title: Camera

text: Digital and film cameras share an optical system, typically using a lens of variable aperture to focus light onto an image pickup device. The aperture and shutter admit the correct amount of light to the imager, just as with film but the image pickup device is electronic rather than chemical. However, unlike film cameras, digital cameras can display images on a screen immediately after being captured or recorded, and store and delete images from memory. Most digital cameras can also record moving videos with sound. Some digital cameras can crop and stitch pictures & perform other elementary image editing.


title: Camera

text: Consumers adopted digital cameras in the 1990s. Professional video cameras transitioned to digital around the 2000s–2010s. Finally, movie cameras transitioned to digital in the 2010s.


title: Camera

text: The first camera using digital electronics to capture and store images was developed by Kodak engineer Steven Sasson in 1975. He used a charge-coupled device (CCD) provided by Fairchild Semiconductor, which provided only 0.01 megapixels to capture images. Sasson combined the CCD device with movie camera parts to create a digital camera that saved black and white images onto a cassette tape.The images were then read from the cassette and viewed on a TV monitor. Later, cassette tapes were replaced by flash memory.


title: Camera

text: In 1986, Japanese company Nikon introduced an analog-recording electronic single-lens reflex camera, the Nikon SVC.


title: Camera

text: The first full-frame digital SLR cameras were developed in Japan from around 2000 to 2002: the MZ-D by Pentax, the N Digital by Contax's Japanese R6D team, and the EOS-1Ds by Canon. Gradually in the 2000s, the full-frame DSLR became the dominant camera type for professional photography.


title: Camera

text: On most digital cameras a display, often a liquid crystal display (LCD), permits the user to view the scene to be recorded and settings such as ISO speed, exposure, and shutter speed.


title: Camera

text: In 2000, Sharp introduced the world's first digital camera phone, the J-SH04 J-Phone, in Japan. By the mid-2000s, higher-end cell phones had an integrated digital camera, and by the beginning of the 2010s, almost all smartphones had an integrated digital camera.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, actor and television host. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" on CBS television from 1969 until 1972. He released 64 albums in a career that spanned five decades, selling over 45 million records worldwide, including twelve gold albums, four platinum albums, and one double-platinum album.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Born in Delight, Arkansas, Campbell began his professional career as a studio musician in Los Angeles, spending several years playing with the group of instrumentalists later known as "The Wrecking Crew". After becoming a solo artist, he placed a total of 80 different songs on either the "Billboard" Country Chart, "Billboard" Hot 100, or Adult Contemporary Chart, of which 29 made the top 10 and of which nine reached number one on at least one of those charts. Among Campbell's hits are "Universal Soldier", his first hit from 1965, along with "Gentle on My Mind" (1967), "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" (1967), "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife" (1968), "Wichita Lineman" (1968), "Galveston" (1969), "Rhinestone Cowboy" (1975), and "Southern Nights" (1977).


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1967, Campbell won four Grammys in the country and pop categories. For "Gentle on My Mind", he received two awards in country and western; "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" did the same in pop. Three of his early hits later won Grammy Hall of Fame Awards (2000, 2004, 2008), while Campbell himself won the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012. He owned trophies for Male Vocalist of the Year from both the Country Music Association (CMA) and the Academy of Country Music (ACM), and took the CMA's top award as 1968 Entertainer of the Year. Campbell played a supporting role in the film "True Grit" (1969), which earned him a Golden Globe nomination for Most Promising Newcomer. He also sang the title song, which was nominated for an Academy Award.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Glen Travis Campbell was born on April 22, 1936, in Billstown, a tiny community near Delight in Pike County, Arkansas, to John Wesley Campbell (a sharecropper) and Carrie Dell (née Stone) Campbell. Campbell was of Scottish descent and was the seventh son of 12 children. As a child he almost died from drowning. His family went to the Church of Christ, and Campbell's brother Lindell became a Church of Christ minister. In 2011 he claimed his mother was Irish, and although his mother was born in the United States, her family had emigrated from County Tipperary. The family lived on a farm, where they barely managed, by growing cotton, corn, watermelons, and potatoes. "We had no electricity," he said, and money was scarce. "A dollar in those days looked as big as a saddle blanket." To supplement income the family picked cotton for other farmers. "I picked cotton for $1.25 a hundred pounds," said Campbell. "If you worked your tail off, you could pick 80 or 90 pounds a day."


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell started playing guitar at age 4 after his father gave him a Sears-bought five-dollar guitar as a gift, with his uncle Boo teaching him the basics of how to play. Most of his family was musical, he said. "Back home, everybody plays and sings." By the time he was 6 he was performing on local radio stations.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell continued playing guitar in his youth, with no formal training, and practiced when he was not working in the cotton fields. He developed his talent by listening to radio and records and considered Django Reinhardt among his most admired guitarists, later calling him "the most awesome player I ever heard." He dropped out of school in the 10th grade at 14 to work in Houston alongside his brothers, installing insulation and later working at a gas station.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Not satisfied with that kind of unskilled work, Campbell started playing music at fairs and church picnics and singing gospel hymns in the church choir. He was able to find spots performing on local radio stations, and after his parents moved to Houston, he made some appearances at a local nightclub.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1954, at age 17, Campbell moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico, to join his uncle's band, known as Dick Bills and the Sandia Mountain Boys. He also appeared there on his uncle's radio show and on "K Circle B Time", the local children's program on KOB television. It was there that he met his first wife, whom he married when he was 18 and she was 16.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1958, Campbell formed his own band, the Western Wranglers. "We worked hard," he said. "Six, sometimes seven nights a week. I didn't have my eye set on any specific goals or big dreams."


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1960, Campbell moved to Los Angeles to become a session musician. That October, he joined the Champs. By January 1961, Campbell had found a daytime job at publishing company American Music, writing songs and recording demos. Because of these demos Campbell soon was in demand as a session musician and became part of a group of studio musicians later known as the Wrecking Crew.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell played on recordings by the Beach Boys, Bobby Darin, Frank Sinatra, Ricky Nelson, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole, the Monkees, Nancy Sinatra, Merle Haggard, Jan and Dean, Bing Crosby, Phil Spector, Sammy Davis Jr., Doris Day, Bobby Vee, The Everly Brothers, Shelley Fabares, The Cascades, Paul Revere & the Raiders, Wayne Newton, The First Edition, The Kingston Trio, Roger Miller, Gene Clark, Lou Rawls, Claude King, Lorne Greene, Ronnie Dove and Elvis Presley. He befriended Presley when he helped record the soundtrack for "Viva Las Vegas" in 1964. He later said, "Elvis and I were brought up the same humble way – picking cotton and looking at the south end of a north-bound mule."


title: Glen Campbell

text: In May 1961, he left the Champs and was subsequently signed by Crest Records, a subsidiary of American Music. His first solo release, "Turn Around, Look at Me", a moderate success, peaked at number 62 on the Hot 100 in 1961 but reached number 7 on the Hot 100 in a 1968 Vogues cover. Campbell also formed the Gee Cees with former bandmembers from the Champs, performing at the Crossbow Inn in Van Nuys. The Gee Cees, too, released a single on Crest, the instrumental "Buzz Saw", which did not chart.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1962, Campbell signed with Capitol Records. After minor initial success with "Too Late to Worry, Too Blue to Cry", his first single for the label, and "Kentucky Means Paradise", released by the Green River Boys featuring Glen Campbell, a string of unsuccessful singles and albums followed. By 1963 his playing and singing were heard on 586 recorded songs. He never learned to read music, but besides guitar, he could play the banjo, mandolin and bass.


title: Glen Campbell

text: From 1964 on, Campbell began to appear on television as a regular on "Star Route", a syndicated series hosted by Rod Cameron, ABC's "Shindig!" and "Hollywood Jamboree".


title: Glen Campbell

text: From December 1964 to early March 1965, Campbell was a touring member of the Beach Boys, filling in for Brian Wilson, playing bass guitar and singing falsetto harmonies. He was then replaced on the Beach Boys' tours by new member Bruce Johnston. Brian Wilson produced and co-wrote a single for Campbell, "Guess I'm Dumb," which failed to chart despite what writer David Howard called "a surging, elegant Burt Bacharach-inspired string and horn arrangement and Campbell's forlorn Roy Orbison-like vocal.".


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1965, he had his biggest solo hit yet, reaching number 45 on the Hot 100 with a version of Buffy Sainte-Marie's "Universal Soldier". Asked about the pacifist message of the song, he said that "people who are advocating burning draft cards should be hung."


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell continued as a session musician, playing guitar on the Beach Boys' 1966 album "Pet Sounds", among other recordings. In April of that year, he joined Rick Nelson on a tour through the Far East, again playing bass.


title: Glen Campbell

text: When follow-up singles did not do well, and Capitol was considering dropping Campbell from the label in 1966, he was teamed with producer Al De Lory. Together, they first collaborated on "Burning Bridges" which became a top 20 country hit in early 1967, and the album of the same name.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell and De Lory collaborated again on 1967's "Gentle on My Mind", written by John Hartford, which was an overnight success. The song was followed by the bigger hit "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" later in 1967, and "I Wanna Live" and "Wichita Lineman" in 1968, remaining on "Billboard's" Top 100 charts for 15 weeks. He won four Grammy Awards for "Gentle on My Mind" and "By the Time I Get to Phoenix".


