "Deadline Hollywood". Phillips responded to these reports, by saying that there were discussions with Warner Bros. for a sequel, but that it was not currently in development. He later clarified that despite ongoing rumors, the then-upcoming Matt Reeves-directed film centered around Batman was not related to "Joker". Later, he expressed interest in a potential spin-off film centered around Batman in his "Joker"'s universe, stating: "What I would like to see someone tackle is what Batman looks like from that Gotham. I'm not saying I'm going to do that."


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: In May 2021, it was stated that a "Joker" sequel was in development. Later that month, Phillips had entered negotiations to serve as a screenwriter. In January 2022, Willem Dafoe expressed interest in appearing in the sequel. By June, the sequel was officially confirmed to be in development with Phillips serving as director with a script he co-wrote with Silver. The working title of the project was revealed to be "Joker: Folie à Deux". Lady Gaga reportedly was in negotiations to star alongside Phoenix as Harley Quinn and it was also reported that the film would be a movie musical. Phoenix's salary, as a result of the first film's commercial success, increased from $4.5 million to $20 million for the sequel. On August 3, Warner Bros. Pictures announced that the film will be released on October 4, 2024. Gaga confirmed the next day that she would star in it. Shortly after, Beetz was in negotiations to reprise her role as Sophie Dumond in the sequel. She was confirmed on September 1, 2022, alongside Brendan Gleeson. On September 7 and September 13 respectively, Catherine Keener and Jacob Lofland were cast in undisclosed roles. On October 20, "Industry" actor Harry Lawtey was reported by "Deadline Hollywood" to have been cast in what was described to be a "big role" in the film.


title: Joker (2019 film)

text: On December 10, 2022, production began, with Phillips releasing a first look of Phoenix's reprisal as the Joker on his Instagram account.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hamburger stand, and later turned the company into a franchise, with the Golden Arches logo being introduced in 1953 at a location in Phoenix, Arizona. In 1955, Ray Kroc, a businessman, joined the company as a franchise agent and proceeded to purchase the chain from the McDonald brothers. McDonald's had its previous headquarters in Oak Brook, Illinois, but moved its global headquarters to Chicago in June 2018.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's is the world's largest restaurant chain by revenue, serving over 69 million customers daily in over 100 countries in more than 40,000 outlets as of 2021. McDonald's is best known for its hamburgers, cheeseburgers and french fries, although their menus include other items like chicken, fish, fruit, and salads. Their most well-known licensed item on the menu would be their French fries with the Big Mac close behind. The company has been the recipient of criticism for the unhealthiness of their food. The McDonald's Corporation revenues come from the rent, royalties, and fees paid by the franchisees, as well as sales in company-operated restaurants. According to two reports published in 2018, McDonald's is the world's second-largest private employer with 1.7 million employees (behind Walmart with 2.3 million employees). , McDonald's has the sixth-highest global brand valuation.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's has been subject to criticism over the health effects of its products, its treatment of employees, and other business practices.


title: McDonald's

text: Siblings Richard and Maurice McDonald opened the first McDonald's at 1398 North E Street at West 14th Street in San Bernardino, California (at ), on May 15, 1940. The brothers introduced the "Speedee Service System" in 1948, putting into expanded use the principles of the modern fast-food restaurant that their predecessor White Castle had put into practice more than two decades earlier. The original mascot of McDonald's was a chef hat on top of a hamburger who was referred to as "Speedee". In 1962, the Golden Arches replaced Speedee as the universal mascot. The mascot, clown Ronald McDonald, was introduced in 1965. He appeared in advertising to target their audience of children.


title: McDonald's

text: On May 4, 1961, McDonald's first filed for a U.S. trademark on the name "McDonald's" with the description "Drive-In Restaurant Services", which continues to be renewed. By September 13, McDonald's, under the guidance of Ray Kroc, filed for a trademark on a new logo—an overlapping, double-arched "M" symbol. But before the double arches, McDonald's used a single arch for the architecture of their buildings. Although the "Golden Arches" logo appeared in various forms, the present version was not used until November 18, 1968, when the company was favored a U.S. trademark.


title: McDonald's

text: The present corporation credits its founding to franchised businessman Ray Kroc on April 15, 1955. This was in fact the ninth opened McDonald's restaurant overall, although this location was destroyed and rebuilt in 1984. Kroc was recorded as being an aggressive business partner, driving the McDonald brothers out of the industry.


title: McDonald's

text: Kroc and the McDonald brothers fought for control of the business, as documented in Kroc's autobiography. In 1961, he purchased the McDonald brothers' equity in the company and began the company's worldwide reach. The sale cost Kroc $2.7 million, a huge sum during that time. The San Bernardino restaurant was eventually torn down in 1971, and the site was sold to the Juan Pollo chain in 1998. This area serves as headquarters for the Juan Pollo chain, and a McDonald's and Route 66 museum. With the expansion of McDonald's into many international markets, the company has become a symbol of globalization and the spread of the American way of life. Its prominence has made it a frequent topic of public debates about obesity, corporate ethics, and consumer responsibility.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's predominantly sells hamburgers, various types of chicken, chicken sandwiches, French fries, soft drinks, breakfast items, and desserts. In most markets, McDonald's offers salads and vegetarian items, wraps and other localized fare. On a seasonal basis, McDonald's offers the McRib sandwich. Some speculate the seasonality of the McRib adds to its appeal. During March of each year, McDonald's offers a Shamrock Shake to honor Saint Patrick's Day.


title: McDonald's

text: In addition, the chain also sells some items within the United States on a regional bases; for example, the Hatch Green Chile Double Cheeseburger, which is topped with New Mexico green chile, is only available in the southwestern state of New Mexico.


title: McDonald's

text: Products are offered as either "dine-in" (where the customer opts to eat in the restaurant) or "take-out" (where the customer opts to take the food off the premises). "Dine-in" meals are provided on a plastic tray with a paper insert on the floor of the tray. "Take-out" meals are usually delivered with the contents enclosed in a distinctive McDonald's-branded brown paper bag. In both cases, the individual items are wrapped or boxed as appropriate.


title: McDonald's

text: Since Steve Easterbrook became CEO of the company, McDonald's has streamlined the menu which in the United States contained nearly 200 items. The company has looked to introduce healthier options, and removed high-fructose corn syrup from hamburger buns. The company has removed artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets, replacing chicken skin, safflower oil and citric acid found in Chicken McNuggets with pea starch, rice starch and powdered lemon juice.


title: McDonald's

text: In September 2018, McDonald's USA announced that they no longer use artificial preservatives, flavors and colors entirely from seven classic burgers sold in the U.S., including the hamburger, cheeseburger, double cheeseburger, McDouble, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, double Quarter Pounder with Cheese and the Big Mac. Nevertheless, the pickles will still be made with an artificial preservative, although customers can choose to opt out of getting pickles with their burgers.


title: McDonald's

text: In November 2020, McDonald's announced McPlant, a plant-based burger, along with plans to develop additional meat alternative menu items that extend to chicken substitutes and breakfast sandwiches. This announcement came after the successful testing of Beyond Meat plant based meat substitutes.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's Menu are different in their countries. Restaurants in several countries, particularly in Asia, serve soup. This local deviation from the standard menu is a characteristic for which the chain is particularly known, and one which is employed either to abide by regional food taboos (such as the religious prohibition of beef consumption in India) or to make available foods with which the regional market is more familiar (such as the sale of McRice in Indonesia, or Ebi (prawn) Burger in Singapore and Japan).


title: McDonald's

text: In Germany and some other Western European countries, McDonald's sells beer. In New Zealand, McDonald's sells meat pies, after local affiliate McDonald's New Zealand partially relaunched the Georgie Pie fast food chain it bought out in 1996. In Greece, the signature hamburger, Big Mac, is changed by adding Tzatziki sauce and packaging in a pita.


title: McDonald's

text: In the United States and Canada, after limited trials on a regional basis, McDonald's began offering in 2015 and 2017, respectively, a partial breakfast menu during all hours its restaurants were open. All-day breakfast was phased out from menus at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.


title: McDonald's

text: There are over 36,000 McDonald's restaurants globally. Over a third of these (14,146 restaurants) are in the United States alone - the second highest number is in Japan with 2,975 restaurants, followed by China with 2,700. These three countries make up a majority of global McDonald's stores.


title: McDonald's

text: Most standalone McDonald's restaurants offer both counter service and drive-through service, with indoor and sometimes outdoor seating. Drive-Thru, Auto-Mac, Pay and Drive, or "McDrive" as it is known in many countries, often has separate stations for placing, paying for, and picking up orders, though the latter two steps are frequently combined; it was first introduced in Sierra Vista, Arizona in 1975, following the lead of other fast-food chains. The first such restaurant in Britain opened at Fallowfield, Manchester in 1986.


title: McDonald's

text: In 1994, McDonald's attempted Hearth Express, a prototype specializing in homestyle takeout meals. Among the fare offered were meatloaf, fried chicken, and baked ham. This experiment started with a single location in Darien, Illinois, but closed in only one year.


title: McDonald's

text: In some countries, McDrive locations near highways offer no counter service or seating. In contrast, locations in high-density city neighborhoods often omit drive-through service. There are also a few locations, mostly in downtown districts, that offer a "Walk-Thru" service in place of Drive-Thru.


