title: Steven Universe

text: Most of the show's incidental music is composed by the chiptune piano duo Aivi & Surasshu, with guitars by Stemage. Jeff Liu, who was familiar with producer Aivi's musical score for the video game "Cryamore", recommended them to Sugar as a composer. Sugar asked Aivi to audition and agreed that producer Surasshu could join them. Aivi & Surasshu scored a clip from "Gem Glow", the series' first episode; Sugar liked their work and hired them as series composers. Before composing an episode, Aivi & Surasshu video chat with Sugar and the creative director to discuss the episode; they have a week to send Sugar a preview score. After any necessary changes, Aivi & Surasshu send the score to Sabre Media Studios for the final mix with their sound designs.


title: Steven Universe

text: Each character has a leitmotif expressing their personality, which changes slightly depending on the situation. Pearl is often accompanied by a piano, Garnet by a synth bass, Amethyst by a drum machine with electric bass and synths, and Steven with chiptune tones. Sound palettes were produced for the human characters to represent the evolution of the series, its characters and their relationships. Sound motifs and palettes were also created for locations, objects and abstract concepts. When Sugar or the other writers write a song for an episode, they record a demo that is sent to the composers. The same musical style for a song and the character singing it is used for each song. Over time, the songs have become increasingly complex and production has become more difficult because the show's original musical style no longer fits perfectly with the newer lyrical themes. An example is "Here Comes a Thought", sung by Estelle and AJ Michalka (who voices Stevonnie). The two were less inspired by a specific musical style, but rather by the song's "feel", which Sugar had explained to them.


title: Steven Universe

text: The pilot episode of "Steven Universe" was released on Cartoon Network's video platform on May 21, 2013, and an edited version was released on July 20. The pilot was shown at the 2013 San Diego Comic-Con, and Sugar hosted a 30-minute panel discussion about the series at the 2013 New York Comic Con on October 13. Initially, thirteen half-hours (26 episodes) were ordered for the first season; on November 14, the season was picked up for an additional thirteen half-hours. The series was renewed for a second season of 26 half-hours on July 25, 2014, which began airing on March 13, 2015, and for a third season of 26 half-hours in July 2015. In March 2016, a production shuffle saw the second and third seasons subdivided to create four seasons of 13 half-hours each, making a total of five seasons. Finally, in 2016, following the decision to end the series, Sugar petitioned Cartoon Network to extend the fifth season by three extra half-hours to wrap up the story, making it 16 half-hours total.


title: Steven Universe

text: The series premiered in the United States on November 4, 2013, on Cartoon Network with two episodes. In Canada, it began airing on Cartoon Network on November 11, 2013, and on Teletoon on April 24, 2014. It began airing on Cartoon Network channels in Australia on February 3, 2014, and in the United Kingdom and Ireland on May 12 of that year.


title: Steven Universe

text: Beginning in 2015, Cartoon Network often aired new episodes in groups of five over one week—marketed as "Stevenbombs"—rather than one episode per week. The hiatuses between groups have irritated fans, according to "The A.V. Club" causing "agonized cries of a rabid, starving, pained cult following". The format, which is also used for other Cartoon Network series, has, in the website's view, contributed to the network's spikes in Google Trends associated with each "bomb". "The A.V. Club" attributed the effect to "Steven Universe"s unusual—for a youth cartoon—adherence to an overarching plot, which can generate "massive swells of online interest"—similar to the release of full seasons of adult TV series—which are "crucial to a network's vitality in an increasingly internet-based television world".


title: Steven Universe

text: In May 2018, Cartoon Network apologized to fans after one of the channel's promotional videos contained unaired footage with significant spoilers for future episodes. In response to the video, former series producer Ian Jones-Quartey noted in a later-deleted tweet that "being a "Steven Universe" fan is suffering", alluding to the series' irregular and unpredictable airing schedule. In an October 2020 art book for the series, Sugar stated that when clips from unaired episodes, giving away major spoilers, were leaked or those clips were used in official promotional videos, it was "very demoralizing for the crew."