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1967, Campbell was also the uncredited lead vocalist on "My World Fell Down" by Sagittarius, a studio group. The song reached number 70 on the "Billboard" Hot 100.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1968, Campbell released "Wichita Lineman", a song written by Jimmy Webb. It was recorded with backing from members of the Wrecking Crew and appeared on his 1968 album of the same name. It reached number 3 on the US pop chart, remaining in the Top 100 for 15 weeks. In addition, the song also topped the American country music chart for two weeks, and the adult contemporary chart for six weeks.


title: Glen Campbell

text: The 1969 song "True Grit" by composer Elmer Bernstein and lyricist Don Black, and sung by Campbell, who co-starred in the movie, received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Song and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song.


title: Glen Campbell

text: After he hosted a 1968 summer replacement for television's "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour" variety show, Campbell was given his own weekly variety show, "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour", which ran from January 1969 through June 1972. The show's comedy writers included Steve Martin and Rob Reiner. At the height of his popularity, a 1970 biography by Freda Kramer, "The Glen Campbell Story", was published.


title: Glen Campbell

text: With Campbell's session-work connections, he hosted major names in music on his show, including the Beatles (on film), David Gates, Bread, the Monkees, Neil Diamond, Linda Ronstadt, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Roger Miller, and Mel Tillis. Campbell helped launch the careers of Anne Murray and Jerry Reed, who were regulars on his "Goodtime Hour" program.


title: Glen Campbell

text: During the late 1960s and early 1970s, Campbell released a long series of singles and appeared in the movies "True Grit" (1969) with John Wayne and Kim Darby and "Norwood" (1970) with Kim Darby and Joe Namath.


title: Glen Campbell

text: After the cancellation of his CBS series in 1972, Campbell remained a regular on network television. He co-starred in a made-for-television movie, "Strange Homecoming" (1974), with Robert Culp and up-and-coming teen idol Leif Garrett. He hosted a number of television specials, including 1976's "Down Home, Down Under" with Olivia Newton-John. He co-hosted the American Music Awards from 1976 to 1978 and headlined the 1979 NBC special "Glen Campbell: Back to Basics" with guest-stars Seals and Crofts and Brenda Lee. He was a guest on many network talk and variety shows, including "Donny & Marie" and "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson", where he performed "Rhinestone Cowboy". He also appeared on "Cher", "the Redd Foxx Comedy Hour", "The Merv Griffin Show", "The Midnight Special", "DINAH!", "Evening at Pops with Arthur Fiedler" and "The Mike Douglas Show".


title: Glen Campbell

text: In the mid-1970s, he had more hits with "Rhinestone Cowboy", "Southern Nights" (both U.S. number one hits), "Sunflower" (U.S. number 39) (written by Neil Diamond), and "Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.)" (U.S. number 11).


title: Glen Campbell

text: "Rhinestone Cowboy" was Campbell's largest-selling single and one of his best-known recordings, initially with over 2 million copies sold. Campbell had heard songwriter Larry Weiss' version while on tour of Australia in 1974. Both songs were in the October 4, 1975, Hot 100 top 10. "Rhinestone Cowboy" continues to be used in TV shows and films, including "Desperate Housewives", "Daddy Day Care", and "High School High". It was the inspiration for the 1984 Dolly Parton/Sylvester Stallone movie "Rhinestone". The main phrase of Campbell's recording was included in Dickie Goodman's "Jaws" movie parody song "Mr. Jaws". Campbell also made a techno/pop version of the song in 2002 with UK artists Rikki & Daz and went to the top 10 in the UK with the dance version and related music video.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In January 1975, Campbell was awarded 4 gold records along with a platinum award for wholesale sales in excess of $1,000,000 in Australia.


title: Glen Campbell

text: "Southern Nights", by Allen Toussaint, his other number one pop-rock-country crossover hit, was generated with the help of Jimmy Webb, and Jerry Reed, who inspired the famous guitar lick introduction to the song, which was the most-played jukebox number of 1977.


title: Glen Campbell

text: From 1971 to 1983, Campbell was the celebrity host of the Los Angeles Open, an annual professional golf tournament on the PGA Tour.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell made a cameo appearance in the 1980 Clint Eastwood movie "Any Which Way You Can", for which he recorded the title song.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell gave up smoking in March 1992, and believed it improved his singing voice. In 1991, Campbell voiced Chanticleer the rooster in Don Bluth's live action/animated film "Rock-a-Doodle".


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 1999 he was featured on VH-1's "Behind the Music", and on A&E Network's "Biography" and a PBS "in concert" special in 2001. He also appeared on a number of CMT programs, where he ranked among their Greatest Men of Country Music.


title: Glen Campbell

text: He is credited with giving Alan Jackson his first big break after Jackson recorded with Campbell's music publishing business in the early 1990s. Campbell also served as an inspiration to Keith Urban, who cites Campbell as a strong influence on his performing career.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In 2005, Campbell was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. It was announced in April 2008 that Campbell was returning to his signature label, Capitol, to release his new album, "Meet Glen Campbell". The album was released on August 19. With this album, he branched off in a different musical direction, covering tracks from artists such as Travis, U2, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Jackson Browne, and Foo Fighters. It was Campbell's first release on Capitol in over 15 years. Musicians from Cheap Trick and Jellyfish contributed to the album as well. The first single, a cover of Green Day's "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)", was released to radio in July 2008.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In March 2010, a then-farewell album titled "Ghost on the Canvas" was announced, which served as a companion to "Meet Glen Campbell" (2008).


title: Glen Campbell

text: Following his late-2010 Alzheimer's diagnosis, Campbell embarked on a final "Goodbye Tour", with three of his children joining him in his backup band. He was too ill to travel to Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2012. His final show was on November 30, 2012, in Napa, California. After the end of the tour, Campbell entered the studio in Nashville to record what would be his final album, "Adiós", which would not be revealed until five years later. According to his wife, Kim Campbell, he wanted to preserve "what magic was left", in what would be his final recordings. In January 2013, Campbell recorded his final song, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", during what would be his last recording sessions. The song, which is featured in the 2014 documentary "", was released on September 30, 2014, with the documentary following on October 24. On January 15, 2015, Campbell and fellow songwriter Julian Raymond were nominated for Best Original Song at the 87th Academy Awards.


title: Glen Campbell

text: On August 30, 2016, during the 10th Annual ACM Honors, Keith Urban, Blake Shelton and others performed a medley of Glen Campbell's songs in tribute to him. His wife Kim Campbell accepted the Career Achievement Award on his behalf. Alice Cooper described him as being one of the five best guitar players in the music industry.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell's final album, "Adiós", featuring twelve songs from his final 2012–13 sessions, was announced in April 2017. It was released on June 9, 2017. "Adiós" was named by the UK's Official Charts Company as the best-selling country/Americana album of 2017 in Britain.


title: Glen Campbell

text: After his divorce from Sarah Barg Davis, Campbell began a relationship with fellow country artist Tanya Tucker. The relationship was marked by frequent tabloid gossip and articles. The couple recorded a number of songs together, including the single "Dream Lover", and they performed the national anthem together at the 1980 Republican National Convention.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell was raised in the Church of Christ. In the 1980s, he joined a Baptist church in Phoenix along with his wife Kim. In a 2008 interview, Campbell said that they had been adherents of Messianic Judaism for two decades.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell began having problems with alcoholism and cocaine addiction in the 1970s. He credited his fourth wife Kim with helping him turn his life around. Campbell eventually stopped drinking alcohol and taking drugs in 1987. However, it was evident that he had relapsed in 2003 when he pled guilty in Arizona to drunk driving and leaving the scene of an accident and spent 10 days in jail.


title: Glen Campbell

text: On "The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour" television show, Campbell avoided political topics. Around this time, in interviews he described himself as "a registered Democrat," but also said he "voted Republican a few times", and he performed in support of both Republican and Democratic politicians. Campbell performed the National Anthem at the 1980 Republican National Convention and continued to make a number of campaign appearances for Republican candidates during the 1980s and 1990s.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In June 2011, Campbell announced he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease six months earlier. After his diagnosis was revealed, he withdrew from a scheduled Australian concert tour with Kenny Rogers. He became a patient at an Alzheimer's long-term care and treatment facility in 2014. That same year, Campbell was the subject of the documentary "", directed by longtime friend James Keach, that examined Campbell's Alzheimer's diagnosis and how it affected his musical performances during his final tour across the United States with his family. The documentary received critical acclaim, earning a rare 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell died in Nashville, Tennessee, on August 8, 2017, at the age of 81. He was buried in the Campbell family cemetery in Billstown, Arkansas.


title: Glen Campbell

text: In June 2020, Campbell's wife of 34 years, Kim Campbell, published "Gentle on My Mind: In Sickness and in Health with Glen Campbell", a memoir of their life together.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Following the announcement of Campbell's death, fellow musicians, friends and fans expressed their condolences and noted his music legacy. Recording Academy president Neil Portnow praised him for having been "an American treasure" whose songs, guitar work, and "dazzling showmanship shot him to superstardom in the 1960s" to make him one of the most successful music artists in history.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Tributes poured in from countless others in the industry, including Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys, comedy writer and actor Steve Martin, Sheryl Crow, Dolly Parton, Lenny Kravitz, and Anne Murray. Campbell's former partner Tanya Tucker wrote and released a song in his honor, "Forever Loving You."


title: Glen Campbell

text: Jimmy Webb, who wrote many of Campbell's hits and worked with him throughout his life, said that Campbell could play with "any guitar player in the world, from George Benson to Eric Clapton," adding that Paul McCartney considered him among the best guitar players. "People will realize what an extraordinary genius Glen really was", Webb told ABC News.


title: Glen Campbell

text: The Country Music Television Channel (CMT) aired a special about his career a few days after his death. Other networks were also "lining up to honor his life and brilliant legacy", including interviews with Keith Urban, Reba McEntire and Blake Shelton, among others.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell's daughter Ashley was invited to perform at The O2 Arena in London as part of the festival. Her set was billed as a special tribute to her father and included a medley of his hits alongside "Remembering", a song she wrote about Campbell's battle with Alzheimer's.


title: Glen Campbell

text: Campbell recorded and released 60 studio albums and six live albums between 1962 and 2017. He also lent his vocals to four soundtracks for motion pictures: "True Grit" (1969), "Norwood" (1970), "Rock-a-Doodle" (1992), and the 2014 documentary film "". He placed a total of 82 singles (one of which was a re-release) on either the "Billboard" Country Chart, the "Billboard" Hot 100, or the Adult Contemporary Chart, nine of which peaked at number one on at least one of those charts. He released 15 video albums and featured in 21 music videos. His first two music videos, "By the Time I Get to Phoenix" and "Wichita Lineman", were directed by Gene Weed in 1967 and 1968, respectively. Campbell released his final music video, "I'm Not Gonna Miss You", in 2014 to coincide with the release of the documentary "Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me". His final studio album, "Adiós", was released on June 9, 2017.


title: Eye color

text: Eye color is a polygenic phenotypic character determined by two distinct factors: the pigmentation of the eye's iris and the frequency-dependence of the scattering of light by the turbid medium in the stroma of the iris.