title: McDonald's

text: McCafé is a café-style accompaniment to McDonald's restaurants. The concept was created by McDonald's Australia, starting with Melbourne in 1993. As of 2016, most McDonald's in Australia have McCafés located within the existing McDonald's restaurant. In Tasmania, there are McCafés in every restaurant, with the rest of the states quickly following suit. After upgrading to the new McCafé look and feel, some Australian restaurants have noticed up to a 60 percent increase in sales. At the end of 2003, there were over 600 McCafés worldwide.


title: McDonald's

text: From 2015 to 2016, McDonald's tried a new gourmet burger service and restaurant concept based on other gourmet restaurants such as Shake Shack and Grill'd. It was rolled out for the first time in Australia during the early months of 2015 and expanded to China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Arabia and New Zealand, with ongoing trials in the US market. In dedicated "Create Your Taste" (CYT) kiosks, customers could choose all ingredients including type of bun and meat along with optional extras. CYT food was served to the table on wooden boards, fries in wire baskets, and salads in china bowls with metal cutlery at a higher price. In November 2016, Create Your Taste was replaced by a "Signature Crafted Recipes" program designed to be more efficient and less expensive.


title: McDonald's

text: Some locations are connected to gas stations and convenience stores, while others called McExpress have limited seating or menu or may be located in a shopping mall. Other McDonald's are located in Walmart stores. McStop is a location targeted at truckers and travelers which may have services found at truck stops.


title: McDonald's

text: In the United Kingdom, McDonald's restaurants can be found in service stations, petrol stations, McDrive Thru, Asda Superstores and Supercenters, shopping centres, retail parks and high street restaurants. One McDonald's Drive-Thru in Crawley is located in the car park of a Sainsbury's store. Other McDonald's locations named 'McExpress' or 'McDonald's & Go' have limited seating and can be found more commonly in railway stations and airports.


title: McDonald's

text: In Sweden, Happy Meal containers can be used as goggles, with the game "Slope Stars". In the Netherlands, McDonald's has introduced McTrax that doubles as a recording studio; it reacts to touch. They can create their own beats with a synth and tweak sounds with special effects.


title: McDonald's

text: On the river Elbe in Hamburg, Germany is the world's only McBoat, a float through service (similar to drive through) for people on the river.


title: McDonald's

text: The first kosher McDonald's was established in 1997 at the Abasto de Buenos Aires mall in Buenos Aires, Argentina. There are many kosher branches in Israel.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's playgrounds are called McDonald's PlayPlace. Some McDonald's in suburban areas and certain cities feature large indoor or outdoor playgrounds. The first PlayPlace with the familiar crawl-tube design with ball pits and slides was introduced in 1987 in the US, with many more being constructed soon after.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's Next use open-concept design and offer "Create Your Taste" digital ordering. The concept store also offers free mobile device charging and table service after 6:00 pm. The first store opened in Hong Kong in December 2015.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2006, McDonald's introduced its "Forever Young" brand by redesigning all of its restaurants, the first major redesign since the 1970s. It resembles a coffee shop, with wooden tables, faux-leather chairs, and muted colors; the red was muted to terracotta, the yellow was shifted to golden for a more "sunny" look, and olive and sage green were added. The warmer look has less plastic and more brick and wood, with modern hanging lights for a softer glow. Many restaurants feature free Wi-Fi and flat-screen TVs. Other upgrades include double drive-thrus, flat roofs instead of the angled red roofs, and fiber glass instead of wood. Instead of the familiar golden arches, the restaurants feature "semi-swooshes" (half of a golden arch), similar to the Nike swoosh.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's began banning smoking in 1994 when it restricted customers from smoking within its 1,400 wholly owned restaurants.


title: McDonald's

text: As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, McDonald's closed most seating and all play areas in its United States restaurants. It transitioned to drive-thru and curbside orders at locations and online food ordering delivery services. The re-opening of McDonald's restaurants for drive-thru in the United Kingdom generated significant queues of traffic throughout the country. In July 2020, for the years's second quarter, McDonald's reported earnings of 66 cents per share. Compared to the same period of last year, it represented a fall of 68%.


title: McDonald's

text: Since the late 1990s, McDonald's has attempted to replace employees with electronic kiosks which would perform actions such as taking orders and accepting money. In 1999, McDonald's first tested "E-Clerks" in suburban Chicago, Illinois, and Wyoming, Michigan, with the devices being able to "save money on live staffers" and attracting larger purchase amounts than average employees.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2013, the University of Oxford estimated that in the succeeding decades, there was a 92% probability of food preparation and serving to become automated in fast food establishments. By 2016, McDonald's "Create Your Taste" electronic kiosks were seen in some restaurants internationally where customers could custom order meals. As employees pushed for higher wages in the late-2010s, some believed that fast food companies such as McDonald's would use the devices to cut costs for employing individuals.


title: McDonald's

text: In September 2019, McDonald's purchased an AI-based start-up Apprente for replacing human servers with voice-based technology in its US drive-throughs.


title: McDonald's

text: On August 5, 2013, "The Guardian" revealed that 90 percent of McDonald's UK workforce are on zero-hour contracts, making it possibly the largest such private sector employer in the country. In April 2017, due to employee strikes, they gave all employees the option of fixed contracts instead. A study released by Fast Food Forward conducted by Anzalone Liszt Grove Research showed that approximately 84 percent of all fast food employees working in New York City in April 2013 had been paid less than their legal wages by their employers.


title: McDonald's

text: From 2007 to 2011, fast food workers in the U.S. drew an average of $7 billion of public assistance annually resulting from receiving low wages. The McResource website advised employees to break their food into smaller pieces to feel fuller, seek refunds for unopened holiday purchases, sell possessions online for quick cash, and to "quit complaining" as "stress hormone levels rise by 15 percent after ten minutes of complaining." In December 2013, McDonald's shut down the McResource website amidst negative publicity and criticism. McDonald's plans to continue an internal telephone help line through which its employees can obtain advice on work and life problems.


title: McDonald's

text: Liberal think tank the Roosevelt Institute accuses some McDonald's restaurants of actually paying less than the minimum wage to entry positions due to "rampant" wage theft. In South Korea, McDonald's pays part-time employees $5.50 an hour and is accused of paying less with arbitrary schedule adjustments and pay delays. In late 2015, data collected anonymously by Glassdoor suggests that McDonald's in the United States pays entry-level employees between $7.25 an hour and $11 an hour, with an average of $8.69 an hour. Shift managers get paid an average of $10.34 an hour. Assistant managers get paid an average of $11.57 an hour. McDonald's CEO, Steve Easterbrook, earns an annual salary of $1,100,000. His total compensation for 2017 was $21,761,052.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's workers have on occasions decided to strike over pay, with most of the employees on strike seeking to be paid $15.00. When interviewed about the strikes occurring, former McDonald's CEO Ed Rensi stated: "It's cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who's inefficient making $15 an hour bagging french fries" with Rensi explaining that increasing employee wages could possibly take away from entry-level jobs. However, according to Easterbrook, increasing wages and benefits for workers saw a 6% increase in customer satisfaction when comparing 2015's first quarter data to the first quarter of 2016, with greater returns seen as a result.


title: McDonald's

text: In September 2017, two British McDonald's stores agreed to a strike over zero-hours contracts for staff. Picket lines were formed around the two stores in Crayford and Cambridge. The strike was supported by the Leader of the Opposition Jeremy Corbyn.


title: McDonald's

text: Workers at the McDonald's franchise at Saint-Barthélémy, Marseille, occupied the restaurant, in protest against its planned closure. Employing 77 people, the restaurant is the second-biggest private sector employer in Saint-Barthélémy, which has an unemployment rate of 30 percent. Lawyers for Kamel Guemari, a shop steward at the franchise, claimed an attempt was made to kill him when a car drove at him in the restaurant car park.


title: McDonald's

text: In March 2015, McDonald's workers in 19 U.S. cities filed 28 health and safety complaints with the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration which allege that low staffing, lack of protective gear, poor training and pressure to work fast has resulted in injuries. The complaints allege that, because of a lack of first aid supplies, workers were told by management to treat burn injuries with condiments such as mayonnaise and mustard. The Fight for $15 labor organization aided the workers in filing the complaints.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2015, McDonald's pledged to stop using eggs from battery cage facilities by 2025. Since McDonald's purchases over 2 billion eggs per year or 4 percent of eggs produced in the United States, the switch is expected to have a major impact on the egg industry and is part of a general trend toward cage-free eggs driven by consumer concern over the harsh living conditions of hens. The aviary systems from which the new eggs will be sourced are troubled by much higher mortality rates, as well as introducing environmental and worker safety problems. The high hen mortality rate, which is more than double that of battery cage systems, will require new research to mitigate. The facilities have higher ammonia levels due to faeces being kicked up into the air. Producers raised concerns about the production cost, which is expected to increase by 36 percent.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's continues to source pork from facilities that use gestation crates, and in 2012 pledged to phase them out.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's restaurants are in 120 countries and territories and serve 68 million customers each day. McDonald's operates 37,855 restaurants worldwide, employing more than 210,000 people as of the end of 2018. There are a total of 2,770 company-owned locations and 35,085 franchised locations, which includes 21,685 locations franchised to conventional franchisees, 7,225 locations licensed to developmental licensees, and 6,175 locations licensed to foreign affiliates.


