title: Actor

text: The terms "audio drama" or "audio theatre" are sometimes used synonymously with "radio drama" with one possible distinction: audio drama or audio theatre may not necessarily be intended specifically for broadcast on radio. Audio drama, whether newly produced or OTR classics, can be found on CDs, cassette tapes, podcasts, webcasts, and conventional broadcast radio.


title: Actor

text: Thanks to advances in digital recording and Internet distribution, radio drama is experiencing a revival.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a 2000 wuxia film directed by Ang Lee and written for the screen by Wang Hui-ling, James Schamus, and Tsai Kuo-jung . The film features a cast of actors of Chinese ethnicity, including Chow Yun-fat, Michelle Yeoh, Zhang Ziyi, and Chang Chen. It is based on the Chinese novel of the same name serialized between 1941 and 1942 by Wang Dulu, the fourth part of his "Crane Iron" pentalogy.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: A multinational venture, the film was made on a US$17 million budget, and was produced by Edko Films and Zoom Hunt Productions in collaboration with China Film Co-productions Corporation and Asian Union Film & Entertainment for Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia in association with Good Machine International. With dialogue in Standard Chinese, subtitled for various markets, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" became a surprise international success, grossing $213.5 million worldwide. It grossed US$128 million in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing foreign-language film produced overseas in American history. The film was the first foreign-language film (it was filmed in Chinese) to break the $100 million mark in the United States.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 2000, and was theatrically released in the United States on 8 December. An overwhelming critical and commercial success, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" won over 40 awards and was nominated for 10 Academy Awards in 2001, including Best Picture, and won Best Foreign Language Film, Best Art Direction, Best Original Score, and Best Cinematography, receiving the most nominations ever for a non-English-language film at the time, until 2018's "Roma" tied this record. The film also won four BAFTAs and two Golden Globe Awards, one for Best Foreign Film. Along with its numerous awards, "Crouching Tiger" is often cited as one of the finest wuxia films ever made. The film has been praised for its story, direction, cinematography, and martial arts sequences.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: In 19th-century Qing dynasty China, Li Mu Bai is a renowned Wudang swordsman, and his friend Yu Shu Lien, a female warrior, heads a private security company. Shu Lien and Mu Bai have long had feelings for each other, but because Shu Lien had been engaged to Mu Bai's close friend, Meng Sizhao before his death, Shu Lien and Mu Bai feel bound by loyalty to Meng Sizhao and have not revealed their feelings for each other. Mu Bai, choosing to retire, asks Shu Lien to give his fabled 400-year-old sword "Green Destiny" to their benefactor Sir Te in Beijing. Long ago, Mu Bai's teacher was killed by Jade Fox, a woman who sought to learn Wudang skills. While at Sir Te's place, Shu Lien meets Yu Jiaolong, or Jen, who is the daughter of the rich and powerful Governor Yu and is about to get married.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: One evening, a masked thief sneaks into Sir Te's estate and steals the Green Destiny. Sir Te's servant Master Bo and Shu Lien trace the theft to Governor Yu's compound, where Jade Fox had been posing as Jen's governess for many years. Soon after, Mu Bai arrives in Beijing and discusses the theft with Shu Lien. Master Bo makes the acquaintance of Inspector Tsai, a police investigator from the provinces, and his daughter May, who have come to Beijing in pursuit of Fox. Fox challenges the pair and Master Bo to a showdown that night. Following a protracted battle, the group is on the verge of defeat when Mu Bai arrives and outmaneuvers Fox. She reveals that she killed Mu Bai's teacher because he would sleep with her, but refuse to take a woman as a disciple, and she felt it poetic justice for him to die at a woman's hand. Just as Mu Bai is about to kill her, the masked thief reappears and helps Fox. Fox kills Tsai before fleeing with the thief (who is revealed to be Jen). After seeing Jen fight Mu Bai, Fox realizes Jen had been secretly studying the Wudang manual. Fox is illiterate and could only follow the diagrams, whereas Jen's ability to read the manual allowed her to surpass her teacher in martial arts.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: At night, a bandit named Lo breaks into Jen's bedroom and asks her to leave with him. A flashback reveals that in the past, when Governor Yu and his family were traveling in the western deserts, Lo and his bandits raided Jen's caravan and Lo stole her comb. She pursued him to his desert cave to get her comb back. However, the pair soon fell in love. Lo eventually convinced Jen to return to her family, though not before telling her a legend of a man who jumped off a cliff to make his wishes come true. Because the man's heart was pure, he did not die. Lo has come now to Beijing to persuade Jen not to go through with her arranged marriage. However, Jen refuses to leave with him. Later, Lo interrupts Jen's wedding procession, begging her to leave with him. Shu Lien and Mu Bai convince Lo to wait for Jen at Mount Wudang, where he will be safe from Jen's family, who are furious with him. Jen runs away from her husband on their wedding night before the marriage can be consummated. Disguised in male clothing, she is accosted at an inn by a large group of warriors; armed with the Green Destiny and her own superior combat skills, she emerges victorious.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Jen visits Shu Lien, who tells her that Lo is waiting for her at Mount Wudang. After an angry exchange, the two women engage in a duel. Shu Lien is the superior fighter, but Jen wields the Green Destiny and is able to destroy each weapon that Shu Lien wields, until Shu Lien finally manages to defeat Jen with a broken sword. When Shu Lien shows mercy, Jen wounds Shu Lien in the arm. Mu Bai arrives and pursues Jen into a bamboo forest. Mu Bai confronts Jen and offers to take her as his student. She promises to accept him as her teacher if he can take Green Destiny from her in three moves. Mu Bai is able to take the sword in one move, but Jen reneges and Mu Bai throws the sword over a waterfall. Jen dives after it and is then rescued by Fox. Fox puts Jen into a drugged sleep and places her in a cavern, where Mu Bai and Shu Lien discover her. Fox suddenly appears and attacks the others with poisoned needles. Mu Bai blocks the needles with his sword and mortally wounds Fox, only to realize that one of the needles has hit him in the neck. With her last breath, Fox confesses that her goal had been to kill Jen because Jen had hidden the secrets of Wudang's fighting techniques from her.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Contrite, Jen leaves to prepare an antidote for the poisoned dart. With his last breath, Mu Bai finally confesses his love for Shu Lien. He dies in her arms as Jen returns. Shu Lien forgives Jen, telling her to go to Lo and always be true to herself. The Green Destiny is returned to Sir Te. Jen later goes to Mount Wudang and spends the night with Lo. The next morning, Lo finds Jen standing on a bridge overlooking the edge of the mountain. In an echo of the legend that they spoke about in the desert, she asks him to make a wish. Lo wishes for them to be together again, back in the desert. Jen then glides off the bridge and gently floats down into the mists.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The title ""Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"" is a literal translation of the Chinese idiom "臥虎藏龍" which describes a place or situation that is full of unnoticed masters. It is from a poem of the ancient Chinese poet Yu Xin (513–581) that reads "暗石疑藏虎，盤根似臥龍", which means "behind the rock in the dark probably hides a tiger, and the coiling giant root resembles a crouching dragon". The title also has several other layers of meaning. On the most obvious level, the Chinese characters in the title connect to the narrative that the last character in Xiaohu and Jiaolong's names mean "tiger" and "dragon", respectively. On another level, the Chinese idiomatic phrase is an expression referring to the undercurrents of emotion, passion, and secret desire that lie beneath the surface of polite society and civil behavior, which alludes to the film's storyline.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The success of the Disney animated feature "Mulan" (1998) popularized the image of the Chinese woman warrior in the west. The storyline of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is mostly driven by the three female characters. In particular, Jen is driven by her desire to be free from the gender role imposed on her, while Shu Lien, herself oppressed by the gender role, tries to lead Jen back into the role deemed appropriate for her. Some prominent martial arts disciplines are traditionally held to have been originated by women, e.g., Wing Chun. The film's title refers to masters one does not notice, which necessarily includes mostly women, and therefore suggests the advantage of a female bodyguard.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Poison is also a significant theme in the film. The Chinese word "毒" ("dú") means not only physical poison but also cruelty and sinfulness. In the world of martial arts, the use of poison is considered an act of one who is too cowardly and dishonorable to fight; and indeed, the only character who explicitly fits these characteristics is Jade Fox. The poison is a weapon of her bitterness and quest for vengeance: she poisons the master of Wudang, attempts to poison Jen, and succeeds in killing Mu Bai using a poisoned needle. In further play on this theme by the director, Jade Fox, as she dies, refers to the poison from a young child, "the deceit of an eight-year-old girl", referring to what she considers her own spiritual poisoning by her young apprentice Jen. Li Mu Bai himself warns that, without guidance, Jen could become a "poison dragon".


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The story is set during the Qing dynasty (1644–1912), but it does not specify an exact time. Lee sought to present a "China of the imagination" rather than an accurate vision of Chinese history. At the same time, Lee also wanted to make a film that Western audiences would want to see. Thus, the film is shot for a balance between Eastern and Western aesthetics. There are some scenes showing uncommon artistry for the typical martial arts film such as an airborne battle among wispy bamboo plants.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film was adapted from the novel "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" by Wang Dulu, serialized between 1941 and 1942 in "Qingdao Xinmin News". The novel is the fourth in a sequence of five. In the contract reached between Columbia Pictures and Ang Lee and Hsu Li-kong, they agreed to invest US$6 million in filming, but the stipulated recovery amount must be more than six times before the two parties will start to pay dividends.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Although its Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film was presented to Taiwan, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was in fact an international co-production between companies in four regions: the Chinese company China Film Co-production Corporation, the American companies Columbia Pictures Film Production Asia, Sony Pictures Classics, and Good Machine, the Hong Kong company Edko Films, and the Taiwanese Zoom Hunt Productions, as well as the unspecified United China Vision and Asia Union Film & Entertainment, created solely for this film.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film was made in Beijing, with location shooting in the Anhui, Hebei, Jiangsu, and Xinjiang provinces of China. The first phase of shooting was in the Gobi Desert where it consistently rained. Director Ang Lee noted, "I didn't take one break in eight months, not even for half a day. I was miserable—I just didn't have the extra energy to be happy. Near the end, I could hardly breathe. I thought I was about to have a stroke." The stunt work was mostly performed by the actors themselves and Ang Lee stated in an interview that computers were used "only to remove the safety wires that held the actors" aloft. "Most of the time you can see their faces," he added. "That's really them in the trees."