title: Steven Universe

text: From June 2, 2018 to July 29, 2018, "Steven Universe" aired re-runs on Cartoon Network's sister channel, Boomerang.


title: Steven Universe

text: "Say Uncle" is a crossover episode with "Uncle Grandpa" that aired on April 2, 2015. In the episode, Uncle Grandpa helps Steven use his Gem powers when he cannot summon his shield. The episode contains an acknowledgement by Uncle Grandpa that the episode is not canonical. Steven, Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl and other Cartoon Network characters from current and former shows made cameo appearances in the "Uncle Grandpa" episode "Pizza Eve".


title: Steven Universe

text: Additionally, Garnet appeared in "Crossover Nexus", an episode of "OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes", which aired on October 8, 2018. In the episode, Garnet teamed up with K.O., Ben Tennyson from "Ben 10" and Raven from "Teen Titans Go!" to stop the villain Strike.


title: Steven Universe

text: Two volumes of mini-episodes have been released by Cartoon Network. The first one includes the extended title theme "We Are the Crystal Gems"; shorts in which the Crystal Gems teach Steven about Gems in a classroom setting; an unboxing video of Steven's new duffel bag; and a short in which Steven's pet lion is playing with a cardboard box. The second volume contains fives minisodes that show Steven cooking, performing karaoke, reacting to "Crying Breakfast Friends!", video chatting with Lapis and Peridot, and playing a new song.


title: Steven Universe

text: According to Rebecca Sugar, she was notified in 2016 that the series would be cancelled at the end of the fifth season. She prevailed upon Cartoon Network to extend the fifth season to 32 episodes, in order to have room to complete the story, as well as a follow-up television film, "". Along with the film, Cartoon Network also greenlighted an additional season of 20 episodes, which would become the sequel series "Steven Universe Future", taking place after the events of the film. Despite the show's end, Sugar has indicated that more stories could exist, but has stated that she needs a long break before deciding how to approach such a continuation.


title: Steven Universe

text: The follow-up TV film, "Steven Universe: The Movie", was announced on July 21, 2018, at San Diego Comic-Con. A teaser was shown and was uploaded to the Cartoon Network YouTube channel. It was released on Cartoon Network commercial-free on September 2, 2019. The 82-minute film takes place two years after the events of the series finale; its plot centers on a deranged Gem, Spinel, erasing the Crystal Gems' memories to take revenge for her abandonment by Steven's mother.


title: Steven Universe

text: The limited series "Steven Universe Future", intended to serve as an epilogue to the main series, was announced at the 2019 New York Comic Con. "Steven Universe Future" premiered on December 7, 2019 and ran for a total of 20 11-minute episodes, including a four-part finale airing on March 27, 2020. Its narrative focuses on Steven dealing with his own emotional trauma in the aftermath of the events of the series.


title: Steven Universe

text: Nonfiction books covering the development of the franchise and compiling production artwork have also been published:


title: Steven Universe

text: The tactical role-playing video game "" was released on April 2, 2015, for iOS and Android devices. It was developed by Grumpyface Studios in collaboration with Sugar for mobile devices. Players control Steven and three Crystal Gems to fight light monsters. A sequel, "", was released for consoles in October 2017. Another sequel, "", was released exclusively on Apple Arcade in November 2019. It was then rereleased on PC (Steam) and consoles in February 2021.


title: Steven Universe

text: A rhythm-based mobile game, "Steven Universe: Soundtrack Attack", was released on July 21, 2016, in the United States. A player-created Gem flees her pursuer through side-scrolling stages set to remixes of the series' music. Another mobile game, "Steven Universe: Dreamland Arcade", was released in 2017; it is a collection of arcade games with characters from the series.


title: Steven Universe

text: "Steven Universe" characters appear in Cartoon Network's kart racing game "Formula Cartoon All-Stars" and in the side-scrolling, beat-'em-up game "Battle Crashers". In common with other Cartoon Network series, several browser-based games—including "Heap of Trouble", "Goat Guardian" and "Gem Bound"—are available on the channel's website.