title: Eye color

text: In humans, the pigmentation of the iris varies from light brown to black, depending on the concentration of melanin in the iris pigment epithelium (located on the back of the iris), the melanin content within the iris stroma (located at the front of the iris), and the cellular density of the stroma. The appearance of blue, green, and hazel eyes results from the Tyndall scattering of light in the stroma, a phenomenon similar to that which accounts for the blueness of the sky called Rayleigh scattering. Neither blue nor green pigments are ever present in the human iris or ocular fluid. Eye color is thus an instance of structural color and varies depending on the lighting conditions, especially for lighter-colored eyes.


title: Eye color

text: The brightly colored eyes of many bird species result from the presence of other pigments, such as pteridines, purines, and carotenoids. Humans and other animals have many phenotypic variations in eye color.


title: Eye color

text: The genetics and inheritance of eye color in humans is complicated. So far, as many as 16 genes have been associated with eye color inheritance. Some of the eye-color genes include "OCA2" and "HERC2". The earlier belief that blue eye color is a simple recessive trait has been shown to be incorrect. The genetics of eye color are so complex that almost any parent-child combination of eye colors can occur. However, OCA2 gene polymorphism, close to proximal 5' regulatory region, explains most human eye-color variation.


title: Eye color

text: Eye color is an inherited trait influenced by more than one gene. These genes are sought using associations to small changes in the genes themselves and in neighboring genes. These changes are known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms or SNPs. The actual number of genes that contribute to eye color is currently unknown, but there are a few likely candidates. A study in Rotterdam (2009) found that it was possible to predict eye color with more than 90% accuracy for brown and blue using just six SNPs. There is evidence that as many as 16 different genes could be responsible for eye color in humans; however, the main two genes associated with eye color variation are "OCA2" and "HERC2", and both are localized in Chromosome 15.


title: Eye color

text: The gene "OCA2" (), when in a variant form, causes the pink eye color and hypopigmentation common in human albinism. (The name of the gene is derived from the disorder it causes, oculocutaneous albinism type II.) Different SNPs within "OCA2" are strongly associated with blue and green eyes as well as variations in freckling, mole counts, hair and skin tone. The polymorphisms may be in an "OCA2" regulatory sequence, where they may influence the expression of the gene product, which in turn affects pigmentation. A specific mutation within the "HERC2" gene, a gene that regulates "OCA2" expression, is partly responsible for blue eyes. Other genes implicated in eye color variation are SLC24A4 and TYR. A 2010 study on eye color variation into hue and saturation values using high-resolution digital full-eye photographs found three new loci for a total of ten genes, and now about 50% of eye colour variation can be explained.


title: Eye color

text: Blue eyes with a brown spot, green eyes, and gray eyes are caused by an entirely different part of the genome.


title: Eye color

text: People of European descent show the greatest variety in eye color of any population worldwide. Recent advances in ancient DNA technology have revealed some of the history of eye color in Europe. All European Mesolithic hunter-gatherer remains so far investigated have shown genetic markers for light-colored eyes, in the case of western and central European hunter-gatherers combined with dark skin color. The later additions to the European gene pool, the Early Neolithic farmers from Anatolia and the Yamnaya Copper Age/Bronze Age pastoralists (possibly the Proto-Indo-European population) from the area north of the Black Sea appear to have had much higher incidences of dark eye color alleles, and alleles giving rise to lighter skin, than the original European population.


title: Eye color

text: Iris color can provide a large amount of information about a person, and a classification of colors may be useful in documenting pathological changes or determining how a person may respond to ocular pharmaceuticals. Classification systems have ranged from a basic light or dark description to detailed gradings employing photographic standards for comparison. Others have attempted to set objective standards of color comparison.


title: Eye color

text: Normal eye colors range from the darkest shades of brown to the lightest tints of blue. To meet the need for standardized classification, at once simple yet detailed enough for research purposes, Seddon et al. developed a graded system based on the predominant iris color and the amount of brown or yellow pigment present. There are three pigment colors that determine, depending on their proportion, the outward appearance of the iris, along with structural color. Green irises, for example, have some yellow and the blue structural color. Brown irises contain more or less melanin. Some eyes have a dark ring around the iris, called a limbal ring.


title: Eye color

text: Eye color in non-human animals is regulated differently. For example, instead of blue as in humans, autosomal recessive eye color in the skink species "Corucia zebrata" is black, and the autosomal dominant color is yellow-green.


title: Eye color

text: As the perception of color depends on viewing conditions (e.g., the amount and kind of illumination, as well as the hue of the surrounding environment), so does the perception of eye color.


title: Eye color

text: Most newborn babies who have European ancestry have light-colored eyes. As the child develops, melanocytes (cells found within the iris of human eyes, as well as skin and hair follicles) slowly begin to produce melanin. Because melanocyte cells continually produce pigment, in theory eye color can be changed. Adult eye color is usually established between 3 and 6 months of age, though this can be later. Observing the iris of an infant from the side using only transmitted light with no reflection from the back of the iris, it is possible to detect the presence or absence of low levels of melanin. An iris that appears blue under this method of observation is more likely to remain blue as the infant ages. An iris that appears golden contains some melanin even at this early age and is likely to turn from blue to green or brown as the infant ages.


title: Eye color

text: Changes (lightening or darkening) of eye color during early childhood, puberty, pregnancy, and sometimes after serious trauma (like heterochromia) suggest that eyes sometimes change color under certain circumstances, due to chemical reactions or hormonal changes within the body.


title: Eye color

text: Studies on Caucasian twins, both fraternal and identical, have shown that eye color over time can be subject to change, and major demelanization of the iris may also be genetically determined. Most eye color changes have been observed or reported in the Caucasian population with hazel and amber eyes. Under the same environmental conditions, there may be disagreement over the color of an object between two different people; the factor that causes this discrepancy is the presence of melanin in the iris, which is the main factor in determining eye color. The higher the amount of melanin in the iris and the denser the texture of the melanin, the darker the color of a person's eyes; the same melanin concentration also depends on many factors such as hereditary and environmental ones.


title: Eye color

text: The most important role of melanin in the iris is to protect the eyes from the sun's harmful rays. People with lighter eye colors, such as blue or green, have lessened protection from the sun, and so need greater protection from the sun's rays than those with darker eye colors.


title: Eye color

text: The human eye consists of two types of light and color receptors in the retina. Cylindrical cells are the photoreceptors of the eye that have a black and white vision and, depending on the amount of light received from the environment, determine the amount of darkness and brightness of objects. The number of cylindrical cells is more than the number of color receptors and reaches about 120 million; cone cells, which are smaller in number than light receptors, have color vision and are divided into three distinct categories, each of which recognizes one of the colors blue, red, and green, allowing the individual to distinguish colors.


title: Eye color

text: The Martin–Schultz scale, developed from the Martin scale, is one standard color scale commonly used in physical anthropology to establish more or less precisely the eye color of an individual; it was created by the anthropologists Rudolf Martin and Bruno K Schultz in the first half of the 20th century. The scale consists of 20 colors (from light blue to dark brown-black) that correspond to the different eye colors observed in nature due to the amount of melanin in the iris:


title: Eye color

text: With few exceptions, all mammals have brown or darkly-pigmented irises. In humans, brown is by far the most common eye color, with approximately 79% of people in the world having it.


title: Eye color

text: Brown eyes result from a relatively high concentration of melanin in the stroma of the iris, which causes light of both shorter and longer wavelengths to be absorbed.


title: Eye color

text: Dark brown eyes are dominant in humans and in many parts of the world, it is nearly the only iris color present. Brown eyes are common in Europe, East Asia, Southeast Asia, Central Asia, South Asia, West Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas.


title: Eye color

text: Light or medium-pigmented brown eyes can also be commonly found in South Europe, among the Americas, and parts of Central Asia, West Asia and South Asia.


title: Eye color

text: Amber eyes are of a solid color and have a strong yellowish/golden and russet/coppery tint. This may be due to the deposition of the yellow pigment called lipochrome in the iris (which is also found in green eyes). Amber eyes should not be confused with hazel eyes; although hazel eyes may contain specks of amber or gold, they usually tend to comprise many other colors, including green, brown and orange. Also, hazel eyes may appear to shift in color and consist of flecks and ripples, while amber eyes are of a solid gold hue. Even though amber is considered to be like gold, some people have russet or copper colored amber eyes that many people mistake for hazel, though hazel tends to be duller and contains green with red/gold flecks, as mentioned above. Amber eyes may also contain amounts of very light gold-ish gray.


title: Eye color

text: The eyes of some pigeons contain yellow fluorescing pigments known as pteridines. The bright yellow eyes of the great horned owl are thought to be due to the presence of the pteridine pigment xanthopterin within certain chromatophores (called xanthophores) located in the iris stroma. In humans, yellowish specks or patches are thought to be due to the pigment lipofuscin, also known as lipochrome. Many animals such as canines, domestic cats, owls, eagles, pigeons and fish have amber eyes as a common color, whereas in humans this color occurs less frequently. Amber is the third-rarest natural eye color after green and gray, with 5% of the world's population having it. People with that eye color are found in Pakistan and Balkan region, as well as in Hungary, Southern France, Italy, and to a lesser degree in the Iberian Peninsula, Southern Cone, Colombia and Middle East.


title: Eye color

text: Hazel eyes are due to a combination of Rayleigh scattering and a moderate amount of melanin in the iris' anterior border layer. Hazel eyes often appear to shift in color from a brown to a green. Although hazel mostly consists of brown and green, the dominant color in the eye can either be brown/gold or green. This is how many people mistake hazel eyes to be amber and vice versa. This can sometimes produce a multicolored iris, i.e., an eye that is light brown/amber near the pupil and charcoal or dark green on the outer part of the iris (or vice versa) when observed in sunlight.


title: Eye color

text: Definitions of the eye color "hazel" vary: it is sometimes considered to be synonymous with light brown or gold, as in the color of a hazelnut shell.


title: Eye color

text: Green eyes probably result from the interaction of multiple variants within the "OCA2" and other genes. They were present in south Siberia during the Bronze Age.


title: Eye color

text: They are most common in Northern, Western and Central Europe. In Scotland, 29% of people have green eyes. Around 8–10% of men and 18–21% of women in Iceland and 6% of men and 17% of women in the Netherlands, have green eyes. Among European Americans, green eyes are most common among those of recent Celtic and Germanic ancestry, about 16%, while 40.8% of Italians from Verona, 22.5% of Spaniards from Alicante and 15.4% of Greeks from Thessaloniki have green, gray, and blue eyes. Globally, however, green is considered the rarest natural eye color; only 2% of the world's population have it.