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Another compounding issue was the difference between accents of the four lead actors: Chow Yun-fat is from Hong Kong and speaks Cantonese natively; Michelle Yeoh is from Malaysia and grew up speaking English and Malay, so she learned the Standard Chinese lines phonetically; Chang Chen is from Taiwan and he speaks Standard Chinese in a Taiwanese accent. Only Zhang Ziyi spoke with a native Mandarin accent that Ang Lee wanted. Chow Yun Fat said, on "the first day [of shooting], I had to do 28 takes just because of the language. That's never happened before in my life."


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film specifically targeted Western audiences rather than the domestic audiences who were already used to Wuxia films. As a result, high-quality English subtitles were needed. Ang Lee, who was educated in the West, personally edited the subtitles to ensure they were satisfactory for Western audiences.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The score was composed by Tan Dun, originally performed by Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, Shanghai National Orchestra, and Shanghai Percussion Ensemble. It also features many solo passages for cello played by Yo-Yo Ma. The "last track" ("A Love Before Time") features Coco Lee, who later performed it at the Academy Awards. The composer Chen Yuanlin also collaborated in the project. The music for the entire film was produced in two weeks.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film was adapted into a video game and a series of comics, and it led to the original novel being adapted into a 34-episode Taiwanese television series. The latter was released in 2004 as "New Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" for Northern American release.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film was released on VHS and DVD on 5 June 2001 by Columbia TriStar Home Entertainment. In the United Kingdom, it was watched by viewers on television in 2004, making it the year's most-watched foreign-language film on television.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film premiered in cinemas on 8 December 2000, in limited release within the United States. During its opening weekend, the film opened in 15th place, grossing $663,205 in business, showing at 16 locations. On 12 January 2001, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" premiered in cinemas in wide release throughout the U.S., grossing $8,647,295 in business, ranking in sixth place. The film "Save the Last Dance" came in first place during that weekend, grossing $23,444,930. The film's revenue dropped by almost 30% in its second week of release, earning $6,080,357. For that particular weekend, the film fell to eighth place, screening in 837 theaters. "Save the Last Dance" remained unchanged in first place, grossing $15,366,047 in box-office revenue. During its final week in release, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" opened in a distant 50th place with $37,233 in revenue. The film went on to top out domestically at $128,078,872 in total ticket sales through a 31-week theatrical run. Internationally, the film took in an additional $85,446,864 in box-office business for a combined worldwide total of $213,525,736. For 2000 as a whole, the film cumulatively ranked at a worldwide box-office performance position of 19.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was very well received in the Western world, receiving numerous awards. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 97% based on 157 reviews, with an average rating of 8.61/10. The site's critical consensus states: "The movie that catapulted Ang Lee into the ranks of upper echelon Hollywood filmmakers, "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" features a deft mix of amazing martial arts battles, beautiful scenery, and tasteful drama." Metacritic reported the film had an average score of 94 out of 100, based on 32 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Some Chinese-speaking viewers were bothered by the accents of the leading actors. Neither Chow (a native Cantonese speaker) nor Yeoh (who was born and raised in Malaysia) spoke Mandarin Chinese as a mother tongue. All four main actors spoke Standard Chinese with vastly different accents: Chow speaks with a Cantonese accent, Yeoh with a Malaysian accent, Chang Chen with a Taiwanese accent, and Zhang Ziyi with a Beijing accent. Yeoh responded to this complaint in a 28 December 2000, interview with "Cinescape". She argued, "My character lived outside of Beijing, and so I didn't have to do the Beijing accent." When the interviewer, Craig Reid, remarked, "My mother-in-law has this strange Sichuan-Mandarin accent that's hard for me to understand," Yeoh responded: "Yes, provinces all have their very own strong accents. When we first started the movie, Cheng Pei Pei was going to have her accent, and Chang Zhen was going to have his accent, and this person would have that accent. And in the end nobody could understand what they were saying. Forget about us, even the crew from Beijing thought this was all weird."


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film led to a boost in popularity of Chinese wuxia films in the western world, where they were previously little known, and led to films such as "Hero" and "House of Flying Daggers", both directed by Zhang Yimou, being marketed towards Western audiences. The film also provided the breakthrough role for Zhang Ziyi's career, who noted:


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: "Film Journal" noted that "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" "pulled off the rare trifecta of critical acclaim, boffo box-office and gestalt shift", in reference to its ground-breaking success for a subtitled film in the American market.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: Gathering widespread critical acclaim at the Toronto and New York film festivals, the film also became a favorite when Academy Awards nominations were announced in 2001. The film was screened out of competition at the 2000 Cannes Film Festival. The film received ten Academy Award nominations, which was the highest ever for a non-English language film, up until it was tied by "Roma" (2018).


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film is ranked at number 497 on "Empire"'s 2008 list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. and at number 66 in the magazine's 100 Best Films of World Cinema, published in 2010.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: In 2010, the Independent Film & Television Alliance selected the film as one of the 30 Most Significant Independent Films of the last 30 years.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: In 2016, it was voted the 35th-best film of the 21st century as picked by 177 film critics from around the world in a poll conducted by BBC.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The film was included in BBC's 2018 list of The 100 greatest foreign language films ranked by 209 critics from 43 countries around the world. In 2019, "The Guardian" ranked the film 51st in its 100 best films of the 21st century list.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: A sequel to the film, "", was released in 2016. It was directed by Yuen Wo-ping, who was the action choreographer for the first film. It is a co-production between Pegasus Media, China Film Group Corporation, and the Weinstein Company. Unlike the original film, the sequel was filmed in English for international release and dubbed into Chinese for Chinese releases.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: "Sword of Destiny" is based on "Iron Knight, Silver Vase", the next (and last) novel in the Crane–Iron Pentalogy. It features a mostly new cast, headed by Donnie Yen. Michelle Yeoh reprised her role from the original. Zhang Ziyi was also approached to appear in "Sword of Destiny" but refused, stating that she would only appear in a sequel if Ang Lee were directing it.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: In the West, the sequel was for the most part not shown in theaters, instead being distributed direct-to-video by the streaming service Netflix.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The theme of Janet Jackson's song "China Love" was related to the film by MTV News, in which Jackson sings of the daughter of an emperor in love with a warrior, unable to sustain relations when forced to marry into royalty.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The names of the pterosaur genus "Kryptodrakon" and the ceratopsian genus "Yinlong" (both meaning "hidden dragon" in Greek and Chinese respectively) allude to the film.


title: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

text: The character of Lo, or "Dark Cloud" the desert bandit, influenced the development of the protagonist of the "Prince of Persia" series of video games.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti (; ; ; previously also known as Otaheite) is the largest island of the Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia. It is located in the central part of the Pacific Ocean and the nearest major landmass is Australia. Divided into two parts, "Tahiti Nui" (bigger, northwestern part) and "Tahiti Iti" (smaller, southeastern part), the island was formed from volcanic activity; it is high and mountainous with surrounding coral reefs. Its population was 189,517 in 2017, making it by far the most populous island in French Polynesia and accounting for 68.7% of its total population.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti is the economic, cultural and political centre of French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity and an overseas country of the French Republic. The capital of French Polynesia, Papeete, is located on the northwest coast of Tahiti. The only international airport in the region, Faaā International Airport, is on Tahiti near Papeete. Tahiti was originally settled by Polynesians between 300 and 800CE. They represent about 70% of the island's population, with the rest made up of Europeans, Chinese and those of mixed heritage. The island was part of the Kingdom of Tahiti until its annexation by France in 1880, when it was proclaimed a colony of France, and the inhabitants became French citizens. French is the sole official language, although the Tahitian language ("Reo Tahiti") is also widely spoken.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti is the highest and largest island in French Polynesia lying close to Moorea island. It is located south of Hawaii, from Chile, from Australia.


title: Tahiti

text: The island is across at its widest point and covers an area of . The highest peak is Mont Orohena (Moua Orohena) (). Mount Roonui, or Mount Ronui (Moua Rōnui), in the southeast rises to . The island consists of two roughly round portions centered on volcanic mountains and connected by a short isthmus named after the small town of Taravao, which is situated there.


title: Tahiti

text: The northwestern portion is known as "Tahiti Nui" ("big Tahiti"), while the much smaller southeastern portion is known as "Tahiti Iti" ("small Tahiti") or "Taiarapū". "Tahiti Nui" is heavily populated along the coast, especially around the capital, Papeete.


title: Tahiti

text: The interior of "Tahiti Nui" is almost entirely uninhabited. "Tahiti Iti" has remained isolated, as its southeastern half ("Te Pari") is accessible only to those travelling by boat or on foot. The rest of the island is encircled by a main road which cuts between the mountains and the sea. Tahiti's landscape features lush rainforests and many rivers and waterfalls, including the Papenoo on the north side and the Fautaua Falls near Papeete.


title: Tahiti

text: The Society archipelago is a hotspot volcanic chain consisting of ten islands and atolls. The chain is oriented along the N. 65° W. direction, parallel to the movement of the Pacific Plate. Due to the plate movement over the Society hotspot, the age of the islands decreases from 5 Ma at Maupiti to 0 Ma at Mehetia, where Mehetia is the inferred current location of the hotspot as evidenced by recent seismic activity. Maupiti, the oldest island in the chain, is a highly eroded shield volcano with at least 12 thin aa flows, which accumulated fairly rapidly between 4.79 and 4.05 Ma. Bora Bora is another highly eroded shield volcano consisting of basaltic lavas accumulated between 3.83 and 3.1 Ma. The lavas are intersected by post-shield dikes. Tahaa consists of shield-stage basalt with an age of 3.39 Ma, followed by additional eruptions 1.2 Ma later. Raiatea consists of shield-stage basalt followed by post-shield trachytic lava flows, all occurring from 2.75 to 2.29 Ma. Huahine consists of two coalesced basalt shield volcanoes, Huahine Nui and Huahine Iti, with several flows followed by post-shield trachyphonolitic lava domes from 3.08 to 2.06 Ma. Moorea consists of at least 16 flows of shield-stage basalt and post-shield lavas from 2.15 to 1.36 Ma. Tahiti consists of two basalt shield volcanoes, Tahiti Nui and Tahiti Iti, with an age range of 1.67 to 0.25 Ma.