title: Steven Universe

text: On February 26, 2019, "Minecraft" released a Mash-Up Pack based on "Steven Universe", making it the second Cartoon Network series to receive one after "Adventure Time".


title: Steven Universe

text: In October 2015, Cartoon Network announced a line of toys based on "Steven Universe", which would be sold by specialty retailers. For the 2015 holiday season, Funko made "Pop!" vinyl figures and Just Toys offered "blind bag" novelty products. PhatMojo sold plush figures and foam weapons, and Zag Toys released collectible bobbleheads and other mini-figures in early 2016. The following year, Toy Factory planned to sell a line of plush and novelty items. Cartoon Network sells a variety of products, including mugs, blankets and clothing, based on the show's episodes and characters.


title: Steven Universe

text: The first soundtrack album collecting songs from the first four seasons, "Steven Universe Soundtrack: Volume 1", was released on June 2, 2017. The soundtrack debuted at number 22 on the "Billboard" 200, number two on the Soundtracks chart, and number one on the Independent Albums chart. In Europe, it reached number 28 on the UK Album Downloads Chart, nine on the country's Soundtrack chart, 56 on the nation's official Compilation chart, and 174 on the Ultratop Flanders album chart. An album of songs from the fifth and final season, "Steven Universe: Volume 2 (Original Soundtrack)" as well as a karaoke album were released on April 12, 2019. "Volume 2" debuted at number 24 on the Soundtracks chart, number 28 on the Independent Albums chart, and number 14 on the Kid Albums chart. A soundtrack for the movie featuring its songs and score was released on September 3, 2019, peaking at number 57 on the Billboard 200, number five on the soundtrack chart, number six on the Independent chart, and number two on the Kid Albums chart. The soundtrack for "Steven Universe Future" was released on October 23, 2020.


title: Steven Universe

text: Five albums featuring the show's score were released on May 29, June 26, July 31, August 28, and September 25, 2020, respectively.


title: Steven Universe

text: "Steven Universe" has been widely praised for its art, music, voice performances, storytelling and characterization. According to James Whitbrook of "io9", it is an "equally rewarding watch" for adults and children, and Eric Thurm of "Wired" has called it "one of the stealthiest, smartest, and most beautiful things on the air". Over the course of its run, "Steven Universe" has attracted a rapidly-growing fan base. In 2019, "TV Guide" ranked "Steven Universe" #61 in its selection of the top 100 contemporary television series, describing the series as "groundbreaking" with an "uplifting, self-affirming message".


title: Steven Universe

text: Critics have praised the "breathtaking beauty", "intriguing, immersive environments" and "loveably goofy aesthetic" of "Steven Universe"s art, writing highly of its distinctive, soft pastel backgrounds and its "gorgeous, expressive, clean animation". Reviewers also enjoyed the diverse, ensemble cast's voice acting, particularly that of Tom Scharpling's Greg, Zach Callison's "exuberant and expressive" work as Steven and Grace Rolek "singing her heart out" as Connie.


title: Steven Universe

text: All five seasons of "Steven Universe" hold a perfect 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The website's critical consensus for season five reads "Having blossomed into a sophisticated mythology with a deeply moving subtext, "Steven Universe" remains a sparkling entertainment and perfect introduction to LGBTQ representation for children."


title: Steven Universe

text: Sugar wanted "Steven Universe" to be thematically consistent with hers and her brother's shared interests. As a coming-of-age series, the theme of family is important since Sugar based the titular character on her brother. Additionally, the theme of love was inspired by her relationship with Jones-Quartey. The series also expresses the importance of acceptance, and explores relationships, LGBT identity, body shapes and "hues of skin in a colorful sci-fi magic display of diversity". According to Kat Morris, the series' central concepts are developed over time in an organic way, rather than being "overly calculated" from the start. Former writer Matt Burnett said the series' simple-life theme prevented the inclusion of "cynicism" or "snarkiness". According to Burnett, the writers have no interest in a superhero theme.