title: McDonald's

text: Focusing on its core brand, McDonald's began divesting itself of other chains it had acquired during the 1990s. The company owned a majority stake in Chipotle Mexican Grill until October 2006, when McDonald's fully divested from Chipotle through a stock exchange. Until December 2003, it owned Donatos Pizza, and it owned a small share of Aroma Café, from 1999 to 2001. On August 27, 2007, McDonald's sold Boston Market to Sun Capital Partners.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's has increased shareholder dividends for 25 consecutive years, making it one of the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats. The company is ranked 131st on the Fortune 500 of the largest United States corporations by revenue. In October 2012, its monthly sales fell for the first time in nine years. In 2014, its quarterly sales fell for the first time in seventeen years, when its sales dropped for the entirety of 1997.


title: McDonald's

text: In the United States, it is reported that drive-throughs account for 70 percent of sales. McDonald's closed down 184 restaurants in the United States in 2015, which was 59 more than what they planned to open. This move was the first time McDonald's had a net decrease in the number of locations in the United States since 1970.


title: McDonald's

text: The McDonald's on-demand delivery concept, which began in 2017 with a partnership with Uber Eats and added DoorDash in 2019 (with select locations adding Grubhub in 2021), accounts for up to 3% of all business as of 2019.


title: McDonald's

text: The $100 billion in sales generated by McDonald's company-owned and franchise restaurants in 2019 accounts for almost 4% of the estimated $2.5 trillion global restaurant industry.


title: McDonald's

text: For the fiscal year 2018, McDonald's reported earnings of US$5.9 billion, with an annual revenue of US$21.0 billion, a decrease of 7.9% over the previous fiscal cycle. McDonald's shares traded at over $145 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$134.5 billion in September 2018.


title: McDonald's

text: The company owns all the land on which its restaurants are situated, which is valued at an estimated $16 to $18 billion. The company earns a significant portion of its revenue from rental payments from franchisees. These rent payments rose 26 percent, between 2010 and 2015, accounting for one-fifth of the company's total revenue at the end of the period. In recent times, there have been calls to spin off the company's U.S. holdings into a potential real estate investment trust, but the company announced at its investor conference on November 10, 2015, that this would not happen. CEO Steve Easterbrook discussed that pursuing the REIT option would pose too large a risk to the company's business model.


title: McDonald's

text: The United Kingdom and Ireland business model is different from the U.S, in that fewer than 30 percent of restaurants are franchised, with the majority under the ownership of the company. McDonald's trains its franchisees and management at Hamburger University located at its Chicago headquarters. In other countries, McDonald's restaurants are operated by joint ventures of McDonald's Corporation and other, local entities or governments.


title: McDonald's

text: According to "Fast Food Nation" by Eric Schlosser (2001), nearly one in eight workers in the U.S. have at some time been employed by McDonald's. Employees are encouraged by McDonald's Corp. to maintain their health by singing along to their favorite songs in order to relieve stress, attending church services in order to have a lower blood pressure, and taking two vacations annually in order to reduce risk for myocardial infarction. "Fast Food Nation" states that McDonald's is the largest private operator of playgrounds in the U.S., as well as the single largest purchaser of beef, pork, potatoes, and apples. The selection of meats McDonald's uses varies to some extent based on the culture of the host country.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2021, the company cut value meals and cheaper items from its menu as part of a focus on higher-priced items.


title: McDonald's

text: On June 13, 2016, McDonald's confirmed plans to move its global headquarters to Chicago's West Loop neighborhood in the Near West Side. The 608,000-square-foot structure opened on June 4, 2018, and was built on the former site of Harpo Productions (where "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and several other Harpo productions taped).


title: McDonald's

text: The McDonald's former headquarters complex, McDonald's Plaza, is located in Oak Brook, Illinois. It sits on the site of the former headquarters and stabling area of Paul Butler, the founder of Oak Brook. McDonald's moved into the Oak Brook facility from an office within the Chicago Loop in 1971.


title: McDonald's

text: On March 1, 2015, after being chief brand officer of McDonald's and its former head in the UK and northern Europe, Steve Easterbrook became CEO, succeeding Don Thompson, who stepped down on January 28, 2015.


title: McDonald's

text: In November 2019, McDonald's board of directors voted to remove Easterbrook as CEO since he had violated corporate policies on personal conduct by entering into a relationship with a company employee. He was replaced as CEO by Chris Kempczinski, who had been president of McDonald's USA.


title: McDonald's

text: In August 2022, McDonald's announced significant changes to its board. It said that existing director Sheila Penrose, chair of JLL Inc., would retire and that Anthony Capuano, CEO of Marriott International, executive vice president and worldwide chairman of pharmaceuticals Jennifer Taubert of Johnson & Johnson, and Amy Weaver president and CFO of Salesforce would join. The changes were unrelated to an effort by activist investor Carl Icahn.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's has become emblematic of globalization, sometimes referred to as the "McDonaldization" of society. "The Economist" newspaper uses the "Big Mac Index": the comparison of the cost of a Big Mac in various world currencies can be used to informally judge these currencies' purchasing power parity. Switzerland has the most expensive Big Mac in the world as of July 2015, while the country with the least expensive Big Mac is India (albeit for a Maharaja Mac—the next cheapest Big Mac is Hong Kong). The northernmost McDonald's restaurant in the world is located in Rovaniemi, Finland (after the restaurant in Murmansk, Russia was closed in 2022) and the southernmost in the world is located in Invercargill, New Zealand.


title: McDonald's

text: Thomas Friedman said that no country with a McDonald's had gone to war with another; however, the "Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention" is incorrect. Exceptions are the 1989 United States invasion of Panama, NATO's bombing of Serbia in 1999, the 2006 Lebanon War, and the 2008 South Ossetia war. McDonald's suspended operations in its corporate-owned stores in Crimea after Russia annexed the region in 2014. On August 20, 2014, as tensions between the United States and Russia strained over the Russian annexation of Crimea, and the resultant U.S. sanctions, the Russian government temporarily shut down four McDonald's outlets in Moscow, citing sanitary concerns. The company has operated in Russia since 1990 and at August 2014 had 438 stores across the country. On August 23, 2014, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich ruled out any government move to ban McDonald's and dismissed the notion that the temporary closures had anything to do with the sanctions.


title: McDonald's

text: Some observers have suggested that the company should be given credit for increasing the standard of service in markets that it enters. A group of anthropologists in a study entitled "Golden Arches East" looked at the impact McDonald's had on East Asia and Hong Kong, in particular. When it opened in Hong Kong in 1975, McDonald's was the first restaurant to consistently offer clean restrooms, driving customers to demand the same of other restaurants and institutions. McDonald's has taken to partnering up with Sinopec, the second largest oil company in the People's Republic of China, as it takes advantage of the country's growing use of personal vehicles by opening numerous drive-thru restaurants. McDonald's has opened a McDonald's restaurant and McCafé on the underground premises of the French fine arts museum, The Louvre.


title: McDonald's

text: On January 9, 2017, 80% of the franchise rights in mainland China and in Hong Kong were sold for US$2.08 billion to a consortium of CITIC Limited (for 32%) and private equity funds managed by CITIC Capital (for 20%) and Carlyle (for 20%), which CITIC Limited and CITIC Capital would form a joint venture to own the stake.


title: McDonald's

text: On March 8, 2022, McDonald's temporarily closed their 850 locations in Russia due to the invasion of Ukraine, but will continue to pay the salary for 62,000 employees. Approximately nine percent of global revenue and three percent of operating profit come from Russia and 100 locations in Ukraine.


title: McDonald's

text: On May 16, 2022, McDonald's announced that the closures would become permanent and that it was selling all its 850 stores in Russia. Furthermore, 32 years after McDonald's entered the Soviet market, the American giant wants its current business to be "de-Arched", the company plans to retain its trademarks in Russia, meaning the locations would no longer be allowed to use the McDonald's name, logo, or menu. McDonald's also said it would continue to pay its Russian employees until the sale is finalized. The company has more than 60,000 Russian employees.


title: McDonald's

text: On June 10, 2022, a Russian McDonald's buyer announced a new logo as an attempt at rebranding. It featured one circle and two lines, which represented a burger and two French fries. The business was rebranded as Vkusno i tochka, which roughly translates to "Tasty – Period."


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's is to reopen its stores in Ukraine after closing them in February in non-contested areas like Kyiv and Western Ukraine. During the closure McDonald's has continued to pay its employees, number some 10,000. Originally some 109 restaurants, it is unclear how many will reopen.


title: McDonald's

text: On November 11, 2022, McDonald's in Belarus announced that all 25 stores in 6 cities will rebrand and operate as Vkusno i tochka "in several weeks".