title: Tahiti

text: November to April is the wet season, the wettest month of which is January with of rain in Papeete. August is the driest with .


title: Tahiti

text: The average temperature ranges between , with little seasonal variation. The lowest and highest temperatures recorded in Papeete are , respectively.


title: Tahiti

text: The first Tahitians arrived from Western Polynesia some time before 500BCE. Linguistic, biological and archaeological evidence supports a long migration from Southeast Asia via the Fijian, Samoan and Tongan Archipelagos using outrigger canoes that were up to twenty or thirty metres long and could transport families as well as domestic animals.


title: Tahiti

text: Before the arrival of the Europeans, the island was divided into territories dominated by a single clan. The most important clans were the closely related Teva i Uta (Teva of the Interior) and the Teva i Tai (Teva of the Sea) whose combined territory extended from the peninsula in the south of Tahiti Nui.


title: Tahiti

text: Clan leadership consisted of a chief ("arii rahi"), nobles ("arii"), and under-chiefs ("Īatoai"). The arii were also the religious leaders, revered for the mana (spiritual power) they inherited as descendants of the gods. As symbols of their power, they wore belts of red feathers. Nonetheless, to exercise their political power, councils or general assemblies composed of the arii and the Īatoai had to be called, especially in case of war.


title: Tahiti

text: The chief's spiritual power was also limited; each clan's practice was organized around their "marae" (stone temple) and its priests.


title: Tahiti

text: The first European to arrive at Tahiti may have been Spanish explorer Juan Fernández in his expedition of 1576–1577. Alternatively, Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós, serving the Spanish Crown in an expedition to Terra Australis, was perhaps the first European to see Tahiti. He sighted an inhabited island on 10 February 1606. However, it has been suggested that he actually saw the island of Rekareka to the southeast of Tahiti. Hence, although the Spanish and Portuguese made contact with nearby islands, they may not have arrived at Tahiti.


title: Tahiti

text: The next stage of European visits to the region came during the period of intense Anglo-French rivalry that filled the twelve years between the Seven Years' War and the American Revolutionary War. The first of these visits, and perhaps the first European visit to Tahiti, was under the command of Captain Samuel Wallis. While circumnavigating the globe in , they sighted the island on 18 June 1767 and then harbored in Matavai Bay between the chiefdom Pare-Arue (governed by Tu (Tu-nui-e-aa-i-te-Atua) and his regent Tutaha) and the chiefdom Haapape, governed by Amo and his wife "Oberea" (Purea). The first contacts were difficult, but to avert all-out war after a British show of force, Oberea laid down peace offerings leading to cordial relations.


title: Tahiti

text: On 2 April 1768, the expedition of Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, aboard and on the first French circumnavigation, sighted Tahiti. On 5 April, they anchored off Hitiaa O Te Ra and were welcomed by its chief Reti. Bougainville was also visited by Tutaha. Bougainville stayed about ten days.


title: Tahiti

text: By 12 April 1769 Captain James Cook had arrived in Tahiti's Matavai Bay, commanding . He had been sent on a scientific mission with astronomy, botany, and artistic details. On 14 April Cook met Tutaha and Tepau and the next day he picked the site for a fortified camp at Point Venus for Charles Green's observatory. Botanist Joseph Banks and artist Sydney Parkinson, along with Cook, gathered valuable information on fauna and flora as well as on native society, language and customs, including the proper name of the island. Cook also met many island chiefs. Cook and "Endeavour" left Tahiti on 13 July 1769. Cook estimated the population to be 200,000 including all the nearby islands in the chain. This estimate was reduced to 35,000 by Cook's contemporary, anthropologist and Tahiti expert Douglas L. Oliver.


title: Tahiti

text: The Viceroy of Peru, Manuel de Amat y Juniet, under order of the Spanish Crown, organized an expedition to colonize the island in 1772. He would ultimately send three expeditions aboard the ship "Aguila", the first two under the command of navigator Domingo de Bonechea. Four Tahitians, Pautu, Tipitipia, Heiao, and Tetuanui, accompanied Bonechea back to Peru in early 1773 after the first "Aguila" expedition.


title: Tahiti

text: Cook returned to Tahiti between 15 August and 1 September 1773. Greeted by the chiefs, Cook anchored in Vaitepiha Bay before returning to Point Venus. Cook left Tahiti on 14 May 1774.


title: Tahiti

text: Pautu and Tetuanui returned to Tahiti with Bonechea aboard "Aguila" on 14 November 1774; Tipitipia and Heiao had died. Bonechea died on 26 January 1775 in Tahiti and was buried near the mission he had established at Tautira Bay. Lt Tomas Gayangos took over command and set sail for Peru on 27 January, leaving the Fathers Geronimo Clota and Narciso Gonzalez and the sailors Maximo Rodriguez and Francisco Perez in charge of the mission. On the third "Aguila" expedition, under Don Cayetano de Langara, the mission on Tahiti was abandoned on 12 November 1775, when the Fathers successfully begged to be taken back to Lima.


title: Tahiti

text: During his final visit in 1777 Cook first moored in Vaitepiha Bay. From there he reunited with many Tahitian clans and established British presence on the remains of the Spanish mission. On 29 September 1777 Cook sailed for Papetoai Bay on Moorea.


title: Tahiti

text: On 26 October 1788, , under the command of Captain William Bligh, landed in Tahiti with the mission of carrying Tahitian breadfruit trees (Tahitian: "uru") to the Caribbean. Sir Joseph Banks, the botanist from James Cook's first expedition, had concluded that this plant would be ideal to feed the African slaves working in the Caribbean plantations at very little cost. The crew remained in Tahiti for about five months, the time needed to transplant the seedlings of the trees. Three weeks after leaving Tahiti, on 28 April 1789, the crew mutinied on the initiative of Fletcher Christian. The mutineers seized the ship and set the captain and most of those members of the crew who remained loyal to him adrift in a ship's boat. A group of mutineers then went back to settle in Tahiti.


title: Tahiti

text: Although various explorers had refused to get involved in tribal conflicts, the mutineers from the "Bounty" offered their services as mercenaries and furnished arms to the family which became the Pōmare Dynasty. The chief Tū knew how to use their presence in the harbours favoured by sailors to his advantage. As a result of his alliance with the mutineers, he succeeded in considerably increasing his supremacy over the island of Tahiti.


title: Tahiti

text: In about 1790, the ambitious chief Tū took the title of king and gave himself the name "Pōmare". Captain Bligh explains that this name was a homage to his eldest daughter Teriinavahoroa, who had died of tuberculosis, "an illness that made her cough ("mare") a lot, especially at night ("pō")". Thus he became Pōmare I, founding the Pōmare Dynasty and his lineage would be the first to unify Tahiti from 1788 to 1791. He and his descendants founded and expanded Tahitian influence to all of the lands that now constitute modern French Polynesia.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1791, under Captain Edward Edwards called at Tahiti and took custody of fourteen of the mutineers. Four were drowned in the sinking of "Pandora" on her homeward voyage, three were hanged, four were acquitted, and three were pardoned.


title: Tahiti

text: In the 1790s, whalers began landing at Tahiti during their hunting expeditions in the southern hemisphere. The arrival of these whalers, who were subsequently joined by merchants coming from the penal colonies in Australia, marked the first major overturning of traditional Tahitian society. The crews introduced alcohol, arms and infectious diseases to the island, and encouraged prostitution, which brought with it venereal disease. These commercial interactions with westerners had catastrophic consequences for the Tahitian population, which shrank rapidly, ravaged by diseases and other cultural factors. During the first decade of the 19th century, the Tahitian population dropped from 16,000 to 8,000–9,000; the French census in 1854 counted a population just under 6,000.


title: Tahiti

text: On 5 March 1797, representatives of the London Missionary Society landed at Matavai Bay (Mahina) on board "Duff", with the intention of converting the pagan native populations to Christianity. The arrival of these missionaries marked a new turning point for the island of Tahiti, having a lasting impact on the local culture.


title: Tahiti

text: The first years proved hard work for the missionaries, despite their association with the Pōmare, the importance of whom they were aware of thanks to the reports of earlier sailors. In 1803, upon the death of Pōmare I, his son Vairaatoa succeeded him and took the title of Pōmare II. He allied himself more and more with the missionaries, and from 1803 they taught him reading and the Gospels. Furthermore, the missionaries encouraged his wish to conquer his opponents, so that they would only have to deal with a single political contact, enabling them to develop Christianity in a unified country. The conversion of Pōmare II to Protestantism in 1812 marks moreover the point when Protestantism truly took off on the island.


title: Tahiti

text: In about 1810, Pōmare II married Teremoemoe daughter of the chief of Raiatea, to ally himself with the chiefdoms of the Leeward Islands. On 12 November 1815, thanks to these alliances, Pōmare II won a decisive battle at Fei Pī (Punaauia), notably against Opuhara, the chief of the powerful clan of Teva. This victory allowed Pōmare II to be styled "Arii Rahi", or the king of Tahiti. It was the first time that Tahiti had been united under the control of a single family. This marked the end of Tahitian feudalism and the military aristocracy, which were replaced by an absolute monarchy. At the same time, Protestantism quickly spread, thanks to the support of Pōmare II, and replaced the traditional beliefs. In 1816 the London Missionary Society sent John Williams as a missionary and teacher, and starting in 1817, the Gospels were translated into Tahitian ("Reo Maohi") and taught in the religious schools. In 1818, the minister William Pascoe Crook founded the city of Papeete, which became the capital of the island.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1819, Pōmare II, encouraged by the missionaries, introduced the first Tahitian legal code, known under the name of the Pōmare Legal Code, which consists of nineteen laws. The missionaries and Pōmare II thus imposed a ban on nudity (obliging them to wear clothes covering their whole body), banned dances and chants (described as immodest), tattoos, and costumes made of flowers.


title: Tahiti

text: In the 1820s, the entire population of Tahiti converted to Protestantism. Duperrey, who berthed in Tahiti in May 1823, attests to the change in Tahitian society in a letter dated 15 May 1823: "The missionaries of the Royal Society of London have totally changed the morals and customs of the inhabitants. Idolatry no longer exists among them, and they generally profess the Christian religion. The women no longer come aboard the vessel, and even when we meet them on land they are extremely reserved. (...) The bloody wars that these people used to carry out and human sacrifices have no longer taken place since 1816."