title: Eye color

text: The green color is caused by the combination of: 1) an amber or light brown pigmentation in the stroma of the iris (which has a low or moderate concentration of melanin) with: 2) a blue shade created by the Rayleigh scattering of reflected light. Green eyes contain the yellowish pigment lipochrome.


title: Eye color

text: There is no blue pigmentation either in the iris or in the ocular fluid. Dissection reveals that the iris pigment epithelium is brownish black due to the presence of melanin. Unlike brown eyes, blue eyes have low concentrations of melanin in the stroma of the iris, which lies in front of the dark epithelium. Longer wavelengths of light tend to be absorbed by the dark underlying epithelium, while shorter wavelengths are reflected and undergo Rayleigh scattering in the turbid medium of the stroma. This is the same frequency-dependence of scattering that accounts for the blue appearance of the sky. The result is a "Tyndall blue" structural color that varies with external lighting conditions.


title: Eye color

text: In humans, the inheritance pattern followed by blue eyes is considered similar to that of a recessive trait (in general, eye color inheritance is considered a polygenic trait, meaning that it is controlled by the interactions of several genes). In 2008, new research tracked down one genetic mutation that leads to blue eyes. "Originally, we all had brown eyes" said Eiberg. Eiberg and colleagues suggested in a study published in "Human Genetics" that a mutation in the 86th intron of the "HERC2" gene, which is hypothesized to interact with the "OCA2" gene promoter, reduced expression of "OCA2" with subsequent reduction in melanin production. The authors suggest that the mutation may have arisen in the northwestern part of the Black Sea region, and add that it is "difficult to calculate the age of the mutation."


title: Eye color

text: Blue eyes are common in northern and eastern Europe, particularly around the Baltic Sea. Blue eyes are also found in southern Europe, Central Asia, South Asia, North Africa and West Asia.


title: Eye color

text: The same DNA sequence in the region of the OCA2 gene among blue-eyed people suggests they may have a single common ancestor.


title: Eye color

text: , the earliest remains of Homo sapiens with genes for both light complexion and blue eyes were found in 7,700 years old Mesolithic hunter-gatherers from Motala, Sweden.


title: Eye color

text: Approximately 8% to 10% of the global population have blue eyes. A 2002 study found that the prevalence of blue eye color among the white population in the United States to be 33.8% for those born from 1936 through 1951, compared with 57.4% for those born from 1899 through 1905. , one out of every six Americans, or 16.6% of the total US population, has blue eyes, including 22.3% of whites. Blue eyes are continuing to become less common among American children. 56% of Slovenes have blue/green eyes.


title: Eye color

text: Like blue eyes, gray eyes have a dark epithelium at the back of the iris and a relatively clear stroma at the front. One possible explanation for the difference in the appearance of gray and blue eyes is that gray eyes have larger deposits of collagen in the stroma, so that the light that is reflected from the epithelium undergoes Mie scattering (which is not strongly frequency-dependent) rather than Rayleigh scattering (in which shorter wavelengths of light are scattered more). This would be analogous to the change in the color of the sky, from the blue given by the Rayleigh scattering of sunlight by small gas molecules when the sky is clear, to the gray caused by Mie scattering of large water droplets when the sky is cloudy. Alternatively, it has been suggested that gray and blue eyes might differ in the concentration of melanin at the front of the stroma.


title: Eye color

text: Gray eyes can also be found among the Algerian Shawia people of the Aurès Mountains in Northwest Africa, in the Middle East/West Asia, Central Asia, and South Asia. The Greek goddess Athene appears with gray eyes (γλαυκῶπις). Under magnification, gray eyes exhibit small amounts of yellow and brown color in the iris.


title: Eye color

text: Gray is the second-rarest natural eye color after green, with 3% of the world's population having it.


title: Eye color

text: The eyes of people with severe forms of albinism may appear red under certain lighting conditions owing to the extremely low quantities of melanin, allowing the blood vessels to show through. In addition, flash photography can sometimes cause a "red-eye effect", in which the very bright light from a flash reflects off the retina, which is abundantly vascular, causing the pupil to appear red in the photograph.


title: Eye color

text: Although the deep blue eyes of some people such as Elizabeth Taylor can appear purple or violet at certain times, "true" violet-colored eyes occur only due to albinism. Eyes that appear red or violet under certain conditions due to albinism are less than 1 percent of the world's population.


title: Eye color

text: As a result of heterochromia iridum, it is also possible to have two different eye colors. This occurs in humans and certain breeds of domesticated animals and affects less than 1 percent of the world's population.


title: Eye color

text: Those with lighter iris color have been found to have a higher prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) than those with darker iris color; lighter eye color is also associated with an increased risk of ARMD progression. A gray iris may indicate the presence of a uveitis, and an increased risk of uveal melanoma has been found in those with blue, green or gray eyes. However, a study in 2000 suggests that people with dark brown eyes are at increased risk of developing cataracts and therefore should protect their eyes from direct exposure to sunlight.


title: Eye color

text: Wilson's disease involves a mutation of the gene coding for the enzyme ATPase 7B, which prevents copper within the liver from entering the Golgi apparatus in cells. Instead, the copper accumulates in the liver and in other tissues, including the iris of the eye. This results in the formation of Kayser–Fleischer rings, which are dark rings that encircle the periphery of the iris.


title: Eye color

text: Eye color outside of the iris may also be symptomatic of disease. Yellowing of the sclera (the "whites of the eyes") is associated with jaundice, and may be symptomatic of liver diseases such as cirrhosis or hepatitis. A blue coloration of the sclera may also be symptomatic of disease.


title: Eye color

text: Aniridia is a congenital condition characterized by an extremely underdeveloped iris, which appears absent on superficial examination.


title: Eye color

text: Normally, there is a thick layer of melanin on the back of the iris. Even people with the lightest blue eyes, with no melanin on the front of the iris at all, have dark brown coloration on the back of it, to prevent light from scattering around inside the eye. In those with milder forms of albinism, the color of the iris is typically blue but can vary from blue to brown. In severe forms of albinism, there is no pigment on the back of the iris, and light from inside the eye can pass through the iris to the front. In these cases, the only color seen is the red from the hemoglobin of the blood in the capillaries of the iris. Such albinos have pink eyes, as do albino rabbits, mice, or any other animal with a total lack of melanin. Transillumination defects can almost always be observed during an eye examination due to lack of iridial pigmentation. The ocular albino also lacks normal amounts of melanin in the retina as well, which allows more light than normal to reflect off the retina and out of the eye. Because of this, the pupillary reflex is much more pronounced in albino individuals, and this can emphasize the red eye effect in photographs.


title: Eye color

text: Heterochromia ("heterochromia iridum" or "heterochromia iridis") is an eye condition in which one iris is a different color from the other (complete heterochromia), or where a part of one iris is a different color from the remainder (partial heterochromia or sectoral heterochromia). It is a result of the relative excess or lack of pigment within an iris or part of an iris, which may be inherited or acquired by disease or injury. This uncommon condition usually results due to uneven melanin content. A number of causes are responsible, including genetic, such as chimerism, Horner's syndrome and Waardenburg syndrome.


title: Eye color

text: A chimera can have two different colored eyes just like any two siblings can—because each cell has different eye color genes. A mosaic can have two different colored eyes if the DNA difference happens to be in an eye-color gene.


title: Eye color

text: There are many other possible reasons for having two different-colored eyes. For example, the film actor Lee Van Cleef was born with one blue eye and one green eye, a trait that reportedly was common in his family, suggesting that it was a genetic trait. This anomaly, which film producers thought would be disturbing to film audiences, was "corrected" by having Van Cleef wear brown contact lenses. David Bowie, on the other hand, had the appearance of different eye colors due to an injury that caused one pupil to be permanently dilated.


title: Eye color

text: Another hypothesis about heterochromia is that it can result from a viral infection "in utero" affecting the development of one eye, possibly through some sort of genetic mutation. Occasionally, heterochromia can be a sign of a serious medical condition.


title: Eye color

text: A common cause in females with heterochromia is X-inactivation, which can result in a number of heterochromatic traits, such as calico cats. Trauma and certain medications, such as some prostaglandin analogues, can also cause increased pigmentation in one eye. On occasion, a difference in eye color is caused by blood staining the iris after injury.


title: Eye color

text: Although people with lighter eye color are generally more sensitive to light because they have less pigment in the iris to protect them from sunlight, there is little to no evidence that eye color has a direct impact on vision qualities such as visual acuity. However, there is a study that found that dark-eyed people perform better at "reactive-type tasks", which suggests they may have better reaction times. People with light-colored eyes, however, performed better at so-called "self-paced tasks", which include activities like hitting a golf ball or throwing baseballs. In another study, people with darker eyes performed better at hitting racquetballs. There are also other studies that challenge those findings. According to scientists, more study is needed to verify these results.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Gavin McGregor Rossdale (born 30 October 1965) is an English guitarist and actor, best known as the lead singer and rhythm guitarist of the rock band Bush. He helped form Bush in 1992; on the band's separation in 2002, he became the lead singer and guitarist for Institute and later began a solo career. He resumed his role in Bush when the band reunited in 2010. In 2013, he received the British Academy's Ivor Novello Award for International Achievement.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale was born in Marylebone, London, England, the son of Barbara Stephan ("née" Bowie) and Douglas Rossdale, a doctor. His mother was born in Scotland, whereas his father was of Russian Jewish descent, with the family's surname originally being "Rosenthal." Rossdale was unable to speak until the age of four, and his parents divorced when he was 11 years old. Rossdale was educated at the independent Westminster School.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: During the 1980s, Rossdale formed a pop band called Midnight with Sacha Puttnam. Despite touring as far afield as Ireland and enjoying support slots for artists including Big Country and Cyndi Lauper, his band saw little success after releasing two singles.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale later became a member of the group The Little Dukes. According to Alex Tate, the Little Dukes' music was contrary to Rossdale's musical preferences at the time. After traveling to Los Angeles and New York with the hope of being signed to a record label, and crossing paths with a future Bush manager, the band broke up in autumn 1991.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: In 1992, Rossdale established the grunge band Bush, initially known as Future Primitive, as its vocalist and rhythm guitarist after first befriending lead guitarist Nigel Pulsford in November 1991. Their debut album, "Sixteen Stone" (1994), was a huge commercial success.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Bush's albums include the aforementioned "Sixteen Stone", "Razorblade Suitcase", "Deconstructed", "The Science of Things", and "Golden State." All albums had commercial success, which led Bush to be one of the best-selling rock groups to come out of the 1990s. Although the band reached superstar status in the US, they failed to have much impact in the UK. The main exception to this was the UK chart success of the album "Razorblade Suitcase" (Number 4) and its single "Swallowed" (Number 7). A change in record labels and management did not bode well for the band, who disbanded in 2002.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: On 21 June 2010, it was announced that Bush would return and planned to release a new album. "The Sea of Memories" was released on 13 September 2011. Bush have since released three more albums; "Man on the Run" in 2014, "Black and White Rainbows" in 2017, and "The Kingdom" in 2020.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale performed a song entitled "Adrenaline" for the soundtrack of the film "XXX", which features it during the end credits. This song was also the official theme song for WWE's "Unforgiven" pay-per-view event in September 2002 and also was The Undertaker's Desire/Tribute theme of that same year. He also guest appeared for Blue Man Group's "The Current" and is featured in its video. This song was used in the ending credits of "".