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's has for decades maintained an extensive advertising campaign. In addition to the usual media (television, radio, and newspaper), the company makes significant use of billboards and signage, and also sponsors sporting events ranging from Little League to the FIFA World Cup and Olympic Games. Television has played a central role in the company's advertising strategy. To date, McDonald's has used 23 different slogans in United States advertising, as well as a few other slogans for select countries and regions.


title: McDonald's

text: In 1992, basketball player Michael Jordan became the first celebrity to have a McDonald's value meal named after him. The "McJordan", a Quarter Pounder with pickles, raw onion slices, bacon and barbecue sauce, was available at Chicago franchises.


title: McDonald's

text: In March 2014, a special "Sprite 6 Mix by LeBron James" flavor of Sprite featuring the flavors of lemon-lime, orange, and cherry, debuted just before the NBA playoffs. James’ endorsement of Sprite has also included the seasonal "cranberry" and "winter-spiced cranberry" editions of the beverage. James’ deal with Coca Cola and Sprite ended in 2020, with a new partnership with Pepsi and Mountain Dew launching in 2021.


title: McDonald's

text: In September 2020, McDonald's partnered with rapper Travis Scott to release the "Travis Scott Meal", a Quarter Pounder with cheese, bacon, lettuce, pickles, ketchup and mustard; medium fries with barbecue sauce; and a Sprite, nationwide. Scott designed new uniforms for McDonald's employees and released Cactus Jack merchandise using vintage visuals from the fast food chain's history. The company followed up with the "J Balvin Meal", a Big Mac with no pickles; fries with ketchup; and a Oreo McFlurry, in a partnership with reggaeton singer J Balvin. LeBron James has been a spokesman for McDonald's from 2003 to 2017 while co-endorsing Coca Cola-Sprite since early in his career.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2021, McDonald's partnered with Korean boy group BTS to release the "BTS Meal" in 50 countries around the world, starting on May 26 in select countries. The meal consists of a 10-piece Chicken McNuggets, medium fries, medium Coke, and for the first time in the United States, two spicy dipping sauces: Sweet Chili and Cajun.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's and NASA explored an advertising agreement for a planned mission to the asteroid 449 Hamburga; however, the spacecraft was eventually cancelled.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's entered the NASCAR Cup Series in 1977, sponsoring Richard Childress for one race. Between the years 1977 and 1986, McDonald's would only sponsor a handful of races in a season. In 1993, McDonald's became the full-time sponsor for the No. 27 Junior Johnson & Associates Ford, driven by Hut Stricklin. In 1994, Stricklin was replaced in the car by Jimmy Spencer, who would go on to win twice that season. The following season McDonald's would move over to the No. 94 Bill Elliott Racing Ford, driven by team-owner Bill Elliott. McDonald's stayed with Elliott until the 2001 season when they moved again, this time to the No. 96 PPI Motorsports Ford, driven by rookie Andy Houston. However, when the team failed to field a car for the entire season, McDonald's became absent from NASCAR until 2004, when it joined Evernham Motorsports as a part-time sponsor for drivers Elliott, Kasey Kahne, Elliott Sadler, A. J. Allmendinger, and Reed Sorenson until 2010.


title: McDonald's

text: During the 2010 season, McDonald's would enter its longest partnership with a team at Chip Ganassi Racing, sponsoring the No. 1 Chevrolet driven by Jamie McMurray until his final race in the 2019 Daytona 500. McDonald's moved to CGR's No. 42 of Kyle Larson, whom the company sponsored until his suspension in 2020, and also had a one-race partnership with Richard Petty Motorsports' No. 43 Chevrolet driven by Bubba Wallace in 2019 and 2020. McDonald's continued working with the No. 42 under new driver Ross Chastain in 2021 and also joined Wallace's new team 23XI Racing as a "founding partner".


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's is the title sponsor of the McDonald's All-American Game, all-star basketball games played each year for top ranked amateur American and Canadian boys' and girls' high school basketball graduates.


title: McDonald's

text: McHappy Day is an annual event at McDonald's, during which a percentage of the day's sales go to charity. It is the signature fundraising event for Ronald McDonald House Charities.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2007, it was celebrated in 17 countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, England, Finland, France, Guatemala, Hungary, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States, and Uruguay.


title: McDonald's

text: According to the Australian McHappy Day website, McHappy Day raised $20.4 million in 2009. The goal for 2010 was $20.8 million.


title: McDonald's

text: In 1995, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital received an anonymous letter postmarked in Dallas, Texas, containing a $1 million winning McDonald's Monopoly game piece. McDonald's officials came to the hospital, accompanied by a representative from the accounting firm Arthur Andersen, who examined the card under a jeweler's eyepiece, handled it with plastic gloves, and verified it as a winner. Although game rules prohibited the transfer of prizes, McDonald's waived the rule and made the annual $50,000 annuity payments for the full 20-year period through 2014, even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme intended to defraud McDonald's.


title: McDonald's

text: McRefugees are poor people in Hong Kong, Japan, and China who use McDonald's 24-hour restaurants as a temporary hostel.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's has been criticised for numerous aspects of its business, including the health effects of its products, its treatment of employees, and other business practices. In the late 1980s, Phil Sokolof, a millionaire businessman who had suffered a heart attack at the age of 43, took out full-page newspaper ads in New York, Chicago, and other large cities accusing McDonald's menu of being a threat to American health, and asking them to stop using beef tallow to cook their french fries.


title: McDonald's

text: In 1990, activists from a small group known as London Greenpeace (no connection to the international group Greenpeace) distributed leaflets entitled "What's wrong with McDonald's?", criticizing its environmental, health, and labor record. The corporation wrote to the group demanding they desist and apologize, and, when two of the activists refused to back down, sued them for libel leading to the "McLibel case", one of the longest cases in English civil law. A documentary film of the McLibel Trial has been shown in several countries.


title: McDonald's

text: In 2001, Eric Schlosser's book "Fast Food Nation" included criticism of the business practices of McDonald's, particularly with respect to its use of political influence and targeting advertisements to children. In 2002, vegetarian groups, largely Hindu and Buddhist, successfully sued McDonald's for misrepresenting its French fries as vegetarian, when they contained beef broth.


title: McDonald's

text: Morgan Spurlock's 2004 documentary film "Super Size Me" claimed that McDonald's food was contributing to the increase of obesity in society and that the company was failing to provide nutritional information about its food for its customers. Six weeks after the film premiered, McDonald's announced that it was eliminating the super size option, and was creating the adult Happy Meal.


title: McDonald's

text: Studies of litter have found that McDonald's is one of the most littered brands worldwide. In 2012, a Keep Australia Beautiful study found that McDonald's was the most littered brand in Queensland.


title: McDonald's

text: In response to public pressure, McDonald's has sought to include more healthy choices in its menu, announcing in May 2008 that, in the United States and Canada, it has switched to using cooking oil that contains no trans fats for its french fries, and canola-based oil with corn and soy oils, for its baked items, pies and cookies, by end of 2018. The company introduced a new slogan to its recruitment posters: "Not bad for a McJob".


title: McDonald's

text: Since McDonald's began receiving criticism for its environmental practices in the 1970s, it has significantly reduced its use of materials. In 1990, McDonald's worked with the Environmental Defense Fund to stop using "clam shell"-shaped styrofoam food containers to store its food products.


title: McDonald's

text: McDonald's has been involved in a number of lawsuits and other legal cases, most of which involved trademark disputes. The company has threatened many food businesses with legal action unless it drops the 'Mc' or 'Mac' from trading names.


title: McDonald's

text: In April 2017, Irish fast-food chain Supermac's submitted a request to the European Union Property Office to cancel McDonald's owned trademarks within the European Union, claiming that McDonald's engaged in "trademark bullying; registering brand names... which are simply stored away in a war chest to use against future competitors", after the trademarks had prevented Supermac's from expanding out of Ireland. The EUIPO ruled in Supermac's favour, finding that McDonald's "has not proven genuine use" of many trademarks, cancelling McDonald's owned trademarks such as "Big Mac" and certain "Mc"-related trademarks within the European Union.


title: McDonald's

text: Burger King responded by "trolling" McDonald's by giving their sandwiches names that included the words "Big Mac", that also mocked the original burger, which included, "Like a Big Mac But Juicier", "Like a Big Mac, But Actually Big" and "Big Mac-ish But Flame-Grilled of Course".


title: McDonald's

text: The McDonald’s group has had proceedings taken against it from the French Tax Authorities, with possible charges of criminal tax fraud. In July 2022, the group reached an agreement with the French judicial authorities to end criminal proceedings for tax fraud.


title: McDonald's

text: On September 8, 2009, McDonald's Malaysian operations lost a lawsuit to prevent another restaurant calling itself McCurry. McDonald's lost in an appeal to Malaysia's highest court, the Federal Court. On December 29, 2016, McDonald's Malaysia issued a statement that said only certified halal cakes are allowed inside its restaurants nationwide.


title: McDonald's

text: In April 2007, in Perth, Western Australia, McDonald's pleaded guilty to five charges relating to the employment of children under 15 in one of its outlets and was fined A$8,000.


title: McDonald's

text: The longest-running legal action of all time in the UK was the McLibel case against two defendants who criticized a number of aspects of the company. The trial lasted 10 years and called 130 witnesses. The European Court of Human Rights deemed that the unequal resources of the litigants breached the defendants rights to freedom of speech and biased the trial. The result was widely seen as a "PR disaster" for McDonald's.


title: McDonald's

text: In the end of November 2013, controversy arose after the Rucka Rucka Ali song "Only 17", a parody of "Just a Dream" by Nelly, was accidentally played uncensored over the speakers at a McDonald's restaurant in Wales. Subsequently, McDonald's issued an apology to the offended customers. That same week, Rucka Rucka Ali responded to the controversy on his YouTube channel by jokingly demanding a personal apology from the restaurant.


title: McDonald's

text: The 1994 court case "Liebeck v. McDonald's Restaurants" examined a McDonald's practice of serving coffee so hot that when spilled, it caused third degree burns requiring weeks of hospitalization and skin grafting surgery. The trial outcome was an award of $2.86 million (equivalent to $ million in ) for the plaintiff, 81-year old Stella Liebeck. The amount was later reduced to $640,000 (equivalent to $ million in ). In 2019, a McDonald's employee, Jenna Ries, sued the restaurant chain over allowing sexual harassment in the work place and described the working environment as "toxic".


title: Salma Hayek

text: Salma Hayek Pinault ( , ; born Salma Valgarma Hayek Jiménez; September 2, 1966) is a Mexican and American actress and film producer. She began her career in Mexico with starring roles in the telenovela "Teresa" (1989–1991) as well as the romantic drama "El Callejón de los Milagros" (1995), for which she received an Ariel Award nomination. She soon established herself in Hollywood with appearances in films such as "Desperado" (1995), "From Dusk till Dawn" (1996), "Wild Wild West" (1999), and "Dogma" (1999).