title: Steven Universe

text: The unusually strong female presence in a series about a boy—all major characters except Steven and Greg are female—is intentional according to Sugar, who intended to "tear down and play with the semiotics of gender in cartoons for children", considering it "absurd" that shows for boys should be fundamentally different from those for girls. She developed the series' plot towards a distant goal, with everything in between kept flexible, partly because her intentions have "changed since I've started because I've grown up a lot" while working on the show. Sugar described the series as "reverse escapism": the idea that fantasy characters would become interested in real life and would want to participate in it. Steven personifies the "love affair between fantasy and reality". Sugar said "Steven Universe" was influenced by the anime series "Future Boy Conan", "Revolutionary Girl Utena" and "The Simpsons".


title: Steven Universe

text: "Steven Universe", according to Eric Thurm, is a low-key, slice of life portrayal of childhood, an examination of unconventional family dynamics, a homage to anime, video games and other pop-culture mainstays, and a "straightforward kids' show about superheroes". Jacob Hope Chapman of "Anime News Network" said the anime series "Revolutionary Girl Utena" and "Sailor Moon" are "Steven Universe"s strongest influences visually and structurally, reflected by its "predominantly playful tone, interrupted by crushing drama at key moments", and its "glorification of the strengths of femininity, dilution of gender barriers, and emphasis on a wide variety of relationships between women, aimed at a family audience". "Steven Universe" also refers to Japanese cultural icons, including "Neon Genesis Evangelion", "Akira", "Cowboy Bebop", "Dragon Ball Z", Studio Ghibli movies and Junji Ito's horror manga "The Enigma of Amigara Fault".


title: Steven Universe

text: According to Whitbrook, the series' "masterful sense of pace" allows it to integrate foreshadowing and worldbuilding into scenes, which makes an overarching, dramatic narrative emerge from what might otherwise be "monster of the week" episodes. The narration of a complex story from a child's perspective means its exposition remains "artfully restrained, growing in ambition with the series" and Steven's character. "Steven Universe"s measured pace allows its characters to become "more complex and interesting than most of their counterparts on prestige dramas", developing "as real people and not entities serving narrative functions". The series explores increasingly-challenging facets of relationships, such as the possibility Pearl may partially resent Steven because he is the reason his mother Rose no longer exists, and the growing self-destruction of Pearl's "all-consuming passion" for Rose. Its action scenes—such as Estelle's song presenting the climactic fight in "Jail Break" as a contest between Garnet's loving relationship and Jasper's lone-wolf attitude—are occasionally cast as philosophical arguments.


title: Steven Universe

text: Adams highlighted the "groundbreaking and inventive" portrayal of the complicated "mentor/caregiver/older sibling dynamic" between Steven and the Crystal Gems in a series which, at its core, is about sibling relationships. Thurm wrote that a notable emotional difference between "Steven Universe", and "Adventure Time" and "Regular Show", is that the latter two series deal with their protagonists' transitions to adulthood whereas during its first season, "Steven Universe" was content to be "enamored with the simplicity of childhood". Steven slowly grows from being an obnoxious, tag-along child to an accepted member of the Crystal Gems in his own right by the end of the first season, a change brought about by increased insight and experience rather than age. Joe Cain noted in "The Mary Sue" that unlike heroes from antiquity (Hercules) and modern fiction (Luke Skywalker), Steven is defined by his mother's legacy rather than his father's; the preponderance of mother figures in the series underscores their rarity in other fiction. According to Kat Smalley of PopMatters, the Gems' alien nature, which prevents them from fully understanding the world they protect, is handled with "remarkable depth and intellectual rigor", even as they deal with human issues such as "depression, post-traumatic stress, and self-loathing" remaining from the long-past war for Earth.


title: Steven Universe

text: Smalley characterized "Steven Universe" as part of a growing trend of cartoons that appeal to adults and children alike, which includes "" (2005), its sequel "The Legend of Korra" (2012), "Adventure Time" (2010) and "Regular Show" (2010). This is reflected in the series' outreach to minorities that seldom appear elsewhere in animation and its broader themes: instead of delivering genre-typical, mustache-twirling villains, "Steven Universe" "deals with issues of extraordinary violence and horror, depicts its characters in shades of grey, and subtly plays with matters of philosophy, morality, and interpersonal conflicts, all while refusing to reset any development to a "status quo"".