title: Tahiti

text: When, on 7 December 1821, Pōmare II died, his son Pōmare III was only eighteen months old. His uncle and the religious people therefore supported the regency, until 2 May 1824, the date on which the missionaries conducted his coronation, a ceremony unprecedented in Tahiti. Taking advantage of the weakness of the Pōmare, local chiefs won back some of their power and took the hereditary title of "Tavana" (from the English word "governor"). The missionaries also took advantage of the situation to change the way in which powers were arranged, and to make the Tahitian monarchy closer to the English model of a constitutional monarchy. They therefore created the Tahitian Legislative Assembly, which first sat on 23 February 1824.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1827, the young Pōmare III suddenly died, and it was his half-sister, Aimata, aged thirteen, who took the title of Pōmare IV. The Birmingham born missionary George Pritchard, who was the acting British consul, became her main adviser and tried to interest her in the affairs of the kingdom. But the authority of the Queen, who was certainly less charismatic than her father, was challenged by the chiefs, who had won back an important part of their prerogatives since the death of Pōmare II. The power of the Pōmare had become more symbolic than real; time and time again Queen Pōmare, Protestant and anglophile, sought in vain the protection of England.


title: Tahiti

text: In November 1835 Charles Darwin visited Tahiti aboard HMS "Beagle" on her circumnavigation, captained by Robert FitzRoy. He was impressed by what he perceived to be the positive influence the missionaries had had on the sobriety and moral character of the population. Darwin praised the scenery, but was not flattering towards Tahiti's Queen Pōmare IV. Captain Fitzroy negotiated payment of compensation for an attack on an English ship by Tahitians, which had taken place in 1833.


title: Tahiti

text: In Sept. 1839, the island was visited by the United States Exploring Expedition. One of its members, Alfred Thomas Agate, produced a number of sketches of Tahitian life, some of which were later published in the United States.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1836, the Queen's advisor Pritchard had two French Catholic priests expelled, François Caret and Honoré Laval. As a result, in 1838 France sent Admiral Abel Aubert du Petit-Thouars to obtain reparations. Once his mission had been completed, Admiral Du Petit-Thouars sailed towards the Marquesas Islands, which he annexed in 1842. Also in 1842, a European crisis involving Morocco escalated between France and Great Britain, souring their relations. In August 1842, Admiral Du Petit-Thouars returned and landed in Tahiti. He then made friends with Tahitian chiefs who were hostile to the Pōmare family and favourable to a French protectorate. He had them sign a request for protection in the absence of their Queen, before then approaching her and obliging her to ratify the terms of the treaty of protectorate. The treaty had not even been ratified by France itself when Jacques-Antoine Moerenhout was named royal commissaire alongside Queen Pōmare.


title: Tahiti

text: Within the framework of this treaty, France recognised the sovereignty of the Tahitian state. The Queen was responsible for internal affairs, while France would deal with foreign relations and assure the defence of Tahiti, as well as maintain order on the island. Once the treaty had been signed there began a struggle for influence between the English Protestants and the Catholic representatives of France. During the first years of the Protectorate, the Protestants managed to retain a considerable hold over Tahitian society, thanks to their knowledge of the country and its language. George Pritchard had been away at the time. He returned however to work towards indoctrinating the locals against the Roman Catholic French.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1843, the Queen's Protestant advisor, Pritchard, persuaded her to display the Tahitian flag in place of the flag of the Protectorate. By way of reprisal, Admiral Dupetit-Thouars announced the annexation of the Kingdom of Pōmare on 6 November 1843 and set up the governor Armand Joseph Bruat there as the chief of the new colony. He threw Pritchard into prison, and later sent him back to Britain. The annexation caused the Queen to be exiled to the Leeward Islands, and after a period of troubles, a real Franco-Tahitian war began in March 1844. News of Tahiti reached Europe in early 1844. The French statesman François Guizot, supported by King Louis-Philippe of France, had denounced annexation of the island.


title: Tahiti

text: The war ended in December 1846 in favour of the French. The Queen returned from exile in 1847 and agreed to sign a new covenant, considerably reducing her powers, while increasing those of the commissaire. The French nevertheless still reigned over the Kingdom of Tahiti. In 1863, they put an end to the British influence and replaced the British Protestant Missions with the Société des missions évangéliques de Paris (Society of Evangelical Missions of Paris).


title: Tahiti

text: During the same period about a thousand Chinese, mainly Cantonese, were recruited at the request of a plantation owner in Tahiti, William Stewart, to work on the great cotton plantation at Atimaono. When the enterprise resulted in bankruptcy in 1873, some Chinese workers returned to their country, but a large number stayed in Tahiti and mixed with the population.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1866 the district councils were formed, elected, which were given the powers of the traditional hereditary chiefs. In the context of the republican assimilation, these councils tried their best to protect the traditional way of life of the local people, which was threatened by European influence.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1877, Queen Pōmare died after ruling for fifty years. Her son, Pōmare V, then succeeded her on the throne. The new king seemed little concerned with the affairs of the kingdom, and when in 1880 the governor Henri Isidore Chessé, supported by the Tahitian chiefs, pushed him to abdicate in favour of France, he accepted. On 29 June 1880, he ceded Tahiti to France along with the islands that were its dependencies. He was given the titular position of Officer of the Orders of the Legion of Honour and Agricultural Merit of France. Having become a colony, Tahiti thus lost all sovereignty. Tahiti was nevertheless a special colony, since all the subjects of the Kingdom of Pōmare would be given French citizenship. On 14 July 1881, among cries of "Vive la République!" the crowds celebrated the fact that Polynesia now belonged to France; this was the first celebration of the Tiurai (national and popular festival). In 1890, Papeete became a commune of the Republic of France.


title: Tahiti

text: The French painter Paul Gauguin lived on Tahiti in the 1890s and painted many Tahitian subjects. Papeari has a small Gauguin museum.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1891 Matthew Turner, an American shipbuilder from San Francisco who had been seeking a fast passage between the city and Tahiti, built , a two-masted schooner that made the trip in seventeen days.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1903, the Établissements Français d'Océanie (French Establishments in Oceania) were created, which collected together Tahiti, the other Society Islands, the Austral Islands, the Marquesas Islands and the Tuamotu Archipelago.


title: Tahiti

text: During the First World War, the Papeete region of the island was attacked by two German warships. A French gunboat as well as a captured German freighter were sunk in the harbour and the two German armoured cruisers bombarded the colony. Between 1966 and 1996 the French Government conducted 193 nuclear bomb tests above and below the atolls of Moruroa and Fangataufa. The last test was conducted on 27 January 1996.


title: Tahiti

text: In 1946, Tahiti and the whole of French Polynesia became an overseas territory ("Territoire d'outre-mer"). Tahitians were granted French citizenship, a right that had been campaigned for by nationalist leader Pouvanaa a Oopa for many years. On 17 July 1974, the French did a nuclear test over Mururoa Atoll, codenamed , but the atomic cloud and fallout didn't take the direction planned. 42 hours later, the cloud reached Tahiti and the surrounding islands.As much as 111,000 people were affected. Reports showed that some people on Tahiti were exposed to 500 times the maximum allowed level for plutonium. In 2003, French Polynesia's status was changed to that of an overseas collectivity ("collectivité d'outre-mer"), and in 2004 it was declared an overseas country ("pays d'outre-mer" or "POM").


title: Tahiti

text: In 2009, Tauatomo Mairau claimed the Tahitian throne and attempted to re-assert the status of the monarchy in court.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti is part of French Polynesia. French Polynesia is a semi-autonomous territory of France with its own assembly, president, budget and laws. France's influence is limited to subsidies, education, and security.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahitians are French citizens with complete civil and political rights. French is the official language, but Tahitian and French are both in use. However there was a time during the 1960s and 1970s when children were forbidden to speak Tahitian in schools. Tahitian is now taught in schools; it is sometimes even a requirement for employment.


title: Tahiti

text: During a press conference on 26 June 2006 during the second France-Oceania Summit, French President Jacques Chirac said he did not think the majority of Tahitians wanted independence. He would keep an open door to a possible referendum in the future.


title: Tahiti

text: Elections for the Assembly of French Polynesia, the Territorial Assembly of French Polynesia, were held on 23 May 2004.


title: Tahiti

text: In a surprise result, Oscar Temaru's pro-independence progressive coalition, Union for Democracy, formed a government with a one-seat majority in the 57-seat parliament, defeating the conservative party, Tāhōeraa Huiraatira, led by Gaston Flosse. On 8 October 2004, Flosse succeeded in passing a censure motion against the government, provoking a crisis. A controversy is whether the national government of France should use its power to call for new elections in a local government in case of a political crisis.


title: Tahiti

text: The indigenous Tahitians are of Polynesian ancestry and make up 70% of the population alongside Europeans, East Asians (mostly Chinese), and people of mixed heritage, sometimes referred to as "Demis".


title: Tahiti

text: The places of birth of the 189,517 residents of the island of Tahiti at the 2017 census were the following:


title: Tahiti

text: Most people from metropolitan France live in Papeete and its suburbs, notably Punaauia, where they made up 16.8% of the population at the 2017 census, and Arue, where they made up 15.9%; these percentages do not include their children born in French Polynesia.


title: Tahiti

text: The island consists of 12 communes, which, along with Moorea-Maiao, make up the Windward Islands administrative subdivision.


title: Tahiti

text: The capital is Papeete and the largest commune by population is Faaā while Taiarapu-Est has the largest area.


title: Tahiti

text: The main trading partners are Metropolitan France for about 40% of imports and about 25% of exports. The other main trading partners are the US, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahitian pearl (Black pearl) farming is also a substantial source of revenues, most of the pearls being exported to Japan, Europe and the United States. Tahiti also exports vanilla, fruits, flowers, monoi, fish, copra oil, and noni. Tahiti is also home to a single winery, whose vineyards are located on the Rangiroa atoll.


title: Tahiti

text: Unemployment affects about 13% of the active population, especially women and unqualified young people.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti's currency, the French Pacific Franc (CFP, also known as XPF), is pegged to the euro at 1 CFP = EUR .0084 (1 EUR = 119.05 CFP, approx. 113 CFP to the United States dollar in March 2017). Hotels and financial institutions offer exchange services.