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek's portrayal of painter Frida Kahlo in the biographical film "Frida" (2002), which she also produced, made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and additionally earned her Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations. In subsequent years, Hayek focused more on producing while starring in the action-centered pictures "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" (2003), "After the Sunset" (2004) and "Bandidas" (2006). She achieved further commercial success with the comedies "Grown Ups" (2010), "Grown Ups 2" (2013) and "The Hitman's Bodyguard" (2017); lent her voice for the animated "Puss in Boots" (2011), "The Pirates!" (2012) and "Sausage Party" (2016); and received critical acclaim for her performances in the dramas "Tale of Tales" (2015), "Beatriz at Dinner" (2017) and "House of Gucci" (2021). She played Ajak in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film "Eternals" (2021), which emerged as her highest-grossing live action film.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek's directing, producing and acting work on television has earned her four Emmy Awards nominations. She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special for "The Maldonado Miracle" (2004) and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and the other for Outstanding Comedy Series, for her work on the ABC television comedy-drama "Ugly Betty" (2006–10). She also produced and played Minerva Mirabal in the Showtime film "In the Time of the Butterflies" (2001) and guest-starred on the NBC comedy series "30 Rock" (2009–2013). As a public figure, Hayek has been cited as one of Hollywood's most powerful and influential Latina actresses as well as one of the world's most beautiful women by various media outlets. She is married to business magnate François-Henri Pinault, with whom she has a daughter.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Salma Hayek Jiménez was born in Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz, Mexico. Her father, Sami Hayek Domínguez, is of Lebanese descent. His ancestors hail from the city of Baabdat, Lebanon, a city Salma and her father visited in 2015 to promote her movie "Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet". He owns an industrial-equipment firm and is an oil company executive in Mexico; he once ran for mayor of Coatzacoalcos. Her mother, Diana Jiménez Medina, is an opera singer and talent scout; she is of Spanish descent. While visiting Madrid in an interview in 2015 with "Un Nuevo Día", Hayek described herself as fifty-percent Lebanese and fifty-percent Spanish saying that her grandmother/maternal great-grandparents were from Spain. Her younger brother, Sami, is a furniture designer.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek was raised in a wealthy, devout Catholic family, and at age 12 opted to study at the Academy of the Sacred Heart in Grand Coteau, Louisiana. In school, she was diagnosed with dyslexia. She attended university at the Universidad Iberoamericana studying international relations. In a 2011 interview with "V" magazine, Hayek mentioned that she was once an illegal immigrant in the United States, although it was not for a long period of time.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek's first screen appearance was in the television series in "Un Nuevo Amanecer" (1988), which earned her the TVyNovelas Award for Best Debut Actress. Televisa subsequently selected Hayek, who was 23 at the time, to play the title role in "Teresa" (1989–1991), a successful Mexican telenovela that made her a star in Mexico. The series ran for two years and 125 episodes, and earned her the 1990 TVyNovelas Award for Best Female Revelation.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Determined to pursue a film career in Hollywood, Hayek moved to Los Angeles in 1991 following the conclusion of "Teresa". With limited fluency in English and dyslexia, she soon enrolled in English lessons and studied acting under Stella Adler. Hayek initially struggled with the lack of acting job offers after moving to the United States, recalling that "there was no industry or parts for Latin women", and was once even told that her accent would "make moviegoers think of housekeepers". During this period, she secured guest-spots in television series such as "Dream On" (1992) and "The Sinbad Show" (1993) as well as supporting roles in the drama "Mi Vida Loca" (1993), and the made-for-Showtime thriller "Roadracers" (1994), her first collaboration with director Robert Rodriguez.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 1994, Hayek was cast as Alma, a poverty-stricken young woman who becomes a sex worker, in Jorge Fons's drama "El Callejón de los Milagros" ("Miracle Alley"), which was based on the 1940s eponymous novel by Egyptian Naguib Mahfouz and translated from Cairo to Mexico City. The film was the subject of critical acclaim, reportedly won more awards than any other movie in the history of Mexican cinema, and earned Hayek a nomination for the Ariel Award for Best Actress.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Robert Rodriguez and his co-producer and then-wife, Elizabeth Avellan, cast Hayek in the starring role of the self-confident and feisty Carolina, opposite Antonio Banderas, in "Desperado" (1995), widely considered her breakout film. Describing film's process as "grueling", Hayek had to audition several times for Rodriguez before landing the part and a love scene in the script proved particularly difficult for her to film, because she did not want to be nude on camera. She once remarked: "It took eight hours [to film] instead of an hour". Budgeted at $7 million, "Desperado" was a commercial success, grossing $25.4 million in the United States. She followed it with a brief role as a vampire queen in Rodriguez's cult horror film "From Dusk till Dawn" (1996), in which she performed an erotic table-top snake dance. In 1996, she also appeared in the drama "Follow Me Home" and the cop comedy "Fled".


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek starred as a photographer and the on-and-off girlfriend of a New York City architect, opposite Matthew Perry, in the romantic comedy "Fools Rush In" (1997). Film critic Roger Ebert gave the film 3 stars out of a possible 4 and described it as "a sweet, entertaining retread of an ancient formula", elevated by good performances (particularly Hayek) and an insightful "level of observation and human comedy". "Fool's Rush In" was a moderate commercial success and earned Hayek an ALMA Award nomination for Outstanding Actress in a Feature Film. In another romantic comedy, "Breaking Up" (also 1997), she and Russell Crowe portrayed a couple whose relationship leads to an out-of-the-blue marriage. Ken Eisner of "Variety" magazine wrote: "Russell Crowe and Salma Hayek make attractive leads, but they have neither the marquee power nor the requisite chemistry to keep "Breaking Up" from getting left at the altar of general distribution." Indeed, the film was distributed for selected markets in the United States only.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 1998, Hayek played an aspiring singer in the 1970s NYC's night scene in Mark Christopher's drama "54", a doughnut shop waitress in Dan Ireland's dramedy "The Velocity of Gary" and a nurse in Rodriguez's supernatural horror film "The Faculty". In 1999, Hayek was unorthodoxly cast as Serendipity, "the [Muse] who throughout history inspired all the geniuses of art and music, like Mozart and Michelangelo, and never got any of the credit", with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, in Kevin Smith's religious satire "Dogma", and portrayed the alleged daughter of a kidnapped scientist, alongside Will Smith, in the Western "Wild Wild West". "Dogma" was well received by critics and audiences, while "Wild Wild West" proved a commercial failure despite being one of most expensive films ever made when adjusting for inflation at the time of its release.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek founded her production company, Ventanarosa, in 1999 through which she produces film and television projects. Her first feature as a producer was "El Coronel No Tiene Quien Le Escriba" (1999), Mexico's official selection for submission for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars. In 2000, Hayek had an uncredited role opposite Benicio del Toro in "Traffic", and played an aspiring actress in the experimental film "Timecode", a waitress in the Spanish drama "Living It Up", and a cop and Playboy model in the heist comedy "Chain of Fools". She produced and starred in the television film "In the Time of the Butterflies" (2001), based on the Julia Álvarez book of the same name which covers the lives of the Mirabal sisters. Hayek played one of the sisters, Minerva, and Edward James Olmos played the Dominican dictator Rafael Leónidas Trujillo, whom the sisters opposed.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In Julie Taymor's biographical film "Frida" (2002), Hayek served as a producer and starred as surrealist painter Frida Kahlo. She became interested in the role several years prior to commencing production for the film, having "been fascinated by Kahlo's work from the time she was 13 or 14", although not immediately a fan: "At that age I did not like her work [...] I found it ugly and grotesque. But something intrigued me, and the more I learned, the more I started to appreciate her work. There was a lot of passion and depth. Some people see only pain, but I also see irony and humor. I think what draws me to her is what [husband] Diego saw in her. She was a fighter. Many things could have diminished her spirit, like the accident or Diego's infidelities. But she wasn't crushed by anything". She was so determined to play the role that she sought out Dolores Olmedo Patino, longtime-lover of Diego Rivera, and, after his death, administrator to the rights of Frida and Rivera's art, which Rivera had "willed [...] to the Mexican people", bequeathing the trust to Olmedo. Hayek personally secured access to Kahlo's paintings from Kahlo and began to assemble a supporting cast, approaching Alfred Molina for the role of Rivera in 1998. Upon its release, "Frida" was a critical darling and an arthouse success. In his review for the film, David Denby of "The New Yorker" concluded: "Smart, willful, and perverse, this Frida is nobody's servant, and the tiny Hayek plays her with head held high". Her portrayal of Kahlo made her the first Mexican actress to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and earned her Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and British Academy Film Award nominations for Best Actress.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2003, Hayek produced and directed "The Maldonado Miracle", a Showtime film based on the book of the same name, for which she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special, reunited with Robert Rodriguez for "" and "Once Upon a Time in Mexico", and made an appearance in the documentary "". "Once Upon a Time in Mexico", which made $98.2 million worldwide, was the final film of the "Mariachi Trilogy" and featured Hayek reprising her role from "Desperado".