title: Steven Universe

text: "Gender is at the forefront of the conversation surrounding "Steven Universe"", according to Erik Adams of the "A.V. Club", who noted that "the show's superheroes are all women". As a self-aware pastiche of magical girl anime, the series subverts the genre's premises by having Steven embody the loving femininity of the typical magical-girl protagonist without ridicule or losing his masculine side. Whitbrook characterized the series as being "about love—"all" kinds of love", including non-traditional forms such as the motherly and friendly bond between Steven and the Gems, and Garnet as the "physical embodiment of a lesbian relationship".


title: Steven Universe

text: When placing the series on the honor list of the 2015 Tiptree Award, which recognizes works of science fiction or fantasy that explore and expand gender roles, the jury wrote: "In the context of children's television, this show deals with gender in a much more open and mature way than is typical for the genre, and has some of the best writing of any cartoon ... In addition to showing men and women who do not necessarily conform to standard American gender ideals, the show also gives us an agender/non-binary character and a thoughtful exploration of growing up".


title: Steven Universe

text: In 2015, Autostraddle's Mey Rude wrote that "Steven Universe" was the most-recent animated series for a younger audience with significant queer themes, such as the androgynous fusion Stevonnie and the romantic relationship between the Gems Ruby and Sapphire, whose fusion is the main character Garnet. This, according to Rude, reflects the growing prominence of these themes in children's cartoons; previous depictions were subtextual or minimal, such as the 2011 "Adventure Time" episode "What Was Missing", the 2014 series "Clarence" or (more explicit but unexplored) the 2014 finale of Nickelodeon's "The Legend of Korra". In "Steven Universe", LGBT themes are prominent as early as the first season's second half. The fifth season's engagement and wedding between Ruby and Sapphire was reportedly the first same-sex marriage proposal in a children's animated series. In their 2015 report, GLAAD stated that the show reflected the "diversity of the real world," noting that one of the show's protagonists, Garnet, is "the physical form of two female-presenting Gem beings who are in love", shown in episodes such as "The Answer", focusing on how the romantic relationship between Ruby and Sapphire. This led some to say the show has "heavy queer undertones." "The Answer" later earned the show its second Emmy nomination, one of the six for the show.


title: Steven Universe

text: Stevonnie, a fusion between Steven and Connie debuted in the January 15th episode Alone Together, using they/them pronouns. Sugar, the show creator, said that Stevonnie challenges gender norms as a "metaphor for all the terrifying firsts in a first relationship." Later, the show earned a Emmy nomination in 2018 for the episode "Jungle Moon" centered around Stevonnie, a non-binary character.


title: Steven Universe

text: According to Sugar, her series' LGBT representation is not intended to make a point but to help children understand themselves and develop their identities. In her view, queer youth deserve to see themselves in stories as much as other children—and, given pervasive heteronormativity, not allowing them to do so can be harmful. She said, "I think a lot about fairy tales and Disney movies and the way that love is something that's always discussed with children. You're told that you should dream about love, about this fulfilling love that you're going to have. [...] Why shouldn't everyone have that?" During a 2016 panel discussion, Sugar said the LGBT themes in "Steven Universe" were also largely based on her own experience as a bisexual woman. A year later she said that Fluorite—the fusion of six Gems introduced in the season five episode "Off Colors"—represents a polyamorous relationship. In July 2018, she told an interviewer that she created the series' Gems as "non-binary women" in order to express herself, as a non-binary woman, through them.


title: Steven Universe

text: The series' reputation as "one of the most unabashedly queer shows on TV" generated controversy in 2016 when Cartoon Network UK removed an embrace between Rose and Pearl but did not remove a kiss between Rose and Greg from its British broadcast. The network, which said the decision was intended to make the episode "more comfortable for local kids and their parents", was criticized as homophobic by fans and the media. In 2017, the Kenya Film Classification Board banned "Steven Universe" and other cartoon series from being broadcast for "glorifying homosexual behavior".