title: Tahiti

text: Sales tax in Tahiti is called "Taxe sur la valeur ajoutée" (TVA or value added tax (VAT) in English). VAT in 2009 was 10% on tourist services, and 6% on hotels, small boarding houses, food and beverages. VAT on the purchase of goods and products is 16%.


title: Tahiti

text: French Polynesia imports its petroleum and has no local refinery or production. Daily consumption of imported oil products was 7,430 barrels, according to the US Energy Information Administration.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahitian cultures included an oral tradition that involved the mythology of gods, such as Oro and beliefs, as well as ancient traditions such as tattooing and navigation. The annual Heivā I Tahiti Festival in July is a celebration of traditional culture, dance, music and sports including a long-distance race between the islands of French Polynesia, in modern outrigger canoes (vaa).


title: Tahiti

text: The Paul Gauguin Museum is dedicated to the life and works of French artist Paul Gauguin (1848–1903) who resided in Tahiti for years and painted such works as "Two Tahitian Women", "Tahitian Women on the Beach", and "Where Do We Come From? What Are We? Where Are We Going?"


title: Tahiti

text: The Musée de Tahiti et des Îles (Museum of Tahiti and the Islands) is in Punaauia. It is an ethnographic museum that was founded in 1974 to conserve and restore Polynesian artefacts and cultural practices.


title: Tahiti

text: The Robert Wan Pearl Museum is the world's only museum dedicated to pearls. The Papeete Market sells local arts and crafts.


title: Tahiti

text: One of the most widely recognised images of the islands is the world-famous Tahitian dance. The "ōtea" (sometimes written as "otea") is a traditional dance from Tahiti, where the dancers, standing in several rows, execute figures. This dance, easily recognised by its fast hip-shaking and grass skirts, is often confused with the Hawaiian hula, a generally slower, more graceful dance which focuses more on the hands and storytelling than the hips.


title: Tahiti

text: The ōtea is one of the few dances which existed in pre-European times as a male dance. On the other hand, the "hura" (Tahitian vernacular for "hula"), a dance for women, has disappeared, and the couple's dance "upaupa" is likewise gone but may have re-emerged as the tamure. Nowadays, the ōtea can be danced by men ("ōtea tāne"), by women ("ōtea vahine"), or by both genders ("ōtea āmui", "united ō"). The dance is with music only, drums, but no singing. The drum can be one of the types of the tōere, a laying log of wood with a longitudinal slit, which is struck by one or two sticks. Or it can be the "pahu", the ancient Tahitian standing drum covered with a shark skin and struck by the hands or with sticks. The rhythm from the tōere is fast; from the pahu it is slower. A smaller drum, the "faatete", can also be used.


title: Tahiti

text: The dancers make gestures, re-enacting daily occupations of life. For the men the themes can be chosen from warfare or sailing, and then they may use spears or paddles.


title: Tahiti

text: For women the themes are closer to home or from nature: combing their hair or the flight of a butterfly, for example. More elaborate themes can be chosen, for example, one where the dancers end up in a map of Tahiti, highlighting important places. In a proper ōtea the story of the theme should pervade the whole dance.


title: Tahiti

text: The group dance called Aparima is often performed with the dancers dressed in pareo and maro. There are two types of aparima: the "aparima hīmene" (sung handdance) and the "aparima vāvā" (silent handdance), the latter being performed with music only and no singing.


title: Tahiti

text: The Tahitians believed in the afterlife, a paradise called Rohutu-noanoa. When a Tahitian died, the corpse was wrapped in barkcloth and placed on a funeral bier, "fare tupapa u", which was a raised canoe awning on posts surrounded by bamboo. Food for the gods was placed nearby to prevent them from eating the body, which would condemn the spirit to the underworld. Mourners would slash themselves with shark's teeth and smear the blood on barkcloth placed nearby. Most importantly, the Chief Mourner donned the "parae", an elaborate costume that included an iridescent mask made of four polished pearl shell discs. One disk was black, signifying Po, the spirit world, while one was white, signifying Ao, the world of people. A crown of red feathers signified Oro. A curved wooden board, "pautu", below the mask contained five polished pearl shells, which signified Hina, the moon goddess. Hanging below were more shells in rows, "ahu-parau", representing the Pleiades, believed to be the eyes of former chiefs. Finally, a ceremonial garment, "tiputa", covered the body and was decorated with an apron of polished coconut shells, "ahu-aipu".


title: Tahiti

text: The Tahitian national sport is Vaa. In English, this paddle sport is also known as outrigger canoe. The Tahitians consistently achieve record-breaking and top times as world champions in this sport.


title: Tahiti

text: Major sports in Tahiti include rugby union and association football and the island has fielded a national basketball team, which is a member of FIBA Oceania.


title: Tahiti

text: Another sport is surfing, with famous surfers such as Malik Joyeux and Michel Bourez. Teahupoo is one of the deadliest surf breaks in the world.


title: Tahiti

text: Rugby union in Tahiti is governed by the Fédération Tahitienne de Rugby de Polynésie Française which was formed in 1989. The Tahiti national rugby union team has been active since 1971 but have only played 12 games since then.


title: Tahiti

text: Football in Tahiti is administered by the Fédération Tahitienne de Football and was founded in 1938. The Tahiti Division Fédérale is the top division on the island and the Tahiti Championnat Enterprise is the second tier. Some of the major clubs are AS Manu-Ura, who play in Stade Hamuta, AS Pirae, who play in the Stade Pater Te Hono Nui and AS Tefana, who play in the Stade Louis Ganivet. Lesser clubs include Matavai. In 2012, the national team won the OFC Nations Cup qualifying for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil and becoming the first team other than Australia or New Zealand to win it.


title: Tahiti

text: The Tahiti Cup is the islands' premier football knockout tournament and has been played for since 1938. The winner of the Tahiti Cup goes on to play the winner of the Tahiti Division Fédérale in the Tahiti Coupe des Champions.


title: Tahiti

text: In 2010, Tahiti was chosen as the host of the 2013 FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, which was held in September 2013.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti has also been represented at the World Championship of Pétanque. They are the pre-eminent country in the Oceania region for Pétanque, undoubtedly due to their strong connections to France.


title: Tahiti

text: As part of the 2024 Summer Olympics, Tahiti will host the surfing competition. It will be the only sport to be held outside of France as Paris hosts the international competition 15,716 km (9,765 mi) away.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti is depicted in the biography of Paul Gauguin in the 2017 French film "Gauguin: Voyage to Tahiti" portraying his life during his years on Tahiti.


title: Tahiti

text: Also linked to Tahiti are of the 1789 mutiny on HMS "Bounty" – e.g. "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1962) with actor Marlon Brando, "The Bounty" (1984) with Mel Gibson.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti is home to the University of French Polynesia (Université de la Polynésie Française). It is a growing university, with 3,200 students and 62 researchers. Many courses are available such as law, commerce, science, and literature. There is also the Collège La Mennais located in Papeete.


title: Tahiti

text: Faaā International Airport is located from Papeete in the commune of Faaā and is the only international airport in French Polynesia. Because of limited level terrain, rather than levelling large stretches of sloping agricultural land, the airport is built primarily on reclaimed land on the coral reef just off-shore.


title: Tahiti

text: International destinations such as Auckland, Hanga Roa, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Paris, Santiago de Chile, San Francisco, Sydney and Tokyo are served by Air France, Air New Zealand, Air Tahiti Nui French Polynesia's flag carrier, Hawaiian Airlines, United Airlines, French Bee, and LATAM Airlines.


title: Tahiti

text: Flights within French Polynesia and to New Caledonia are available from Aircalin and Air Tahiti; Air Tahiti has their headquarters at the airport.


title: Tahiti

text: The Moorea Ferry operates from Papeete and takes about 45 minutes to travel to Moorea. Other ferries are the Aremiti 5 and the Aremiti 7 and these two ferries sail to Moorea in about half an hour. There are also several ferries that transport people and goods throughout the islands. The Bora Bora cruiseline sails to Bora Bora about once a week. The main hub for these ferries is the Papeete Wharf.


title: Tahiti

text: Tahiti has a freeway that runs across the west coast. This freeway starts in Arue and continues across the Papeete urban area. Then it continues along the west coast of Tahiti Nui through smaller villages. The freeway turns east toward Taravao where Tahiti Nui meets Tahiti Iti. Tahiti's west coast freeway keeps going until Teahupoo where the freeway becomes a thin paved road.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Rebecca Quin (born 30 January 1987) is an Irish professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE under the ring name Becky Lynch where she performs on the Raw brand. Lynch is one of WWE's most recognizable and highest-paid wrestlers. Twitter named her sixth on their list of Top Female Athletes Worldwide in 2019. She made her first guest star role on Season 3 of Young Rock playing Cyndi Lauper, to high praise. It's the first role billed as her real name and not her stage name.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Quin began training as a professional wrestler in 2002. Initially working in Ireland, and occasionally teaming with her brother using the ring name Rebecca Knox, she soon began wrestling across Europe and North America on the independent circuit for various promotions. She most notably competed in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling and became the inaugural SuperGirls Champion in 2005. In 2006, Quin had a severe head injury during a match which kept her away from wrestling for several years. She returned 2012 and signed a contract with WWE in 2013, assigned to the developmental territory at NXT. Following her push to WWE's main roster, she became the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion at Backlash 2016 and has held the title four times.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In 2018, Lynch transitioned to a more aggressive character starting at SummerSlam, when she attacked Charlotte Flair, presenting herself as an unfairly treated underdog and dubbing herself "The Man", resulting in a large increase in her popularity. In 2019, she won a Royal Rumble match, and at WrestleMania 35 won both the Raw Women's Championship and SmackDown Women's Championship, making her the first woman to hold both titles simultaneously and a four-time WWE women's champion. She lost the SmackDown title the following month but then set the record for the longest reign as Raw Women's Champion at 399 days until going on a hiatus due to pregnancy in May 2020. In August 2021, Lynch returned at SummerSlam to confront SmackDown Women's Champion Bianca Belair, whom she would defeat seconds later to become a four-time SmackDown Women's Champion.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Rebecca Quin was born in Limerick on 30 January 1987. She grew up in the Dublin suburb of Baldoyle. Her parents separated when she was one year old. She started watching professional wrestling from a young age with her brother, Richy, who later wrestled under the ring name Gonzo de Mondo. She was involved in horse riding, swimming, and basketball. However, she claimed to have failed P.E. in school.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Quin attended University College Dublin to study philosophy, history and politics, but said she 'really hated it' and dropped out. She planned to return to college to study health and exercise studies. Prior to beginning to train as a wrestler, she stated that she had been 'going down a bad path' involving alcohol, but wrestling helped her give it up.