title: Salma Hayek

text: In Brett Ratner's action comedy "After the Sunset" (2004), Hayek starred as the girlfriend of a master thief, with Pierce Brosnan. A box office flop, the film received largely negative reviews from critics. James Berardinelli found the film to be "a mess, but [it's] a fun, breezy mess", criticizing the overall heist and weak characterization but gave praise to the quick pacing chemistry between Brosnan and Hayek. In 2005, she served as a member of the 58th Cannes Film Festival jury, co-hosted the annual Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Julianne Moore in Oslo, Norway, and directed a music video for Prince, titled "Te Amo Corazon" ("I love you, sweetheart") that featured Mía Maestro.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek appeared alongside her good friend Penelope Cruz in the 2006 Western comedy "Bandidas", portraying two women who become a bank robbing duo in an effort to combat a ruthless enforcer terrorizing their town. Randy Cordova of the "Arizona Republic" said the film "sports" Hayek and her co-star Penelope Cruz as the "lusty dream team" and that they were the "marketing fantasy" for the film. "Bandidas" was followed by "Ask the Dust", a period romance set in Los Angeles based on a John Fante novel and co-starring Colin Farrell. Peter Bradshaw of "The Guardian" found "something a little forced in both lead performances", and with a limited theatrical release, the film was not a financial success. Her last film of 2006 was "Lonely Hearts", a neo-noir crime drama chronicling the notorious "lonely hearts killers" of the 1940s, Raymond Fernandez and Martha Beck, in which Hayek played Beck, with Jared Leto taking on the role of Fernandez. The film received mixed reviews from critics, but the cast garnered praise. Peter Travers of "Rolling Stone" stated: "When Hayek and Leto are onscreen, you do not look away."


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek served as an executive producer for the American television series "Ugly Betty" (2006–2010), after adapting the story for American television with Ben Silverman, who acquired the rights and scripts from the Colombian telenovela "Yo Soy Betty La Fea" in 2001. Originally intended as a half-hour sitcom for NBC in 2004, the project would later be picked up by ABC for the 2006–2007 season with Silvio Horta also producing. She guest-starred on the series as Sofia Reyes, a magazine editor. "Ugly Betty" was a success with critics and audiences, won a Golden Globe Award for Best Comedy Series in 2007, and earned Hayek nominations for both Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Comedy Series at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards. After finalizing negotiations with MGM to become the CEO of her own Latin-themed film production company, Ventanarosa, in 2007, Hayek signed a two-year deal with ABC for Ventanarosa to develop projects for the network.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2007, Hayek made a cameo appearance, as a nurse singing a cover of The Beatles song "Happiness Is A Warm Gun", in Julie Taymor's jukebox musical romantic drama "Across the Universe". The role of Madame Truska, a woman who can grow an indestructible beard, in "" (2009), was Hayek's first acting project following the birth of her daughter. She characterized the film, which was an adaptation of the book series "The Saga of Darren Shan" by author Darren Shan, as "a little bit of hard work. But it's not like I have to be emotionally devastated for months". The film was a critical and commercial failure. Screen Rant felt that Hayek is "fun as the bearded lady Madame Truska but [...] is unable to single-handedly elevate the material".


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2010, Hayek played a fashion designer and the wife of a Hollywood talent agent (Adam Sandler) in the comedy "Grown Ups" which, despite a negative critical reception, made $271.4 million globally. She is the voice of Kitty Softpaws, a street-savvy Tuxedo cat, alongside Antonio Banderas in "Puss in Boots" (2011). A spin-off of the "Shrek" franchise, "Puss in Boots" received positive reviews from critics, grossed $554.9 million at the box office, and was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the 84th Academy Awards. In 2011, she also obtained Hispanic roles in two international productions —a dancer in the French drama "Americano" and the wife of a former advertising executive in the Spanish "As Luck Would Have It"— which earned her nominations for the San Sebastián International Film Festival Award for Best Actress and the Goya Award for Best Actress, respectively.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2012, Hayek directed Jada Pinkett Smith in the music video "Nada Se Compara", lent her voice for Peter Lord's animated film "The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!", and played a cartel leader in Oliver Stone's action film "Savages" and a school nurse in Frank Coraci's comedy "Here Comes the Boom". She reprised her role in "Grown Ups 2" (2013) which, like the first film, was a commercial success despite a negative critical response.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek served as a producer and provided her voice for the character of Kamila, a widowed mother, in "The Prophet" (2014), adapted from the 1923 book by Kahlil Gibran. Describing the film as a "love letter to my heritage", Hayek said it helped her explore her relationship with her late grandfather, who was a fan of the book, and remarked: "Between all the connections of our ancestors and the memories of the ones that are no longer with us, I hope they are proud of this film because I did it also for them". In 2014, she made a brief appearance in James Bobin’s comedy sequel "Muppets Most Wanted", starred as a woman forced into sexual slavery in Joe Lynch's action drama "Everly", and reunited with Pierce Brosnam to play his love interest in Tom Vaughan's romantic comedy "Some Kind of Beautiful". "Everly" and "Some Kind of Beautiful " were both distributed for online markets and poorly received; while critics noted that the former "benefits from Joe Lynch's stylish direction and Salma Hayek's starring work, but it's too thinly written and sleazily violent to fully recommend", Rotten Tomatoes gave the latter a 6% rating based on 34 reviews.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In "Tale of Tales" (2015), a European fantasy film directed and written by Matteo Garrone, Hayek appeared as the 17th-century Queen of Longtrellis. A screen adaptation based on collections of tales by Italian poet and courtier Giambattista Basile, the film competed for the Palme d'Or at the 68th Cannes Film Festival. In 2016, Hayek voiced the role of Teresa del Taco in "Sausage Party", an adult animated film she described as "the naughtiest thing I've ever done. I never thought I'd ever say some of those things out loud. But, I had a lot of fun [...] It's a different kind of crazy". The highest grossing R-rated animated film of all time, "Sausage Party" grossed $140.4 million worldwide.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek took on the role of a holistic medicine practitioner who attends a wealthy client's dinner party in Miguel Arteta's drama "Beatriz at Dinner" (2017), which Owen Gleiberman of "Variety" called a "small-scale but elegantly deft squirmfest that features a luminous performance” by the actress. That role earned Hayek an Independent Spirit Film Award nomination for Best Female Lead. The comedy "How to Be a Latin Lover" (2017) was a sleeper hit upon its release and featured Hayek as the estranged sister of a man who has made a career of seducing rich older women. Her last film outing of 2017 was Patrick Hughes's action comedy "The Hitman's Bodyguard", in which she starred as the wife of a convicted hitman, opposite Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson. The film made an impressive $176.6 million globally.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek was cast as Eva Torres, a high-frequency trading executive, alongside Jesse Eisenberg and Alexander Skarsgård, in Kim Nguyen's tech drama "The Hummingbird Project" (2018), and as Nancy Teagarten, one half of a couple experiencing a series of financial crises, with Alec Baldwin, in Fred Wolf's comedy "Drunk Parents" (2019). In 2020, Hayek appeared as a cosmetics mogul in Miguel Arteta's comedy "Like a Boss", with Rose Byrne and Tiffany Haddish, and the alternative wife of a man in Sally Potter’s drama "The Roads Not Taken", with Javier Bardem and Elle Fanning.


title: Salma Hayek

text: The drama "Bliss" (2021), which starred Hayek as a homeless woman befriending a recently divorced man (Owen Wilson), was released on Amazon Prime Video. She next reunited with director Patrick Hughes and actors Ryan Reynolds and Samuel L. Jackson in "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard", the sequel for the 2017 film "The Hitman’s Bodyguard", which was released on June 16, 2021, to mediocre reviews. John Defore of "The Hollywood Reporter", however, praised Hayek’s "foul-mouthed" portrayal, writing: "The one smart thing the film does is promote Salma Hayek, as the eponymous spouse of Samuel L. Jackson’s hitman, from the small but scene-stealing role she played in the first film. […] At least we can appreciate Hayek’s enthusiasm for the over-the-top role". Unlike the first film, "Hitman's Wife's Bodyguard" had lackluster box office returns.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek portrayed Ajak, the wise and spiritual leader of the titular group, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe picture "Eternals", directed by Chloé Zhao, who "personally selected" her for the role. Initially surprised by Marvel's interest on her casting, Hayek described her involvement in the film as "empowering" and recalled getting "emotional" upon seeing her character's superhero costume, stating: "It was because it means so much to so many people that, to think that for a Mexican girl —a Mexican woman in her 50s— was able to be a superhero. I felt a lot of pride to have my superhero outfit on. It meant something". The film, released in the United States on November 5, 2021, generated a divergent critical response and made $401 million worldwide, becoming the tenth highest-grossing film of 2021. She has since signed a deal to star in multiple Marvel Cinematic Universe projects. Her last film of 2021 was Ridley Scott's biographical crime drama "House of Gucci", in which she played the friend and confidante of Patrizia Reggiani, Giuseppina “Pina” Auriemma, alongside Lady Gaga as Reggiani, Adam Driver, and her "Lonely Hearts" co-star Jared Leto.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In June 2022, Hayek was cast in Angelina Jolie’s upcoming film, "Without Blood", based on the bestselling Italian novel by Alessandro Baricco. It was filmed in Rome, Puglia and Basilicata. Hayek will star in the film alongside Demián Bichi.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek's charitable work includes increasing awareness on violence against women and discrimination against immigrants. On July 19, 2005, Hayek testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary supporting reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act. In February 2006, she donated $25,000 to a Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, shelter for battered women and another $50,000 to Monterrey based anti-domestic violence groups. She is a board member of V-Day, the charity founded by playwright Eve Ensler. While Hayek previously stated that she is not a feminist, she later revised her stance, stating: "I am a feminist because a lot of amazing women have made me who I am today. [...] But – it should not be just because I am a woman".