title: Steven Universe

text: Sugar told "Vanity Fair" in March 2021 that she had been determined to make "queer couples and narratives" integral to the story in ways that are "impossible to censor," and had to fight internally for the representation. Obstacles from Cartoon Network executives included requests to make Ruby a boy, have the characters never kiss on the mouth, and not have a romantic relationship between Ruby and Sapphire, and warnings that if anyone on the crew, including Sugar herself, publicly "confirmed that the characters were LGBTQIA+, it might lead to the show’s cancellation." Sugar said that she began to talk publicly about why she "felt so strongly that kids deserve these stories" and won with the "support of Steven Universe’s young fans and the muscle of GLAAD behind them."


title: Steven Universe

text: In June 2021, Taneka Stotts, a genderfluid writer for "Steven Universe: Future" told Insider that Sugar "went out of the way to make sure that their show was [staffed] as inclusive as possible", hiring talented people noticed on Tumblr and Twitter instead of industry regulars. Sugar said that being at the forefront of LGBTQ representation meant that beyond what they were creating there was "very little queer content". She also said that apart from threats and backlash from homophobic viewers, she feared that her identity and content in the show could lead to its cancellation if she spoke about it openly, noting that support for the show was "often very qualified and hurtful". She also noted that non-binary creators such as herself have additional challenges, going through a world were non-binary people are dehumanized, and hoped that "visible queer content and multiple queer creators means no one has to feel isolated" in the ways that she did. The same month, Sugar told NPR that she wanted "little boys to experience girl show things" and vice versa, and for "nonbinary, gender-expansive kids to have a show".


title: Steven Universe

text: In September 2021, Abbey White, a non-binary reporter for Insider and The Hollywood Reporter, told The Hollywood Reporter's "Hollywood Remixed" podcast that the whole idea behind the show is "an upending of gender expectation," with Steven as a "gender nonconforming boy" with a family of "feminine non-binary, non-gendered aliens," saying this is "laced in very conscious, purposeful ways throughout the entire series." Previously, Mashable had stated that some fans relate to Lars Barriga in certain respects to the transgender experience, like feelings of societal pressure and conformity, even though he is not a confirmed transgender character. The series also featured Fluorite, a representation of a polyamorous relationship, a minor show character, and Kiki Pizza, who asked Stevonnie on a date in the comics. Additionally, a "Steven Universe" storyboarder stated in 2017 that Harold Smiley and Quentin Frowney were a gay couple. This was also confirmed by the official artbook released the same year, titled "Steven Universe: Art & Origins," which showed that episode concept art for "Future Boy Zoltron"


title: Steven Universe

text: Aivi Tran and Steven "Surasshu" Velema's chiptune-inspired music has also been praised in reviews: Oliver Sava of "The A.V. Club" mentioned its range from "peppy retro" to Ghibli-esque "smooth jazz piano", Eric Thurm wrote that the musical numbers are characterized by "uplifting determination", and James Whitbrook wrote that they have evolved from being "little ... goofy ditties" to an integral part of the show's storytelling. Thurm wrote for "Pitchfork" that "music "matters" in Rebecca Sugar's work", more than in most musicals, by structuring the characters' lives rather than merely telling a story.


title: Steven Universe

text: The series' music has also been widely praised. "Stronger Than You" has been referred to as a "queer fight song", and the end credits song, "Love Like You", has also been called worthy of being "the latest addition to the Great American Songbook".


title: Steven Universe

text: Public interest in the series measured by Google Trends vastly outstripped that of Cartoon Network's other series in April 2016, which "The A.V. Club" called "definitive proof that "Steven Universe" is now Cartoon Network's flagship series".