title: Becky Lynch

text: As a teenager, Quin heard that Fergal Devitt and Paul Tracey were opening a wrestling school in Ireland. She began training there along with her brother in June 2002. She made her professional wrestling debut five months later on 11 November, using the ring name Rebecca Knox. She teamed with her brother in mixed tag team matches during the early part of her career. She also trained at British professional wrestling promotion NWA UK Hammerlock.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Knox joined the Canadian promotion SuperGirls Wrestling, an all-female offshoot of (ECCW) in May 2005. Following her arrival at an ECCW show in Surrey, British Columbia, Knox feuded with Miss Chevius and defeated her, but lost to her in Port Coquitlam a month later. The following night, Knox teamed with Calum Macbeth to defeat Miss Chevius and Tony Tisoy in a mixed tag team match in Vancouver. On 24 June, Knox defeated Miss Chevius at an ECCW show in Surrey to become the inaugural SuperGirls Champion. Knox successfully defended the championship on several occasions before eventually losing it to Lisa Moretti in April 2006.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In late 2005, Knox participated in All Pro Wrestling (APW)'s third ChickFight tournament in Hayward, California; she defeated Morgan in the first round, but was eliminated by eventual winner Mariko Yoshida. Knox then won an eighteen-person battle royal at an event in Tokyo, Japan.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Knox began working for the all-female promotion Shimmer Women Athletes in early 2006. In her debut match for the promotion, she defeated Allison Danger, and established herself as a heel (villain) by faking an injury. Following that, she began feuding with Daizee Haze; Knox lost the first match between them,<ref name="4/5"></ref> but won the rematch of two-out-of-three falls.<ref name="5/6"></ref>


title: Becky Lynch

text: In June 2006, Knox defeated Sweet Saraya to win the vacated World Queens of Chaos Championship at an event in Chouilly, France. She held the championship for few months before dropping it to Saraya in September.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In September 2006, while wrestling in Germany, Knox sustained a legit head injury, following which she claimed to have been "suffering from extremely painful headaches, loud buzzing in her left ear and vision as a result," and was also diagnosed with possible damage to her eighth cranial nerve. A 60-minute Iron Woman match against Haze at Shimmer's Volume 7 taping was cancelled as a result.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Following her injury, Quin took a six-year hiatus, wrestling only on three occasions for Irish promotion Fight Factory Pro Wrestling (FFPW) in 2008, 2012 and 2013. She also reappeared in Shimmer in 2011, managing Saraya and Britani Knight for four shows.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In April 2013, Quin signed a two-year developmental deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and moved to Florida to report to their developmental territory NXT. On 29 August, her new ring name was revealed as Becky Lynch.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Lynch made her televised in-ring debut on 26 June 2014 episode of "NXT", defeating Summer Rae. The next week, Lynch teamed up with Bayley in a losing effort to the "BFFs: Beautiful Fierce Females" (NXT Women's Champion Charlotte and Sasha Banks) in a tag-team match. Lynch spent the next few months competing in non-title matches against Charlotte, losing three in a row. On 23 October episode of "NXT", after being told to make herself relevant, Lynch aligned herself with Banks by attacking Bayley, turning heel. Known as Team B.A.E. (Best at Everything), the alliance started to disintegrate when Banks cost Lynch a match against Bayley in February 2015.


title: Becky Lynch

text: At , Lynch participated in a fatal four-way match for the NXT Women's Championship, which was won by Banks. In April, Lynch defeated Bayley and Charlotte in a triple threat match to earn a title match against Sasha, which she lost at . During the match, she debuted a new look resembling "" character Chandra Nalaar. The match received widespread critical acclaim, with praise going to both performers.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Lynch made her official main roster debut on 13 July episode of "Raw", as a fan favourite, along with Charlotte and Sasha Banks, after Stephanie McMahon called for a "revolution" in the WWE Divas division. Lynch and Charlotte began allying with Paige, who was feuding with Team Bella (Alicia Fox and The Bella Twins), while Banks allied with Naomi and Tamina, leading to a brawl between the three teams. The trio of Paige, Lynch and Charlotte, originally dubbed "Submission Sorority", was renamed to "Team PCB" (after the initials of each wrestler) when it was found out the original name was the same as an adult web page. Lynch made her in-ring debut on 20 July episode of "Raw", teaming with Paige in a losing effort against Sasha Banks and Naomi. She earned her first singles victory on 28 July episode of "Main Event" over Brie Bella. The three teams ultimately faced off at SummerSlam in a three-team elimination match, in which Lynch pinned Brie Bella to win the match for PCB.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 31 August episode of "Raw", all members of PCB competed in the inaugural "Divas Beat the Clock challenge", to determine the number one contender for the Divas Championship. Charlotte won the match and went on to claim the title from Nikki Bella at Night of Champions on 20 September. The following night on "Raw", Paige turned on her partners during Charlotte's celebration, claiming that Charlotte was only there because of her father Ric Flair (since he was a former wrestler in WWE) and called Lynch the "least relevant" member of the group. Throughout October, Paige tried to reconcile with Lynch and Charlotte only to attack them, officially disbanding Team PCB in the process. On 2 November episode of "Raw", Lynch was pinned by Paige in a fatal four-way to earn a title match for Charlotte's Divas Championship. The following week on "Raw", Lynch gained revenge by defeating Paige.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 30 November episode of "Raw", Charlotte started displaying villainous traits after she feigned a leg injury to defeat Lynch, followed by a distraction provided by her father. Throughout December, the two's friendship continued to strain and after Lynch defeated her on 4 January 2016 episode of "Raw", Charlotte attacked her and solidified her heel turn. Lynch faced Charlotte for the Divas Championship three days later on "SmackDown" and at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view event, but lost both matches after interference from Ric Flair.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Throughout February, Lynch began teaming with Banks against Naomi and Tamina. Their feud continued until Lynch and Banks came victorious in a tag team match at Fastlane. The following night on "Raw", a number one contender's match for the Divas Championship between Lynch and Banks ended in a double pin (both wrestlers pinning each other simultaneously). A rematch on the following "SmackDown" ended in a no contest when Diva's Champion Charlotte attacked both contestants. As a result, Charlotte was scheduled to defend her title in a triple threat against both wrestlers at WrestleMania 32. At the event, Lynch failed to win the newly created WWE Women's Championship (which replaced the Diva's Championship). At Money in the Bank in June, Lynch teamed up with Natalya to face Dana Brooke and Charlotte in a losing effort. After their match, Natalya turned on Lynch and attacked her. The two began feuding for a month until Lynch lost to Natalya at Battleground.


title: Becky Lynch

text: After being the first woman drafted to the SmackDown brand during the 2016 WWE draft,<ref name="SmackDown 19/07/16"></ref> Lynch defeated Natalya in her first match as part of the brand.<ref name="Smackdown 26/07/16"></ref> At SummerSlam, Lynch teamed up with Carmella and Naomi in a six–woman tag team match in a losing effort against Alexa Bliss, Natalya and Nikki Bella.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 11 September, at Backlash, Lynch won a six-pack elimination challenge, last eliminating Carmella, to become the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion. Her first title defence against Alexa Bliss was scheduled for No Mercy but due to Lynch experiencing a legitimate injury the match was postponed to 8 November episode of "SmackDown", where Lynch retained. At Survivor Series later that month, Lynch made up part of Team SmackDown alongside Bliss, Carmella, Naomi and Natalya in a Survivor Series match in a losing effort to Team Raw. At the pay-per-view in December, Lynch lost the SmackDown Women's Championship to Bliss in a tables match, ending her reign at 84 days. She received her championship rematch on 17 January 2017 episode of "SmackDown", in a steel cage match but lost after interference from another La Luchadora (later revealed as the returning Mickie James). This led to a match between Lynch and James at Elimination Chamber in February, which Lynch won. Lynch participated in a six-pack challenge for the title at WrestleMania 33 in April, which was ultimately won by Naomi.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In May, Lynch aligned with Naomi and Charlotte Flair against "The Welcoming Committee" (Natalya, Carmella and Tamina). The two teams faced off in a six-woman tag team match at Backlash; the Welcoming Committee was victorious when Lynch submitted to Natalya's sharpshooter. Shortly after, Lynch competed at Money in the Bank, as part of the first women's money in the bank ladder match, which was won by Carmella. In October, Lynch won a fatal five-way match against Flair, Naomi, Tamina and Carmella to become the Team SmackDown's captain for Survivor Series. At the event, Lynch was the first competitor eliminated and her team was on the losing side. Throughout the rest of the year, Lynch again aligned with Flair and Naomi to feud with the debuting Riott Squad (Ruby Riott, Liv Morgan and Sarah Logan). In January 2018, at the Royal Rumble, Lynch participated in the first women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 2 and lasting over 30 minutes before being eliminated by Ruby Riott. A few months later, Lynch also participated in the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34, but was eliminated from the match by James. In May, she qualified for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match, which was ultimately won by Bliss.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Following the 2018 Money in the Bank event, Lynch began a winning streak, defeating different competitors such as Billie Kay, Sonya Deville, Peyton Royce, Mandy Rose, and SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella in a non-title match. The wins earned Lynch a title match at SummerSlam, with Charlotte Flair being added to the match as well after she also defeated Carmella in a non-title match. Flair went on to win the title by pinning Lynch, who was about to submit Carmella. After the match, Lynch attacked Flair, turning heel for the first time on the main roster. Two days later on "SmackDown", Lynch berated the crowd, claiming that they were not really supporting her the whole time, and that she was being denied opportunities which were always handed to Flair. Despite this, audiences increasingly supported Lynch, leading WWE to tweak the storyline and portray both Lynch and Flair as both having valid points, but neither being outright heels. The feud between the two led to a title match at Hell in a Cell, in which Lynch won the SmackDown Women's Championship for a second time. Lynch subsequently retained her title against Flair at both Super Show-Down and Evolution.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Around this time, Lynch started using the nickname "The Man", claiming to be the top wrestler of the company, and was depicted as a face once again. As part of a competition between the Raw and SmackDown brands at Survivor Series, Lynch was scheduled for an interbrand champion vs. champion match against Raw Women's Champion Ronda Rousey. Lynch led an invasion of the Raw roster on 12 November episode of "Raw", where she had a legit concussion and broken nose following a punch from Nia Jax; despite the injury, her seemingly unfazed reaction and images of her bloodstained has turned her into an overnight star – she'd later call the accident "a blessing in disguise". Due to the injury, Lynch was pulled from the match with Rousey and named Flair as her replacement on the following night's episode of "SmackDown". After her return, Lynch defended her title at in December against both Flair and Asuka in a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, in which Asuka won the title after Rousey interfered and pushed both Lynch and Flair off a ladder, ending her second reign at 91 days.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 27 January 2019, at the Royal Rumble event, Lynch failed to regain the title from Asuka. Later that night, she participated in the women's Royal Rumble match, replacing an injured Lana, who was the 28th entrant. Lynch would go on to win with lastly eliminating Charlotte Flair. The following night on "Raw", Lynch continued her feud with Ronda Rousey, choosing to face Rousey for the Raw Women's Championship at WrestleMania 35. As part of a storyline in which she refused to seek medical attention on her knee and attacked Stephanie McMahon and Triple H, Vince McMahon suspended Lynch in February for 60 days and replaced her with Charlotte Flair as Rousey's WrestleMania opponent. Due to pleadings from Rousey, Lynch was reinstated by Stephanie, and at the Fastlane event, she defeated Flair via disqualification after Rousey purposely attacked Lynch to give her the win; due to the stipulation of the match, Lynch was added back into the title match at WrestleMania to make it a triple-threat match for the Raw Women's Championship.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Flair then won the SmackDown Women's Championship from Asuka, making the WrestleMania match a Winner Takes All match for both titles. At the event, in what was the first time women main evented a WrestleMania, Lynch controversially pinned Rousey to win both titles. The commentary and production team commented that Rousey's shoulders were not down for the three-count and many fans and media were left wondering if this was a legitimate botched finish. Nonetheless, with the win, Lynch gave Rousey her first WWE singles and pinfall loss and became a double champion and the only woman to hold both titles simultaneously. With both titles, she was allowed to appear on both the Raw and SmackDown brands and got another nickname, "Becky Two Belts".