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek also advocates breastfeeding. During a 2009 UNICEF fact-finding trip to Sierra Leone, for instance, she breastfed a hungry week-old baby whose mother could not produce milk. She said she did it to reduce the stigma associated with breastfeeding and to encourage infant nutrition. In 2010, Hayek's humanitarian work earned her a nomination for the VH1 Do Something Awards. In 2013, Hayek launched with Beyoncé and Frida Giannini a Gucci campaign, "Chime for Change", that aims to spread female empowerment. For International Women's Day 2014 Hayek was one of the artist signatories of Amnesty International's letter, to then British Prime Minister David Cameron, campaigning for women's rights in Afghanistan. Following her visit to Lebanon in 2015, Hayek criticized the discrimination against women there.


title: Salma Hayek

text: On December 13, 2017, Hayek published an op-ed in "The New York Times" stating that she had been harassed and abused by film producer Harvey Weinstein during the production of "Frida".


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2019, the Pinault family pledged US$113 million to support the reconstruction efforts of the burned Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. In 2020, Hayek raised awareness through her Instagram for the disappearance of Vanessa Guillen.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek was a spokeswoman for Revlon in 1998 and has been a spokeswoman for Avon cosmetics since February 2004. She modeled for Chopard in 2001, was featured in a series of Spanish language commercials for Lincoln cars in 2002, and in Campari ads, photographed by Mario Testino, in 2006. On April 3, 2009, she helped introduce La Doña, a watch by Cartier inspired by fellow Mexican actress María Félix.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek has worked with the Procter & Gamble Company and UNICEF to promote the funding (through disposable diaper sales) of vaccines against maternal and neonatal tetanus. She is a global spokesperson for the Pampers/UNICEF partnership to help raise awareness of the program. The partnership involves Procter & Gamble donating the cost of one tetanus vaccination (approximately 24 cents) for every pack of Pampers sold.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2008, Hayek co-founded Juice Generation's juice delivery program Cooler Cleanse. After writing the foreword to Juice Generation founder Eric Helms' 2014 book "The Juice Generation: 100 Recipes for Fresh Juices and Superfood Smoothies", she and Helms launched the beauty subscription delivery service Blend It Yourself in 2017, based on Hayek's personal beauty elixirs, which supplies subscribers with the prepared organic frozen smoothie and acai bowl ingredients.


title: Salma Hayek

text: In 2011, Hayek launched her own line of cosmetics, skincare, and haircare products called Nuance by Salma Hayek, to be sold at CVS stores in North America.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek's public and professional profiles have been strongly tied to her perceived beauty and sex appeal. It has been noted, for instance, that most of her early films, such as the action-oriented "Desperado", "From Dusk Till Dawn" and "Fled", "predominantly featured her in racy sex symbol type of roles" and ultimately made Hayek a familiar face with mainstream audiences. Various media publications have cited her as one of Hollywood's most beautiful actresses. "People" named her one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world in 1996, 2003 and 2008, "Maxim" ranked her 34th and 90th on their Hot 100 list in 2005 and 2007, respectively, and "FHM" included her on their 100 Sexiest Women in the World list in 2005 and 2006. A July 2007 poll by E-Poll Market Research found Hayek to be the "sexiest celebrity" among a group of 3,000 public figures, with 65 percent of respondents using the term "sexy" to describe her. The Armani dress Hayek wore to the 1997 Academy Awards was voted by E! Entertainment as one of the five most memorable in Oscar history.


title: Salma Hayek

text: From April 7 to June 18, 2006, the Blue Star Contemporary Art Center in San Antonio, Texas hosted an exhibition called "Solamente Salma" (Spanish for "Only Salma"), consisting of 16 portrait paintings by muralist George Yepes and filmmaker Robert Rodriguez of Hayek as the Aztec goddess Itzpapalotl. In July 2007, "The Hollywood Reporter" ranked Hayek 4th in their Latino Power 50, a list of the most powerful Latin members of Hollywood. In 2008, she was awarded the Women in Film Lucy Award, in recognition of her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television, and "Entertainment Weekly" ranked her 17th in their list of the 25 Smartest People in TV.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Throughout her career, Hayek has graced the covers of numerous international magazines, including North America's "InStyle", "Elle", "Premiere", "Glamour" and "Variety"; Britain's "Maxim", "Marie Claire" and "Total Film"; and France's "Entrevue" and "Madame Figaro". She was one of fifteen women selected to appear on the cover of the September 2019 issue of "British Vogue", by guest editor Meghan, Duchess of Sussex.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek is a naturalized United States citizen. She has studied at Ramtha's School of Enlightenment and practices yoga. Hayek, who was raised Catholic, stated in a 2007 interview that she was no longer devout and did not believe in the Church, in part because she disagreed with practices such as its campaign against condoms in Africa, where she said AIDS and overpopulation were rampant, though she clarified that she still believed in Jesus Christ and God.


title: Salma Hayek

text: On March 9, 2007, Hayek confirmed her engagement to French billionaire and Kering CEO François-Henri Pinault as well as her pregnancy. She gave birth to their daughter on September 21, 2007, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, CA. They were married on Valentine's Day 2009 in Paris. On April 25, 2009, they renewed their vows in Venice, Italy.


title: Salma Hayek

text: Hayek's performance as Frida Kahlo in "Frida" (2002) garnered her nominations for Best Actress at the 75th Academy Awards, the 61st Golden Globe Awards, the 53rd British Academy Television Awards and the 9th Screen Actors Guild Awards. She won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing in a Children Special for "The Maldonado Miracle" (2004) and received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations, one for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and the other for Outstanding Comedy Series as an executive producer, for her work on "Ugly Betty" (2006–10). In 2011, Hayek was appointed Knight (Chevalier) of the National Order of the Legion of Honour, the highest French order of merit, and in 2021, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


title: New York (state)

text: New York, officially the State of New York, is a state in the Northeastern United States. It is often called New York State to distinguish it from its largest city, New York City. With a total area of , New York is the 27th-largest U.S. state by area. With 20.2 million people, it is the fourth-most-populous state in the United States as of 2021, with approximately 44% living in New York City, including 25% of the state's population within Brooklyn and Queens, and another 15% on the remainder of Long Island, the most populous island in the United States. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Vermont to the east; it has a maritime border with Rhode Island, east of Long Island, as well as an international border with the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the north and Ontario to the northwest.


title: New York (state)

text: New York City (NYC) is the most populous city in the United States, and around two-thirds of the state's population lives in the New York metropolitan area, the world's largest urban landmass. NYC is home to the headquarters of the United Nations, and has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, as well as the world's most economically powerful city, and is sometimes described as the capital of the world. The next five most populous cities in the state are Buffalo, Yonkers, Rochester, Syracuse, and the state capital of Albany. Throughout its history, New York has maintained an overall progressive social stance and has been a pioneer in immigration policy, women's suffrage, and the LGBTQ+ rights movement, although the New York metropolitan area has generally been more politically liberal than regions northward in the state.


title: New York (state)

text: New York has a diverse geography. The southeastern part of the state, the area known as Downstate, includes Long Island and several smaller associated islands, as well as New York City and the lower Hudson River Valley. The much larger Upstate New York area spreads from the Great Lakes to Lake Champlain, while its Southern tier region extends to the border of Pennsylvania; Upstate includes a diverse topography and range of regions including the Adirondack Mountains in the northeastern lobe of the state and the Catskill Mountains in the southwestern part of the state. New York also includes several ranges of the wider Appalachian Mountains. The east–west Mohawk River Valley is the primary river valley bisecting more mountainous regions, and connects to the north–south Hudson River valley in the Capital Region of New York. Western New York is part of the Great Lakes region and borders the Great Lakes of Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, as well as Niagara Falls. Between the central and western parts of the state, New York is dominated by the Finger Lakes, a popular vacation and tourist destination.


title: New York (state)

text: New York was one of the original Thirteen Colonies forming the United States. The area of present-day New York had been inhabited by tribes of the Algonquians and the Iroquois confederacy Native Americans for several thousand years by the time the earliest Europeans arrived. French colonists and Jesuit missionaries arrived southward from Montreal for trade and proselytizing. In 1609, the region was visited by Henry Hudson sailing for the Dutch East India Company. The Dutch built Fort Nassau in 1614 at the confluence of the Hudson and Mohawk rivers, where the present-day capital of Albany later developed. The Dutch soon also settled New Amsterdam and parts of the Hudson Valley, establishing the multiethnic colony of New Netherland, a center of trade and immigration. England seized the colony from the Dutch in 1664, with the Dutch recapturing their colony in 1673 before definitively ceding it to the English as a part of the Treaty of Westminster the following year. During the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), a group of colonists of the Province of New York attempted to take control of the British colony and eventually succeeded in establishing independence. In the early 19th century, New York's development of its interior, beginning with the Erie Canal, gave it incomparable advantages over other regions of the east coast and built its political and cultural ascendancy.