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: In 2004, after Bush had been on hiatus for two years, Rossdale formed Institute. Their album, "Distort Yourself", released on 13 September 2005 achieved moderate success and the single "Bullet Proof Skin" was used in the motion picture "Stealth". In an interview published in November 2008, Rossdale noted that the Institute record was, "for all intents and purposes, a solo record. It was just a bad marketing decision to call it something else". Institute broke up in 2006, after one album.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale's single, "Can't Stop the World", was the introduction theme to Fox's programme, "Drive". In 2007, he covered John Lennon's "Mind Games" for the album "". Rossdale's first solo record, entitled "Wanderlust", was released 3 June 2008. Gwen Stefani, Rossdale's then wife, sang background vocals on the track "Can't Stop The World", with other vocalists on the album including Shirley Manson, Katy Perry and Dave Stewart. Bush and Institute guitarist Chris Traynor also played on the album. He also made a guest appearance on the DT8 Project album "Perfect World", taking lead vocals and co-writing the track "Falling".


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: On 1 April 2008 the first single from "WANDERlust", "Love Remains The Same", was released through digital retailers. It entered the Billboard Hot 100 at Number 76, rising to 27 in October 2008, giving Rossdale his first Top 40 hit since the days when he fronted the post-grunge band Bush. Rossdale mounted a full-scale solo tour in Spring 2009. Of the album's title, Rossdale said, "I just liked it because it's kind of sexy enough, it's powerful, it's one word. Wanderlust sums up that desire for music and for singing and performing and this life."


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale also provides the vocals for the Apocalyptica song "End of Me", which is the lead single from their latest album "7th Symphony".


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale was a judge for the 10th annual Independent Music Awards to support independent artists' careers. In 2013, Rossdale was awarded in the Ivor Novello Awards, for International Achievement in Songwriting, which was presented to him by Chris Martin. On 27 October 2017, Rossdale sang with Linkin Park at their special memorial concert in memory of vocalist Chester Bennington. He performed the song "Leave Out All the Rest".


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: Rossdale appeared in the film "Constantine" (2005) playing the half-demon Balthazar. He has also appeared in the films "Zoolander" (2001), "Mayor of the Sunset Strip" (2004), "Little Black Book" (2004), "the Game of Their Lives" (2005), "How to Rob a Bank" (2008), and "The Bling Ring" (2013). Additionally, he appeared in the crime drama television series "Criminal Minds" in the episode "The Performer" (2009), portraying a rock star named Paul Davies who takes a vampire-like alter-ego named Dante whose music is involved in a string of exsanguination murders. Rossdale has also appeared in the eighth episode of season 5 of "Burn Notice", and appeared as villain Johnny Moreau in the 100th episode of "Hawaii Five-0" in November 2014.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: In the late 1980s, Rossdale dated Suze DeMarchi, lead singer for the band Baby Animals. Bush's song "Comedown" from 1994's "Sixteen Stone" is about their relationship.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: In 1995, Rossdale met Gwen Stefani, lead singer of the rock band No Doubt, when Bush and No Doubt were on tour together. During a break in his relationship with Stefani, Rossdale dated Hole frontwoman and Kurt Cobain's widow Courtney Love for eight months in 1995 and 1996. Love commented, "Everyone gave me so much shit, because Gavin sounded a lot like Kurt." Rossdale then married Stefani in 2002. The two have three sons together: born in May 2006, August 2008, and February 2014. On 3 August 2015, Stefani filed for divorce from Rossdale, citing irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in April 2016. From 2017 until 2018 Rossdale was in a relationship with German model Sophia Thomalla.


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: In his 1995 autobiography "Take It Like a Man", Boy George wrote that Rossdale had a relationship with Peter Robinson, also known as Marilyn, in the 1980s. In a 1996 interview for "Rolling Stone", Rossdale responded, "That's George's take – he doesn't know me. There's a queue of people going to their lawyers about stuff in his book..I hope he manages to sell some books by putting my name in there." Elsewhere, both Rossdale and Robinson initially denied the story; however, in 2003, Robinson dedicated the Marilyn single "Hold on Tight" to Rossdale, citing "the years of [their] passionate relationship" and featuring a photo of him and Rossdale on the cover. Later, both men spoke more candidly about their past relationship. In 2009, Robinson confirmed that he and Rossdale had been "together [for] five years" in the 1980s. In 2010 Rossdale acknowledged having a liaison with Robinson, describing it as experimentation and "part of growing up". Robinson later called Rossdale "the love of my life".


title: Gavin Rossdale

text: In 2004, a paternity test revealed that Rossdale was the father of Pearl Lowe's daughter, Daisy Lowe (born 1989). Rossdale and Pearl had a brief relationship, and Rossdale had been Daisy's godfather. Rossdale subsequently cut off all contact with Pearl and Daisy. In 2009, however, several websites published photos of Daisy walking with Rossdale's son in London. Both Daisy and Rossdale said in 2010 that their relationship is good and based on respect.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Golden Temple (also known as the Harmandir Sahib, , , or the Darbār Sahib, 'exalted court', ) is a gurdwara located in the city of Amritsar, Punjab, India. It is the preeminent spiritual site of Sikhism. It is one of the holiest sites in Sikhism, alongside the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur in Kartarpur, and Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib.


title: Golden Temple

text: The man-made pool on the site of the temple was completed by the fourth Sikh Guru, Guru Ram Das, in 1577. In 1604, Guru Arjan placed a copy of the Adi Granth in Harmandir Sahib. The Gurdwara was repeatedly rebuilt by the Sikhs after it became a target of persecution and was destroyed several times by the Mughal and invading Afghan armies. Maharaja Ranjit Singh, after founding the Sikh Empire, rebuilt it in marble and copper in 1809, and overlaid the sanctum with gold leaf in 1830. This has led to the name the Golden Temple.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Golden Temple is spiritually the most significant shrine in Sikhism. It became a centre of the Singh Sabha Movement between 1883 and 1920s, and the Punjabi Suba movement between 1947 and 1966. In the early 1980s, the Gurdwara became a centre of conflict between the Indian government and a movement led by Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. In 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi sent in the Indian Army as part of Operation Blue Star, leading to deaths of over 1,000 soldiers and civilians, as well as causing much damage to the Gurdwara and the destruction of Akal Takht. The Gurdwara complex was rebuilt again after the 1984 damage.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Golden Temple is an open house of worship for all people, from all walks of life and faiths. It has a square plan with four entrances, and a circumambulation path around the pool. The four entrances to the gurudwara symbolises the Sikh belief in equality and the Sikh view that all people are welcome into their holy place. The complex is a collection of buildings around the sanctum and the pool. One of these is Akal Takht, the chief centre of religious authority of Sikhism. Additional buildings include a clock tower, the offices of the Gurdwara Committee, a Museum and a langar – a free Sikh community–run kitchen that offers a vegetarian meal to all visitors without discrimination. Over 150,000 people visit the holy shrine everyday for worship. The Gurdwara complex has been nominated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its application is pending on the tentative list of UNESCO.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Harmandir Sahib (Gurmukhi: ਹਰਿਮੰਦਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ) is also spelled as Harimandar or Harimandir Sahib. It is also called the "Durbār Sahib" (ਦਰਬਾਰ ਸਾਹਿਬ), which means "sacred audience", as well as the Golden Temple for its gold leaf-covered sanctum centre. The word "Harmandir" is composed of two words: "Hari", which scholars translate as "God ", and "mandir", which means "house". "Sahib" is further appended to the shrine's name, the term often used within Sikh tradition to denote respect for places of religious significance. The Sikh tradition has several Gurdwaras named "Harmandir Sahib", such as those in Kiratpur and Patna. Of these, the one in Amritsar is most revered.


title: Golden Temple

text: According to the Sikh historical records, the land that became Amritsar and houses the Harimandir Sahib was chosen by Guru Amar Das, the third Guru of the Sikh tradition. It was then called Guru Da Chakk, after he had asked his disciple Ram Das to find land to start a new town with a man-made pool as its central point. After Guru Ram Das succeeded Guru Amar Das in 1574, and in the face of hostile opposition from the sons of Guru Amar Das, Guru Ram Das founded the town that came to be known as "Ramdaspur". He started by completing the pool with the help of Baba Buddha (not to be confused with the Buddha of Buddhism). Guru Ram Das built his new official centre and home next to it. He invited merchants and artisans from other parts of India to settle in the new town with him.


title: Golden Temple

text: Ramdaspur town expanded during the time of Guru Arjan financed by donations and constructed by voluntary work. The town grew to become the city of Amritsar, and the area grew into the temple complex). The construction activity between 1574 and 1604 is described in "Mahima Prakash Vartak", a semi-historical Sikh hagiography text likely composed in 1741, and the earliest known document dealing with the lives of all the ten Gurus. Guru Arjan installed the scripture of Sikhism inside the new gurdwara in 1604. Continuing the efforts of Guru Ram Das, Guru Arjan established Amritsar as a primary Sikh pilgrimage destination. He wrote a voluminous amount of Sikh scripture including the popular Sukhmani Sahib.