title: Becky Lynch

text: Shortly after WrestleMania, Lynch was placed in a feud with newcomer Lacey Evans, who was drafted to "Raw" during the Superstar Shake-up and who continuously attacked Lynch after her promos. Simultaneously on SmackDown, Lynch continued her feud with Flair over the SmackDown Women's Championship. In May, at Money in the Bank, Lynch retained the Raw Women's Championship over Evans, but lost the SmackDown Women's Championship to Charlotte Flair in the following match due to an interference by Evans. After she lost the SmackDown Women's Championship, Lynch became an exclusive member of the Raw brand and continued her feud with Evans. In mid-June, Lynch successfully retained her title over Evans at the Stomping Grounds pay-per-view. Later that night, Lynch helped her real-life boyfriend Seth Rollins retain the WWE Universal Championship over Baron Corbin, after Corbin chose Evans as the special guest referee for their title match. The two feuds between the two pairs came to an end at the Extreme Rules event in July, after Lynch and Rollins retained both of their titles in a winners take all mixed tag team match.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In August, Lynch started a short feud with Natalya. At SummerSlam, Lynch was victorious in a submission match between the two. Upon her return in mid-August, Sasha Banks attacked Lynch and reignited their feud from 2015. At Clash of Champions, on 15 September, Lynch retained her title after inadvertently hitting the referee with a chair, causing a disqualification loss. The feud eventually led to a Hell in a Cell match on 6 October at the namesake pay-per-view. Lynch was victorious once again. At Survivor Series, Lynch faced SmackDown Women's Champion Bayley and NXT Women's Champion Shayna Baszler in a non-title triple threat match to determine the superior women's champion. Baszler emerged victorious by submitting Bayley while Lynch was downed at ringside. Following the match, Lynch attacked Baszler and put her through an announce table. On 26 November, Lynch surpassed Ronda Rousey as the longest-reigning Raw Women's Champion.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Following Survivor Series, Lynch allied herself with Charlotte in a rivalry with Women's Tag Team Champions The Kabuki Warriors (Asuka and Kairi Sane), leading to a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match for the championship between the two teams being arranged for in December, which The Kabuki Warriors won. She then continued her feud with Asuka, which directed to a match for the Raw Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble on 26 January 2020, where Lynch retained to end the feud.


title: Becky Lynch

text: In February, Lynch feuded with Shayna Baszler, who won an Elimination Chamber match to challenge Lynch for the championship at WrestleMania 36. At the event on 4 April, Lynch defeated Baszler to retain the title, with her title reign surpassing the one-year mark shortly after. Following the event, Lynch ceased participating in physical confrontations, often relying on promos to advance her storylines. On 11 May episode of "Raw", Lynch announced that she was relinquishing the Raw Women's Championship due to her real-life pregnancy, and that the previous night's Women's Money in the Bank ladder match – which was won by Asuka – was actually for the championship.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 21 August 2021, following a 15-month hiatus, Lynch made her return at SummerSlam with a heel character, defeating Bianca Belair in less than half a minute to win the SmackDown Women's Championship for the fourth time. At Extreme Rules, Lynch successfully retained her title following interference by a returning Sasha Banks. A triple threat match between the three women for the SmackDown Women's Championship was then scheduled for the Crown Jewel event in October, where Lynch successfully retained her title. On 15 October episode of Smackdown, as part of her feud with Banks and Belair, Lynch would go one-on-one with Banks and Banks would pin her with a Backstabber after interference from Belair, marking her first loss since her return. As a part of the 2021 Draft, Lynch was drafted to the Raw brand as a SmackDown Women's Champion. On 22 October episode of "SmackDown", Lynch and Raw Women's Champion Charlotte Flair exchanged their titles, thus Lynch became the new Raw Women's Champion. As part of the 2021 Draft, Bianca Belair was also drafted to Raw and continued her feud with Lynch. On 1 November episode of "Raw", Lynch successfully defended her title against Belair, ending the feud. At Survivor Series, Lynch defeated SmackDown Women's Champion Charlotte Flair in a Champion vs. Champion match. On 31 January 2022 episode of Raw, Lynch would confront Royal Rumble winner Ronda Rousey but was dropped by Rousey as she left the ring. She would then be confronted by Lita and she would challenge Lynch to a title match at Elimination Chamber for the Raw Women's Championship and she would accept, with this being a dream match for Lynch as well as a first time ever match. She was successful in retaining her title, which would set up a title match with the winner of the Elimination Chamber number one contenders match, Bianca Belair, at WrestleMania 38. At night one of the event, Becky Lynch lost her title to Bianca Belair, ending her reign at 162 days.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 25 April episode of "Raw", Lynch was confronted by a returning Asuka, reigniting their feud. On 16 May episode of "Raw", Lynch failed to become the #1 contender for the Raw Women's Championship by losing to Asuka. The next week, Lynch defeated Asuka to get added to the match between her and Belair at Hell in a Cell, making it a triple threat match. At the event, Belair retained her title. On 20 June episode of "Raw", Lynch failed to qualify for the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match after losing to Asuka. However, Lynch was headed to the event after winning a last chance MITB qualifying six pack elimination match on the following episode of "Raw". At Money in the Bank, she was unsuccessful in winning the match. At SummerSlam, Lynch failed to regain the Raw Women's Championship from Belair, but embraced her after the match, turning face in the process. After Belair was confronted by a returning Bayley and new allies Dakota Kai and Iyo Sky (formerly Io Shirai), Lynch aided Belair, cementing her face turn. On 1 August, WWE issued a statement regarding Lynch suffering a separated shoulder in her match at SummerSlam, where she was expected to be out of action for several months. On that night's episode of "Raw", she was attacked backstage by Bayley, Kai, and Sky, effectively being written off of television. On 25 November episode of "SmackDown", Lynch made her return as “The Man”, being revealed as the fifth and final member of Bianca Belair's team for Survivor Series WarGames. At the event on 26 November, Lynch's team was victorious.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Lynch uses both a Fujiwara armbar, called the "Dis-arm-her", and a Pumphandle side slam, called the "Manhandle Slam" as finishing maneuvers.


title: Becky Lynch

text: From 2018 to 2020, Lynch used the nickname "The Man". Upon her return and heel turn in 2021, she began to use the nickname "Big Time Becks". After turning face the following year, she reverted back to her "The Man" nickname.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Lynch is one of the most popular and recognizable wrestlers of her generation. Lynch was the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion and has the longest reign as Raw Women's Champion, holding the belt for 398 days. At WrestleMania 35, Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Ronda Rousey became the first women to have headlined WWE's flagship annual event, while Lynch was the first to have won a WrestleMania main event match.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Lynch is the first WWE wrestler to have appeared on the cover of "ESPN The Magazine", as well as the first-ever female wrestler to have been featured on the cover of a WWE 2K video game. She holds the record for most main event matches at pay-per-view events in a single year for a female wrestler (3 in 2019). That same year, she became the


title: Becky Lynch

text: first woman to have been named "Pro Wrestling Illustrated" Most Popular Wrestler of the Year. Lynch was also the first and only female performer in WWE history to have lead the company in merchandise sales. Her Last Woman Standing match against Charlotte Flair at WWE Evolution was ranked No. 1 by WWE on "The Top 25 Matches of 2018" list. Lynch's Raw Women's Championship match against Sasha Banks at Hell in a Cell 2019 was ranked No. 2 on the same list in 2019.


title: Becky Lynch

text: WWE Hall of Famer Booker T compared Lynch's rise to The Rock's and added: "Becky is at the point where she and everybody in the locker room knows how good she is". Wrestler Toni Storm cited Lynch as her biggest inspiration and said that she is "taking the women's division to a completely different level." In 2019, wrestling commentator Jim Ross called Lynch "the most over talent in WWE".


title: Becky Lynch

text: As of April 2020, she was the sixth highest-paid WWE wrestler and the highest-paid woman according to "Forbes", with a salary of . In 2022, Glazia Magazine named Lynch as one of the Top Female Game-Changers in the 21st Century.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Quin performed stunts for a 2013 episode of "Vikings". She was written off WWE television for a few months in November 2017 to film "".