title: New York (state)

text: Many landmarks in New York are well known, including four of the world's ten most-visited tourist attractions in 2013: Times Square, Central Park, Niagara Falls, and Grand Central Terminal. New York is also home to the Statue of Liberty, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In the 21st century, New York has emerged as a global node of creativity and entrepreneurship, social tolerance, and environmental sustainability. New York has approximately 200 colleges and universities, including the expansive State University of New York system – the largest in the nation. Several universities in New York have been ranked among the top 100 in the nation and world.


title: New York (state)

text: The tribes in what is now New York were predominantly Iroquois (Haudenosaunee) and Algonquian. Long Island was divided roughly in half between the Wampanoag and Lenape. The Lenape also controlled most of the region surrounding New York Harbor. North of the Lenape was a third Algonquian nation, the Mohicans. Starting north of them, from east to west, were three Iroquoian nations: the Mohawk—part of the original Iroquois Five Nations, and the Petun. South of them, divided roughly along Appalachia, were the Susquehannock and the Erie.


title: New York (state)

text: Many of the Wampanoag and Mohican peoples were caught up in King Philip's War, a joint effort of many New England tribes to push Europeans off their land. After the death of their leader, Chief Philip Metacomet, most of those peoples fled inland, splitting into the Abenaki and the Schaghticoke. Many of the Mohicans remained in the region until the 1800s, however, a small group known as the Ouabano migrated southwest into West Virginia at an earlier time. They may have merged with the Shawnee.


title: New York (state)

text: The Mohawk and Susquehannock were the most militaristic. Trying to corner trade with the Europeans, they targeted other tribes. The Mohawk were also known for refusing white settlement on their land and discriminating against any of their people who converted to Christianity. They posed a major threat to the Abenaki and Mohicans, while the Susquehannock briefly conquered the Lenape in the 1600s. The most devastating event of the century, however, was the Beaver Wars.


title: New York (state)

text: From approximately 1640–1680, the Iroquois peoples waged campaigns which extended from modern-day Michigan to Virginia against Algonquian and Siouan tribes, as well as each other. The aim was to control more land for animal trapping, a career most natives had turned to in hopes of trading with whites first. This completely changed the ethnography of the region, and most large game was hunted out before whites ever fully explored the land. Still, afterward, the Iroquois Confederacy offered shelter to refugees of the Mascouten, Erie, Chonnonton, Tutelo, Saponi, and Tuscarora nations. The Tuscarora became the sixth nation of the Iroquois.


title: New York (state)

text: In the 1700s, Iroquoian peoples would also merge with the Iroquois during the French-Indian War. The Iroquois would take in the remaining Susquehannock of Pennsylvania after they were decimated in war. Most of these other groups assimilated and eventually ceased to exist. Then, after the American Revolution, a large group of Seneca split off and returned to Ohio, becoming known as the Mingo Seneca. The current Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy include the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora and Mohawk. The Iroquois fought for both sides during the Revolutionary War; afterwards many pro-British Iroquois migrated to Canada. Today, the Iroquois still live in several enclaves across New York and Ontario.


title: New York (state)

text: Meanwhile, the Lenape formed a close relationship with William Penn. However, upon Penn's death, his sons managed to take over much of their lands and banish them to Ohio. When the U.S. drafted the Indian Removal Act, the Lenape were further moved to Missouri, whereas their cousins, the Mohicans, were sent to Wisconsin.


title: New York (state)

text: Also, in 1778, the United States relocated the Nanticoke from the Delmarva Peninsula to the former Iroquois lands south of Lake Ontario, though they did not stay long. Mostly, they chose to migrate into Canada and merge with the Iroquois, although some moved west and merged with the Lenape.


title: New York (state)

text: In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazzano, an Italian explorer in the service of the French crown, explored the Atlantic coast of North America between the Carolinas and Newfoundland, including New York Harbor and Narragansett Bay. On April 17, 1524, Verrazzano entered New York Bay, by way of the strait now called the Narrows into the northern bay which he named Santa Margherita, in honor of the King of France's sister. Verrazzano described it as "a vast coastline with a deep delta in which every kind of ship could pass" and he adds: "that it extends inland for a league and opens up to form a beautiful lake. This vast sheet of water swarmed with native boats." He landed on the tip of Manhattan and possibly on the furthest point of Long Island. Verrazzano's stay was interrupted by a storm which pushed him north towards Martha's Vineyard.


title: New York (state)

text: In 1540, French traders from New France built a chateau on Castle Island, within present-day Albany; it was abandoned the following year due to flooding. In 1614, the Dutch, under the command of Hendrick Corstiaensen, rebuilt the French chateau, which they called Fort Nassau. Fort Nassau was the first Dutch settlement in North America, and was located along the Hudson River, also within present-day Albany. The small fort served as a trading post and warehouse. Located on the Hudson River flood plain, the rudimentary "fort" was washed away by flooding in 1617, and abandoned for good after Fort Orange (New Netherland) was built nearby in 1623.


title: New York (state)

text: Henry Hudson's 1609 voyage marked the beginning of European involvement in the area. Sailing for the Dutch East India Company and looking for a passage to Asia, he entered the Upper New York Bay on September 11 of that year. Word of his findings encouraged Dutch merchants to explore the coast in search of profitable fur trading with local Native American tribes.


title: New York (state)

text: During the 17th century, Dutch trading posts established for the trade of pelts from the Lenape, Iroquois, and other tribes were founded in the colony of New Netherland. The first of these trading posts were Fort Nassau (1614, near present-day Albany); Fort Orange (1624, on the Hudson River just south of the current city of Albany and created to replace Fort Nassau), developing into settlement Beverwijck (1647), and into what became Albany; Fort Amsterdam (1625, to develop into the town New Amsterdam which is present-day New York City); and Esopus (1653, now Kingston). The success of the patroonship of Rensselaerswyck (1630), which surrounded Albany and lasted until the mid-19th century, was also a key factor in the early success of the colony. The English captured the colony during the Second Anglo-Dutch War and governed it as the Province of New York. The city of New York was recaptured by the Dutch in 1673 during the Third Anglo-Dutch War (1672–1674) and renamed New Orange. It was returned to the English under the terms of the Treaty of Westminster a year later.


title: New York (state)

text: The Sons of Liberty were organized in New York City during the 1760s, largely in response to the oppressive Stamp Act passed by the British Parliament in 1765. The Stamp Act Congress met in the city on October 19 of that year, composed of representatives from across the Thirteen Colonies who set the stage for the Continental Congress to follow. The Stamp Act Congress resulted in the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, which was the first written expression by representatives of the Americans of many of the rights and complaints later expressed in the United States Declaration of Independence. This included the right to representative government. At the same time, given strong commercial, personal and sentimental links to Britain, many New York residents were Loyalists. The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga provided the cannon and gunpowder necessary to force a British withdrawal from the siege of Boston in 1775.


title: New York (state)

text: New York was the only colony not to vote for independence, as the delegates were not authorized to do so. New York then endorsed the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776. The New York State Constitution was framed by a convention which assembled at White Plains on July 10, 1776, and after repeated adjournments and changes of location, finished its work at Kingston on Sunday evening, April 20, 1777, when the new constitution drafted by John Jay was adopted with but one dissenting vote. It was not submitted to the people for ratification. On July 30, 1777, George Clinton was inaugurated as the first Governor of New York at Kingston.


title: New York (state)

text: About a third of the battles of the American Revolutionary War took place in New York; the first major one (and largest of the entire war) was the Battle of Long Island, a.k.a. "Battle of Brooklyn", in August 1776. After their victory, the British occupied New York City, making it their military and political base of operations in North America for the duration of the conflict, and consequently the focus of General George Washington's intelligence network. On the notorious British prison ships of Wallabout Bay, more American combatants died than were killed in combat in every battle of the war combined. Both sides of combatants lost more soldiers to disease than to outright wounds. The first of two major British armies were captured by the Continental Army at the Battle of Saratoga in 1777, a success that influenced France to ally with the revolutionaries; the state constitution was enacted in 1777. New York became the 11th state to ratify the United States Constitution, on July 26, 1788.


title: New York (state)

text: In an attempt to retain their sovereignty and remain an independent nation positioned between the new United States and British North America, four of the Iroquois Nations fought on the side of the British; only the Oneida and their dependents, the Tuscarora, allied themselves with the Americans. In retaliation for attacks on the frontier led by Joseph Brant and Loyalist Mohawk forces, the Sullivan Expedition of 1779 destroyed nearly 50 Iroquois villages, adjacent croplands and winter stores, forcing many refugees to British-held Niagara.


title: New York (state)

text: As allies of the British, the Iroquois were forced out of New York, although they had not been part of treaty negotiations. They resettled in Canada after the war and were given land grants by the Crown. In the treaty settlement, the British ceded most Indian lands to the new United States. Because New York made a treaty with the Iroquois without getting Congressional approval, some of the land purchases have been subject to land claim suits since the late 20th century by the federally recognized tribes. New York put up more than of former Iroquois territory for sale in the years after the Revolutionary War, leading to rapid development in Upstate New York. As per the Treaty of Paris, the last vestige of British authority in the former Thirteen Colonies—their troops in New York City—departed in 1783, which was long afterward celebrated as Evacuation Day.