title: Golden Temple

text: Guru Ram Das acquired the land for the site. Two versions of stories exist on how he acquired this land. In one, based on a Gazetteer record, the land was purchased with Sikh donations of 700 rupees from the people and owners of the village of Tung. In another version, Emperor Akbar is stated to have donated the land to the wife of Guru Ram Das.


title: Golden Temple

text: In 1581, Guru Arjan initiated the construction of the Gurdwara. During the construction the pool was kept empty and dry. It took 8 years to complete the first version of the Harmandir Sahib. Guru Arjan planned a gurdwara at a level lower than the city to emphasize humility and the need to efface one's ego before entering the premises to meet the Guru. He also demanded that the gurdwara compound be open on all sides to emphasize that it was open to all. The sanctum inside the pool where his Guru seat was, had only one bridge to emphasize that the end goal was one, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair. In 1589, the gurdwara made with bricks was complete. Guru Arjan is believed by some later sources to have invited the Sufi saint Mian Mir of Lahore to lay its foundation stone, signalling pluralism and that the Sikh tradition welcomed all. This belief is however unsubstantiated. According to Sikh traditional sources such as Sri Gur Suraj Parkash Granth it was laid by Guru Arjan himself. After the inauguration, the pool was filled with water. On 16 August 1604, Guru Arjan completed expanding and compiling the first version of the Sikh scripture and placed a copy of the Adi Granth in the gurdwara. He appointed Baba Buddha as the first Granthi.


title: Golden Temple

text: "Ath Sath Tirath", which means "shrine of 68 pilgrimages", is a raised canopy on the "parkarma" (circumambulation marble path around the pool). The name, as stated by W. Owen Cole and other scholars, reflects the belief that visiting this temple is equivalent to 68 Hindu pilgrimage sites in the Indian subcontinent, or that a Tirath to the Golden Temple has the efficacy of all 68 Tiraths combined. The completion of the first version of the Golden Temple was a major milestone for Sikhism, states Arvind-Pal Singh Mandair, because it provided a central pilgrimage place and a rallying point for the Sikh community, set within a hub of trade and activity.


title: Golden Temple

text: The growing influence and success of Guru Arjan drew the attention of the Mughal Empire. Guru Arjan was arrested under the orders of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir and asked to convert to Islam. He refused, was tortured and executed in 1606 CE. Guru Arjan's son and successor Guru Hargobind left Amritsar and moved into the Shivalik Hills to avoid persecution and to save the "Sikh panth". For about a century after Guru Arjan's martyrdom, state Louis E. Fenech and W. H. McLeod, the Golden Temple was not occupied by the actual Sikh Gurus and it remained in hostile sectarian hands. In the 18th century, Guru Gobind Singh and his newly founded Khalsa Sikhs came back and fought to liberate it. The Golden Temple was viewed by the Mughal rulers and Afghan Sultans as the centre of Sikh faith and it remained the main target of persecution.


title: Golden Temple

text: Ranjit Singh founded the nucleus of the Sikh Empire at the age of 36 with help of Sukerchakia Misl forces he inherited and those of his mother-in-law Rani Sada Kaur. In 1802, at age 22, he took Amritsar from the Bhangi Sikh "misl", paid homage at the Golden Temple and announced that he would renovate and rebuild it with marble and gold. The Temple was renovated in marble and copper in 1809, and in 1830 Ranjit Singh donated gold to overlay the sanctum with gold leaf.


title: Golden Temple

text: After learning of the Gurdwara through Maharaja Ranjit Singh, the 7th Nizam of Hyderabad "Mir Osman Ali Khan" started giving yearly grants towards it.


title: Golden Temple

text: The management and operation of Durbar Sahib – a term that refers to the entire Golden Temple complex of buildings, was taken over by Ranjit Singh. He appointed Sardar Desa Singh Majithia (1768–1832) to manage it and made land grants whose collected revenue was assigned to pay for the Temple's maintenance and operation. Ranjit Singh also made the position of Temple officials hereditary.


title: Golden Temple

text: The destruction of the temple occurred during the Operation Blue Star. It was the codename of an Indian military action carried out between 1 and 8 June 1984 to remove militant Sikh Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of the Harmandir Sahib (Golden Temple) complex in Amritsar, Punjab. The decision to launch the attack rested with Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. In July 1982, Harchand Singh Longowal, the President of the Sikh political party Akali Dal, had invited Bhindranwale to take up residence in the Golden Temple Complex to evade arrest. The government claimed Bhindranwale later made the sacred temple complex an armoury and headquarters.


title: Golden Temple

text: On 1 June 1984, after negotiations with the militants failed, Indira Gandhi ordered the army to launch Operation Blue Star, simultaneously attacking scores of Sikh temples across Punjab. A variety of army units and paramilitary forces surrounded the Golden Temple complex on 3 June 1984. The fighting started on 5 June with skirmishes and the battle went on for three days, ending on 8 June. A clean-up operation codenamed Operation Woodrose was also initiated throughout Punjab.


title: Golden Temple

text: The army had underestimated the firepower possessed by the militants, whose armament included Chinese-made rocket-propelled grenade launchers with armour piercing capabilities. Tanks and heavy artillery were used to attack the militants, who responded with anti-tank and machine-gun fire from the heavily fortified Akal Takht. After a 24-hour firefight, the army gained control of the temple complex. Casualty figures for the army were 83 dead and 249 injured. According to the official estimates, 1,592 militants were apprehended and there were 493 combined militant and civilian casualties. According to the government claims, high civilian casualties were attributed to militants using pilgrims trapped inside the temple as human shields.


title: Golden Temple

text: Brahma Chellaney, the Associated Press's South Asia correspondent, was the only foreign reporter who managed to stay on in Amritsar despite the media blackout. His dispatches, filed by telex, provided the first non-governmental news reports on the bloody operation in Amritsar. His first dispatch, front-paged by "The New York Times", "The Times of London" and "The Guardian", reported a death toll about twice of what authorities had admitted. According to the dispatch, about 780 militants and civilians and 400 troops had perished in fierce gun-battles. Chellaney reported that about "eight to ten" men suspected Sikh militants had been shot with their hands tied. In that dispatch, Mr. Chellaney interviewed a doctor who said he had been picked up by the army and forced to conduct postmortems despite the fact he had never done any postmortem examination before. In reaction to the dispatch, the Indian government charged Chellaney with violating Punjab press censorship, two counts of fanning sectarian hatred and trouble, and later with sedition, calling his report baseless and disputing his casualty figures.


title: Golden Temple

text: The military action in the temple complex was criticized by Sikhs worldwide, who interpreted it as an assault on the Sikh religion. Many Sikh soldiers in the army deserted their units; several Sikhs resigned from civil administrative office and returned awards received from the Indian government. Five months after the operation, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi was assassinated in an act of revenge by her two Sikh bodyguards, Satwant Singh and Beant Singh. Public outcry over Gandhi's death led to the killings of more than 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi alone, in the ensuing 1984 anti-Sikh riots.


title: Golden Temple

text: In December 2021, a young man was allegedly beaten to death after disrupting the Rehras Sahib (evening prayer) at the sanctum of the temple. He reportedly jumped over a railing and picked up the sword lying before the temple's copy of the Guru Granth Sahib, before attempting to touch the Guru Granth Sahib itself. He was subsequently overpowered by the sangat and received fatal injuries to the head.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Golden Temple's architecture reflects different architectural practices prevalent in the Indian subcontinent, as various iterations of temple were rebuilt and restored. The Temple is described by Ian Kerr, and other scholars, as a mixture of the Indo-Islamic Mughal and the Hindu Rajput architecture.


title: Golden Temple

text: The sanctum is a 12.25 x 12.25 metre square with two storeys and a gold leaf dome. This sanctum has a marble platform that is a 19.7 x 19.7 metre square. It sits inside an almost square (154.5 x 148.5 m) pool called "amritsar" or "amritsarovar" ("amrit" means nectar, "sar" is short form of "sarovar" and means pool). The pool is 5.1 metre deep and is surrounded by a 3.7 metre wide circumambulatory marble passage that is circled clockwise. The sanctum is connected to the platform by a causeway and the gateway into the causeway is called the Darshani Ḍeorhi (from "Darshana Dvara"). For those who wish to take a dip in the pool, the Temple provides a half hexagonal shelter and holy steps to Har ki Pauri. Bathing in the pool is believed by many Sikhs to have restorative powers, purifying one's "karma". Some carry bottles of the pool water home particularly for sick friends and relatives. The pool is maintained by volunteers who perform "kar seva" (community service) by draining and desilting it periodically.


title: Golden Temple

text: The sanctum has two floors. The Sikh Scripture "Guru Granth Sahib" is seated on the lower square floor for about 20 hours every day, and for 4 hours it is taken to its bedroom inside Akal Takht with elaborate ceremonies in a palki, for "sukhasana" and "Prakash". The floor with the seated scripture is raised a few steps above the entrance causeway level. The upper floor in the sanctum is a gallery and connected by stairs. The ground floor is lined with white marble, as is the path surrounding the sanctum. The sanctum's exterior has gilded copper plates. The doors are gold leaf-covered copper sheets with nature motifs such as birds and flowers. The ceiling of the upper floor is gilded, embossed and decorated with jewels. The sanctum dome is semi-spherical with a pinnacle ornament. The sides are embellished with arched copings and small solid domes, the corners adorning cupolas, all of which are covered with gold leaf-covered gilded copper.


title: Golden Temple

text: The floral designs on the marble panels of the walls around the sanctum are Arabesque. The arches include verses from the Sikh scripture in gold letters. The frescoes follow the Indian tradition and include animal, bird and nature motifs rather than being purely geometrical. The stair walls have murals of Sikh Gurus such as the falcon carrying Guru Gobind Singh riding a horse.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Darshani Deorhi is a two-storey structure that houses the temple management offices and treasury. At the exit of the path leading away from the sanctum is the "Prasada" facility, where volunteers serve a flour-based sweet offering called "Karah prasad". Typically, the pilgrims to the Golden Temple enter and make a clockwise circumambulation around the pool before entering the sanctum. There are four entrances to the gurdwara complex signifying the openness to all sides, but a single entrance to the sanctum of the temple through a causeway.