title: Becky Lynch

text: Becky Lynch is playable in six video games: "WWE 2K17", "WWE 2K18", "WWE 2K19," "WWE 2K20" (also the cover athlete), "WWE 2K Battlegrounds", and "WWE 2K22". Her entrance music is played after every goal scored on home ice by the American Hockey League's San Jose Barracuda.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Lynch is a recurring guest on Xavier Woods' YouTube channel "UpUpDownDown", where she goes by the nickname 'Soulless Senpai'. In October 2019, Lynch defeated Seth Rollins in a game of "" to win Rollins' UpUpDownDown Championship. Lynch lost the title to Cesaro in "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" a month later.


title: Becky Lynch

text: On 1 November 2022, it was confirmed that Quin would make an appearance on the third season premiere of "Young Rock", playing Cindy Lauper.


title: Becky Lynch

text: During her time away from wrestling, Quin worked as an actress and was cast in numerous plays in 2011 and 2012. She graduated with a degree in acting from the Dublin Institute of Technology, and has attended Columbia College Chicago and the Gaiety School of Acting. She also worked as a flight attendant with Aer Lingus for two and a half years. She is currently writing her first book.


title: Becky Lynch

text: Quin began dating fellow professional wrestler Colby Lopez, better known as Seth Rollins, in January 2019. Their relationship was made public in April, after months of speculation. The couple got engaged in August 2019. Their daughter Roux was born on 4 December 2020. Quin and Lopez got married on 29 June 2021. Quin's father, Ken, died on March 2021.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team plays its home games at Lincoln Financial Field in the South Philadelphia Sports Complex.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The franchise was established in 1933 as a replacement for the bankrupt Frankford Yellow Jackets, when a group led by Bert Bell secured the rights to an NFL franchise in Philadelphia. Since their formation, the Eagles have appeared in the playoffs 28 times, won 15 division titles (11 in the NFC East), appeared in four pre-merger NFL Championship Games, winning three of them (1948, 1949, and 1960), and appeared in three Super Bowls, winning Super Bowl LII at the end of the 2017 season.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: Thirteen individuals affiliated with the Eagles have been inducted to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, including Bell, Chuck Bednarik, Bob Brown, Brian Dawkins, Reggie White, Steve Van Buren, Tommy McDonald, Dick Vermeil, Greasy Neale, Pete Pihos, Harold Carmichael, Sonny Jurgensen, and Norm Van Brocklin.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The team has had an intense rivalry with the New York Giants. It was ranked by NFL Network as the number one rivalry of all-time, "Sports Illustrated" ranks it as the fourth-best rivalry in the NFL, and according to ESPN, it is one of the fiercest and most well-known rivalries in the American football community. They have a bitter rivalry with the Dallas Cowboys, which has become more high-profile since the 1960s, and a historic rivalry with the Washington Commanders. Their rivalry with the Pittsburgh Steelers is another bitter rivalry known as the battle of Pennsylvania, roughly dating back to 1933. The team ranks among the best in the league in attendance and has sold out every game since the 1999 season.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The Eagles are owned by Jeffrey Lurie, who bought the team from previous owner Norman Braman for $195 million on May 6, 1994. In 2017, "Forbes" valued the club at $2.65 billion, ranking them 10th among NFL teams in value.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The Frankford Athletic Association was organized in May 1899 in the parlor of the Suburban Club. The cost of purchasing a share in the association was $10. However, there were also contributing memberships, ranging from $1 to $2.50, made available to the general public. The Association was a community-based non-profit organization of local residents and businesses. In keeping with its charter, which stated that "all profits shall be donated to charity", all of the team's excess income was donated to local charitable institutions. The original Frankford Athletic Association apparently disbanded prior to the 1909 football season. Several of the original players from the 1899 football team kept the team together, and they became known as Loyola Athletic Club. In keeping with Yellow Jackets tradition, they carried the "Frankford" name again in 1912, to become the Frankford Athletic Association.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: In the early 1920s, the Frankford Athletic Association's Yellow Jackets gained the reputation as being one of the best independent football teams in the nation. In 1922, Frankford absorbed the Philadelphia City Champion team, the Union Quakers of Philadelphia. That year, Frankford captured the unofficial championship of Philadelphia. During the 1922 and 1923 seasons, the Yellow Jackets compiled a 6–2–1 record against teams from the National Football League. This led to the Association being granted an NFL franchise in 1924, thus becoming the Frankford Yellow Jackets.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: In spite of winning the NFL championship in 1926, midway through the 1931 season, the Yellow Jackets went bankrupt and were forced to cease operations.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: After more than a year of searching for a suitable replacement, the NFL granted an expansion franchise to a syndicate headed by Bert Bell and Lud Wray and awarded them the assets of the failed Yellow Jackets organization. The Bell–Wray group had to pay an entry fee of $3,500 (equal to $ today) and assumed a total debt of $11,000 that was owed to three other NFL franchises. Drawing inspiration from the Blue Eagle insignia of the National Recovery Administration, which was a centerpiece of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal, Bell and Wray named the new franchise the Philadelphia Eagles. This makes it appear that the Yellow Jackets sat out the 1932 season and returned as the Eagles in 1933. However, neither the Eagles nor the NFL officially regard the two franchises as the same, citing the aforementioned period of dormancy. Almost no Yellow Jackets' players were on the Eagles' first roster.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The Eagles, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the now-defunct Cincinnati Reds joined the NFL as expansion teams. Wray became the Eagles' first head coach after being convinced by Bell, his former teammate at Penn, to take the position. The team originally planned to play their home games at Shibe Park, which was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics baseball club. When negotiations fell through, the team managed to make a deal with the Athletics' crosstown rival, the Philadelphia Phillies, to play at the Baker Bowl.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The Eagles played their first game on October 15, 1933, against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in New York City; they lost, 56–0. The Eagles struggled over the course of their first decade, never winning more than four games. Their best finish was in their second season, 1934, when they tied for third in the East. For the most part, the Eagles' early rosters consisted of former Penn, Temple, and Villanova players who played for a few years before going on to other things.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: In 1935, Bell proposed an annual college draft to equalize talent across the league. The draft was a revolutionary concept in professional sports. Having teams select players in inverse order of their finish in the standings, a practice still followed today, strove to increase fan interest by guaranteeing that even the worst teams would have the opportunity for annual infusions of the best college talent. Between 1927 (when the NFL changed from a sprawling Midwestern-based association to a narrower, major-market league) and 1934, a triopoly of three teams (the Chicago Bears, New York Giants, and Green Bay Packers) had won all but one title (the exception being the Providence Steam Roller of 1928). By 1936 the club had suffered significant financial losses and was sold through a public auction. Bert Bell was the only bidder and became the sole owner of the team. Wray refused a reduction in his salary and left the team. Bell assumed the head coaching position and led the team to a record of 1–11, for last place in the league.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: From 1936 to 1939, the Eagles played at Municipal Stadium in South Philadelphia. In 1940, Bell balked at a 66% rent increase plus 10% of the gate receipts proposed by the city for using the stadium and signed a lease for Shibe Park (renamed Connie Mack Stadium in 1954). The Eagles would also be able to play night games as Shibe Park had installed lights the year before. In the 1941 season, the Eagles played their home opener at Municipal Stadium, but then moved to Shibe Park. To accommodate football at Shibe Park during the winter, management set up stands in right field, parallel to 20th Street. Some 20 feet high, these "east stands" had 22 rows of seats. The goalposts stood along the first base line and in left field. The uncovered east stands enlarged the park's capacity to over 39,000, but the Eagles rarely drew more than 25,000 to 30,000. The team finished the 1937 season 2–8–1 and would continue to struggle over the next three seasons.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: In December 1940, Bell conciliated the sale of Art Rooney's Steelers to Alexis Thompson, and then Rooney acquired half of Bell's interest in the Eagles. In a series of events known as the "Pennsylvania Polka", Rooney and Bell exchanged their entire Eagles roster and their "territorial rights" in Philadelphia to Thompson for his entire Steelers roster and his rights in Pittsburgh. Ostensibly, Rooney had provided assistance to Bell by rewarding him with a 20% commission on the sale of the Steelers. Bell became the Steelers' head coach and Rooney became general manager.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: After assuming ownership, Thompson promptly hired Earle "Greasy" Neale as the team's head coach. During the first years under Neale, the team continued to struggle by finishing the 1941 season with a 2–8–1 record. The 1942 season showed no improvement as the team went 2–9.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: In 1943, when manpower shortages stemming from World War II made it impossible to fill the roster, the team merged with the Steelers forming the "Phil-Pitt Eagles", known as the Steagles. Greasy Neale coached the team along with Steelers head coach Walt Kiesling. The team finished the season with a 5–4–1 record. The merger, never intended as a permanent arrangement, was dissolved at the end of the season.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: In 1944, led by head coach Greasy Neale and running back Steve Van Buren, the Eagles had their first winning season in team history. After two more second-place finishes in 1945 and 1946, the team reached the NFL Championship game for the first time in 1947. Van Buren, Pete Pihos, and Bosh Pritchard fought valiantly, but the young team fell to the Chicago Cardinals, 28–21 at Chicago's Comiskey Park.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: Undeterred, the young squad rebounded in 1948 to return to the NFL Championship game. With home-field advantage (and a blinding snowstorm) on their side, the Eagles won their first NFL Championship against the Chicago Cardinals, by a score of 7–0. The only score came in the fourth quarter when Steve Van Buren ran for a 5-yard touchdown. Because of the severe weather, few fans witnessed the joyous occasion.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: Before the start of the 1949 season, the team was sold by Thompson to a syndicate of 100 buyers, known as the "Happy Hundred", each of whom paid $3,000 for a share of the team. While the leader of the "Happy Hundred" was noted Philadelphia businessman James P. Clark, one unsung investor was Leonard Tose, a name that would eventually become very familiar to Eagles fans.


title: Philadelphia Eagles

text: The team returned to the NFL Championship game for the third consecutive year. The Eagles were favored by a touchdown, and won 14–0 for their second consecutive title-game shutout. Running back Steve Van Buren rushed for 196 yards on 31 carries for the Eagles, and their defense held the Rams to just 21 yards on the ground. Chuck Bednarik was selected as the first overall pick in the 1949 NFL Draft. An All-American lineman/linebacker from the University of Pennsylvania, Bednarik would go on to become one of the greatest and most beloved players in Eagles history.