title: Golden Temple

text: They also have free service of wheelchair. Anyone can take wheelchair and roam around the temple. Worshipper can take wheelchair from starting entrance and they have a special lift to physically challenged people.


title: Golden Temple

text: In front of the sanctum and the causeway is the Akal Takht building. It is the chief "Takht", a centre of authority in Sikhism. Its name "Akal Takht" means "throne of the Timeless (God)". The institution was established by Guru Hargobind after the martyrdom of his father Guru Arjan, as a place to conduct ceremonial, spiritual and secular affairs, issuing binding writs on Sikh Gurdwaras far from his own location. A building was later constructed over the Takht founded by Guru Hargobind, and this came to be known as Akal Bunga. The Akal Takht is also known as Takht Sri Akal Bunga. The Sikh tradition has five Takhts, all of which are major pilgrimage sites in Sikhism. These are in Anandpur, Patna, Nanded, Talwandi Sabo and Amritsar. The Akal Takht in the Golden Temple complex is the primary seat and chief. It is also the headquarters of the main political party of the Indian state of Punjab, Shiromani Akali Dal (Supreme Akali Party). The Akal Takht issues edicts or writs ("hukam") on matters related to Sikhism and the solidarity of the Sikh community.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Teja Singh Samundri Hall is the office of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (Supreme Committee of Temple Management). It is located in a building near the Langar-kitchen and Assembly Hall. This office coordinates and oversees the operations of major Sikh temples.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Ramgarhia Bunga – the two high towers visible from the "parikrama" (circumambulation) walkway around the tank, is named after a Sikh subgroup. The red sandstone minaret-style "Bunga" (buêgā) towers were built in the 18th century, a period of Afghan attacks and temple demolitions. It is named after the Sikh warrior and Ramgarhia misl chief Jassa Singh Ramgarhia. It was constructed as the temple watchtowers for sentinels to watch for any military raid approaching the temple and the surrounding area, help rapidly gather a defense to protect the Golden Temple complex. According to Fenech and McLeod, during the 18th century, Sikh misl chiefs and rich communities built over 70 such "Bungas" of different shapes and forms around the temple to watch the area, house soldiers and defend the temple. These served defensive purposes, provided accommodation for Sikh pilgrims and served as centres of learning in the 19th century. Most of the Bungas were demolished during the British colonial era. The Ramgarhia Bunga remains a symbol of the Ramgarhia Sikh community's identity, their historic sacrifices and contribution to defending the Golden Temple over the centuries.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Clock Tower did not exist in the original version of the temple. In its location was a building, now called the "lost palace". The officials of the British India wanted to demolish the building after the Second Anglo-Sikh war and once they had annexed the Sikh Empire. The Sikhs opposed the demolition, but this opposition was ignored. In its place, the clock tower was added. The clock tower was designed by John Gordon in a Gothic cathedral style with red bricks. The clock tower construction started in 1862 and was completed in 1874. The tower was demolished by the Sikh community about 70 years later. In its place, a new entrance was constructed with a design more harmonious with the Temple. This entrance on the north side has a clock, houses a museum on its upper floor, and it continues to be called "ghanta ghar deori".


title: Golden Temple

text: The Golden Temple complex originally was open and had numerous trees around the pool. It is now a walled, two-storey courtyard with four entrances, that preserve three Ber trees (jujube). One of them is to the right of the main "ghanta ghar deori" entrance with the clock, and it is called the "Ber Baba Buddha". It is believed in the Sikh tradition to be the tree where Baba Buddha sat to supervise the construction of the pool and first temple.


title: Golden Temple

text: A second tree is called "Laachi Ber", believed to the one under which Guru Arjan rested while the temple was being built. The third one is called "Dukh Bhanjani Ber", located on the other side of the sanctum, across the pool. It is believed in the Sikh tradition that this tree was the location where a Sikh was cured of his leprosy after taking a dip in the pool, giving the tree the epithet of "suffering remover". There is a small Gurdwara underneath the tree. The "Ath Sath Tirath", or the spot equivalent to 68 pilgrimages, is in the shade underneath the "Dukh Bhanjani Ber" tree. Sikh devotees, states Charles Townsend, believe that bathing in the pool near this spot delivers the same fruits as a visit to 68 pilgrimage places in India.


title: Golden Temple

text: The main "ghanta ghari deori" north entrance has a Sikh history museum on the first floor, according to the Sikh tradition. The display shows various paintings, of gurus and martyrs, many narrating the persecution of Sikhs over their history, as well as historical items such as swords, "kartar", comb, "chakkars". A new underground museum near the clock tower, but outside the temple courtyard also shows Sikh history. According to Louis E. Fenech, the display does not present the parallel traditions of Sikhism and is partly ahistorical such as a headless body continuing to fight, but a significant artwork and reflects the general trend in Sikhism of presenting their history to be one of persecution, martyrdoms and bravery in wars.


title: Golden Temple

text: The main entrance to the Gurdwara has many memorial plaques that commemorate past Sikh historical events, saints and martyrs, contributions of Ranjit Singh, as well as commemorative inscriptions of all the Sikh soldiers who died fighting in the two World Wars and the various Indo-Pakistan wars.


title: Golden Temple

text: Harmandir Sahib complex has a Langar, a community-run free kitchen and dining hall. It is attached to the east side of the courtyard near the "Dukh Bhanjani Ber", outside of the entrance. Food is served here to all visitors who want it, regardless of faith, gender or economic background. Vegetarian food is served and all people eat together as equals. Everyone sits on the floor in rows, which is called "sangat". The meal is served by volunteers as part of their "kar seva" ethos.


title: Golden Temple

text: There are several rites performed everyday in the Golden Temple as per the historic Sikh tradition. These rites treat the scripture as a living person, a Guru out of respect. They include:


title: Golden Temple

text: The Singh Sabha movement was a late-19th century movement within the Sikh community to rejuvenate and reform Sikhism at a time when Christian, Hindu and Muslim proselytizers were actively campaigning to convert Sikhs to their religion. The movement was triggered by the conversion of Ranjit Singh's son Duleep Singh and other well-known people to Christianity. Started in 1870s, the Singh Sabha movement's aims were to propagate the true Sikh religion, restore and reform Sikhism to bring back into the Sikh fold the apostates who had left Sikhism. There were three main groups with different viewpoints and approaches, of which the Tat Khalsa group had become dominant by the early 1880s. Before 1905, the Golden Temple had Brahmin priests, idols and images for at least a century, attracting pious Sikhs and Hindus. In 1890s, these idols and practices came under attack from reformist Sikhs. In 1905, with the campaign of the Tat Khalsa, these idols and images were removed from the Golden Temple. The Singh Sabha movement brought the Khalsa back to the fore of Gurdwara administration over the "mahants" (priests) class, who had taken over control of the main gurdwaras and other institutions vacated by the Khalsa in their fight for survival against the Mughals during the 18th century and had been most prominent during the 19th century.


title: Golden Temple

text: As per tradition, the Sikhs gathered in the Golden Temple to celebrate the festival of Baisakhi in 1919. After their visit, many walked over to the Jallianwala Bagh next to it to listen to speakers protesting Rowlatt Act and other policies implemented by the British colonial government. A large crowd had gathered, when Colonel Reginald Edward Harry Dyer ordered a detachment of ninety soldiers (drawn from the 9th Gorkha Rifles and the 59th Scinde Rifles) under his command to surround the Jallianwala Bagh, and then open fire into the crowd. 379 were killed and thousands were wounded in the massacre. The massacre strengthened the opposition to colonial rule throughout India, particularly that from Sikhs. It triggered massive non-violent protests. The protests pressured the British colonial government to transfer the control over the management and treasury of the Golden Temple to an elected organisation called Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC). The SGPC continues to manage the Golden Temple.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Punjabi Suba movement was a long-drawn political agitation, launched by the Sikhs, demanding the creation of a Punjabi Suba, or Punjabi-speaking state, in the post-independence state of East Punjab. It was first presented as a policy position in April 1948 by the Shiromani Akali Dal, after the States Reorganization Commission set up after independence was not effective in the north of the country during its work to delineate states on a linguistic basis. The Golden Temple complex was the main centre of operations of the movement, and important events during the movement that occurred at the gurdwara included the 1955 raid by the government to quash the movement, and the subsequent Amritsar Convention in 1955 to convey Sikh sentiments to the central government. The complex was also the site of speeches, demonstrations, and mass arrests, and where leaders of the movement domiciled in huts during hunger strikes. The borders of the modern state of Punjab, along with the official status of the state's native language of Punjabi in the Gurmukhi script, are the result of the movement, which culminated in the setting of the current borders in 1966.


title: Golden Temple

text: The Golden Temple and Akal Takht were occupied by various militant groups in the early 1980s. These included the Dharam Yudh Morcha led by Sikh fundamentalist Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, the Babbar Khalsa, the AISSF and the National Council of Khalistan. In December 1983, the Sikh political party Akali Dal's President Harchand Singh Longowal had invited Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale to take up residence in Golden Temple Complex. The Bhindranwale-led group under the military leadership of General Shabeg Singh had begun to build bunkers and observations posts in and around the Golden Temple. They organised the armed militants present at the Harmandir Sahib in Amritsar in June 1984. The Golden Temple became a place for weapons training for the militants. Shabeg Singh's military expertise is credited with the creation of effective defences of the Gurdwara Complex that made the possibility of a commando operation on foot impossible. Supporters of this militant movement circulated maps showing parts of northwest India, north Pakistan and eastern Afghanistan as historic and future boundaries of the Khalsa Sikhs, with varying claims in different maps.


title: Golden Temple

text: In June 1984, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi ordered the Indian Army to begin Operation Blue Star against the militants. The operation caused severe damage and destroyed the Akal Takht. Numerous soldiers, militants and civilians died in the crossfire, with official estimates of death of 492 civilians and 83 Indian army men. Within days of the Operation Bluestar, some 2,000 Sikh soldiers in India mutinied and attempted to reach Amritsar to liberate the Golden Temple. Within six months, on 31 October 1984, Indira Gandhi's Sikh bodyguards assassinated her.


title: Golden Temple

text: In 1986, Indira Gandhi's son and the next Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi ordered repairs to the Akal Takht Sahib. These repairs were removed and Sikhs rebuilt the Akal Takht Sahib in 1999.


title: Golden Temple

text: Granthi is a person, female or male, of the Sikh religion who is a ceremonial reader of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib, which is the Holy Book in Sikhism. Here is list of granthi:


title: Rodolfo Gucci

text: Rodolfo Gucci (16 July 1912 – 15 May 1983), also known by his stage name Maurizio D'Ancora, was an Italian actor and entrepreneur, who appeared in more than 40 films between 1929 and 1946. He was a member of the Gucci family. His only child, Maurizio Gucci, was named after his stage name.


title: Rodolfo Gucci

text: Rodolfo Gucci was born in 1912 in Florence, Italy to Aida Calvelli and Guccio Gucci. He was one of five sons and one daughter.


title: Rodolfo Gucci

text: He was spotted by the director Alfred Lind who gave him his film debut in 1929. The same year he appeared in Mario Camerini's "Rails", which launched his career. He used Maurizio D'Ancora as his screen name. While filming "Together in the Dark", he met his future wife. He was married in 1944 in Venice, Italy to the actress Sandra Ravel. Their only child was born in 1948, Maurizio, named after his father's stage name.


title: Rodolfo Gucci

text: He was one of the five sons of Guccio Gucci, founder of the eponymous fashion house. In January 1953, D'Ancora left acting and returned to the family business after the death of his father. In 1952, Rodolfo and his brothers Aldo and Vasco traveled to New York City. They opened the first Gucci store outside of Italy in New York City, only two weeks before their father's death. In 1967, he created the Gucci "Flora scarf" for Grace Kelly.


title: Rodolfo Gucci

text: After their brother Vasco Gucci died in 1974, Rodolfo and Aldo divided the business among themselves 50/50. However, Aldo's sons felt that Rodolfo had not contributed enough to the growth of the business. In an attempt to increase his profits, Aldo set up a perfume subsidiary and held 80 percent of its ownership for himself and his three sons. This rivalry eventually spiralled into family warfare.


title: Rodolfo Gucci

text: Rodolfo Gucci died in 1983 in Milan. After his death, his son Maurizio Gucci inherited his majority stake in the company and became the majority shareholder. After a nearly six-year legal battle for control over Gucci against Aldo Gucci, in 1989 Maurizio Gucci was made chairman of the Gucci group. Maurizio did not have a background in business, and by 1993 the business was in dire economic and creative straits. That year Maurizio Gucci resigned and sold his remaining interest to Investcorp, ending the Gucci family's association with the company. In 1995, Maurizio Gucci was gunned down by a hired hit man. In 1998, his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani was convicted of arranging the killing.


title: The King's Affection

text: The King's Affection (), is a 2021 South Korean television series starring Park Eun-bin, Rowoon, Nam Yoon-su, Choi Byung-chan, Bae Yoon-kyung, and Jung Chae-yeon. The story is based on Lee So-young's manhwa "Yeonmo". It aired on KBS2 from October 11 to December 14, 2021, every Monday and Tuesday at 21:30 (KST) for 20 episodes. It also premiered worldwide on Netflix on the same day.


title: The King's Affection

text: "The King's Affection" is the first South Korean television series to win an International Emmy Award.


title: The King's Affection

text: The story is set during the Joseon dynasty, at a time when twins were considered an ominous sign. As a result, when the Crown Princess gives birth to twins, an order is sent to kill the daughter. To save her, she is secretly sent out of the palace.


title: The King's Affection

text: A few years later, the twin daughter Dam-yi returns to the palace to work as a maid. When the male twin, Lee Hwi, loses his life through a case of mistaken identity, their mother, having recognised her daughter as the court maid Dam-yi, persuades her to take Lee Hwi's place. Although she distances herself from everybody, Lee Hwi (Dam-yi) starts developing feelings for Jung Ji-woon, her original first love and later teacher who comes from a noble family.


title: The King's Affection

text: The manhwa hypothesized the existence of a fictional king between Seongjong and Yejong, but the production decided to remove any reference to real people, setting the series during the reign of a fictional king and changing the background of the male lead.


title: The King's Affection

text: On December 17, 2020, "Ilgan Sports" reported that Park Eun-bin would play the female lead in KBS's new drama "The King's Affection". Earlier in the day, the actress' agency, Namoo Actors, declared that she was still considering the offer. On January 15, 2021, "Ilgan Sports" identified Rowoon as the male lead, but FNC Entertainment stated that for the moment he was focusing on filming "She Would Never Know" and nothing had been decided.


title: The King's Affection

text: In the following months, Nam Yoon-su, Choi Byung-chan and Jung Chae-yeon joined the cast; meanwhile Park Eun-bin and Rowoon were confirmed on March 19, 2021. Nam decided to participate in the series to gain new experiences and because he had found the character of Lee Hyun unpredictable, while Rowoon because of the love story told and because he wanted to try his hand in a historical drama.


title: The King's Affection

text: Park Eun-bin received the script for "The King's Affection" at a time when she was thinking about acting in a historical drama again, as the last one she filmed was "Secret Door" in 2014. While aware that there would be other opportunities in the future to fulfill her wish, she decided to take the role because the premise of the series was very attractive and she doubted she would have another chance to play a king. At the press conference before broadcast, Park commented that despite her taking on the role of Lee Hwi with confidence, she had had a hard time making it convincing because it was the first time a woman played a king. Instead of trying to simply disguise herself as a man, she attempted to focus on showing why Hwi had to pretend to be a male and on the moments in which she faced doubts and dangers, as her real side slips out, declaring that she wanted Hwi to be seen as a person regardless of gender. She also took riding lessons and paid attention to adjusting the tone of her voice according to the people around Hwi.


title: The King's Affection

text: Filming began in April 2021 and ended on November 15. It was halted on July 26, 2021, as one of the production staff who participated in the July 24 filming was tested positive for COVID-19. All of the cast members and production staff were subsequently tested and went into self-quarantine on the same day. On July 27, it was announced that Park Eun-bin, Lee Pil-mo and Bae Soo-bin tested negative for COVID-19. On July 28, it was reported that Nam Yoon-su test result was also negative, and filming resumed on the same day.


title: The King's Affection

text: On August 6, it was revealed that filming was cancelled due to a fire that broke out a day earlier, at 21:10 KST, when the crew was filming at the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. The fire was extinguished by firefighters within 20 minutes.


title: The King's Affection

text: Filming locations also include Hangae Village in Seongju County and Hanjujeongsa Temple on its summit; Gyeonggijeon Temple, its hyanggyo (provincial school) and hanok village in Jeonju, Munheon Confucian school in Seocheon County, Mungyeong Saejae provincial park in Mungyeong, Buan Cinema Theme Park, Itaesarang rock in Geochang, Manhyujeong pavilion in Andong, Gwanghalluwon garden in Namwon, and two fortresses, namely Jukjusanseong in Anseong and Sangdangsanseong in Cheongju.


title: The King's Affection

text: Overall, "The King's Affection" was well received by critics, both in South Korea and abroad. Several outlets felt that it opened a new horizon in the stories of women disguised as men, and that Hwi's independence and how she repeatedly saved Ji-woon constituted a 180° shift in the gender roles of a typical romantic series, appreciating "the rare attempt" to make the female lead occupy a higher social position, instead of recounting the sad love between a high-ranking man and a woman of humble origins, and observing that the concept of the woman who pretends to be a man transcends the dimension of melodrama, extending towards the dimension of battles for values and self-affirmation, and comparing it to the struggles against prejudice fought by minorities excluded for their diversity.


title: The King's Affection

text: Calling the drama "interesting and different" from previous series in which the female lead wore male clothes, such as "Coffee Prince", "Sungkyungwan Scandal" or "Love in the Moonlight", the Thai news agency Workpoint Today noted that the fact that the hero fell in love regardless of the other person's gender could be considered an attempt to help normalize boundless love, blurring the lines between femininity and masculinity still deeply rooted in South Korean society, and appreciated the absence of the classic scene in which the male lead wonders why he likes a person of the same sex. Through the revival of stereotypical scenes, but in which Ji-woon adopts behaviors usually attributed to female characters, and through the debates on Confucius' teachings, it also identified the desire to shatter the distinction between male and female roles particularly clear in historical series, and the conviction that traditional beliefs should no longer define sexuality. AlloCiné found that the intonation is evocative of Mulan, but observed that the series stood out for its very light plot, and narrated the sentimental wanderings of a young woman in a fundamentally patriarchal environment, calling it "feminist in more than one way". In general, critics appreciated the more open vision of love presented by the series, considering it more daring than previous historical dramas with the same concept given the greater presence of queer elements, not only in the BL relationship between Hwi and Ji-woon, but also in the GL one between Hwi and Ha-kyung.


title: The King's Affection

text: Compliments were also directed to the aesthetics of the sets and costumes, and to the interpretations of the protagonists, especially to the performances of Choi Myung-bin in the roles of both Dam-yi and her brother Hwi as children, and to the more nuanced one by Park Eun-bin, whose complete identification with the character was considered one of the main reasons for the popularity of the series. Moreover, the drama attracted positive comments for the portrayal of youth fighting against the status quo in order to protect their rights and happiness, freely expressing, in an imaginary world, metaphors of reality and social taboos that are difficult to manage in a series set in modern times, for example the older generation's attempt to arbitrarily define and classify young people according to its own desires: in particular, Han Ki-jae's ambition to wield power by maneuvering Hwi like a puppet evoked the election campaign for the new President of South Korea and the way in which the political community incited young people to vote.


title: The King's Affection

text: Popular culture critic Jung Deok-hyun noted, however, that while it might have been possible for a crown prince to fall in love with a eunuch, seeing Ji-woon courting Hwi was disconcerting, as, taking into account Joseon's power structure and discrimination between men and women at the time, it would have been more common to witness the opposite, considering Hwi's position of greater power; consequently, he found the dynamics between the two characters implausible, also due to the fact that Ji-woon ignored Hwi's true gender, and observed that, if the relationship had been treated with greater seriousness and foresight, it could have become a true queer drama, especially if the production decided to opt for the story of a true homosexual love. However, he noted that it was a "strangely exciting" drama, probably because of the love story that transcends hierarchy and gender, and that, despite the ridiculous situations and the low plausibility, it had managed to capture the audience by making them believe that such a story could actually take place.