title: Steven Universe

text: Fans have campaigned against censorship outside the United States of the series' representation of LGBT relationships. A fan campaign persuaded Cartoon Network's French subsidiary to re-record the song "Stronger than You" with a translation making the singer's love as explicit as the original, and another was launched in 2016 to protest Cartoon Network's British subsidiary's practice of removing scenes of affection between Gems from UK broadcasts. Swedish fans originated a protest petition after flirting between Gems was changed to unrelated dialogue in the Swedish broadcast of the episode, "Hit the Diamond".


title: Steven Universe

text: According to "io9", "while most of the "Steven Universe" fandom is supportive and welcoming, there is a small subsection that's known for being extreme and hostile under the guise of inclusiveness". A fan artist attempted suicide in 2015 after she was bullied on social media because of the body proportions in her art, and in 2016 storyboard artist and writer Jesse Zuke quit Twitter after being harassed by fans over perceived support for a particular romantic relationship between characters.


title: Steven Universe

text: A full-length fan-made episode titled "The Smothering", set in an alternate version of the story's continuity, was called "one of the more impressive pieces of work to come out of the "Steven Universe" fandom" in 2017 by "io9". Beach City Con, a "Steven Universe" fan convention, was held in Virginia Beach on October 13–15, 2017.


title: Steven Universe

text: In 2019, Ian Jones-Quartey, who left the show in 2015 to develop his own show ("OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes"), noted how the focus of "Steven Universe" on identity struck a chord with audiences, while ND Stevenson, showrunner of "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power", described the show's effect on LGBTQ+ representation in Western animation, arguing that it changed the "landscape of animated shows when it first hit the air." In a later interview, Stevenson said their early conversations about queer relationships and characters in their own show were only possible because of "Steven Universe". Additionally, in an interview with GLAAD's Raina Deerwater, Stevenson talked about queer representation in animation, citing "Steven Universe" alongside "The Legend of Korra" as an inspiring example of show that taught young fans to expect "nothing less than a variety of solid queer representation and central queer characters." Tracy Brown, a reviewer for the "Los Angeles Times" argued that the show, during its run, became the "gold standard" for Cartoon Network itself.


title: Steven Universe

text: On January 10, 2021, Twitter user @camrynieroway tweeted that there was "absolutely nothing better than living outside the gender binary," stated they were non-binary, and added a GIF of Stevonnie, stating "‘Are you a boy or a girl?’ I’m an experience." The same day, the tweet was quoted by singer and songwriter Janelle Monáe who added the hashtag #IAmNonbinary. In an interview with The Cut a month after the tweet, she told the interviewer that she retweeted the GIF because it "resonated with me, especially as someone who has pushed boundaries of gender since the beginning of my career".


title: Steven Universe

text: In June 2021, a former Cartoon Network executive, Katie Krentz, said part of a shift more inclusion in animation, might be due, in part, to events at conventions, giving the example of rooms at Comic-Con filled up with Steven Universe fans in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. Krentz further argued this sort of participation by fans gives executives and creators feedback on who is watching the show and will buy merchandise, and on a related note, what counts as "good" representation. Journalists for Insider also argued that the show was "the start of a wave of animated shows with LGBTQ representation."


title: Steven Universe

text: In July 2021, Jade King of "TheGamer" reported that "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power" "wouldn't exist without Steven Universe", noting a story told by Molly Ostertag who said that her partner, ND Stevenson, used "Steven Universe" to prove to Netflix that shows with queer representation "have value, audiences, and a right to exist to show young people that being different is nothing to be ashamed of."


title: Steven Universe

text: In October 2021, Matt Braly, the creator of "Amphibia" said he was a big fan of the show, a friend of Rebecca Sugar, and said that Sugar shows that original cartoon music can be beautiful and soulful. He also argued that there are a lot of crossover themes between "Steven Universe" and "Amphibia", noting that a few crew members had worked on the show, and adding "we've got some Steven DNA."


title: Steven Universe

text: In November 2021, an interviewer for GQ asked rapper and singer Lil Nas X if he watched the series, saying one of his outfits looks like Yellow Diamond in the series. Lil Nas X responded, telling the interviewer that he was going to commission someone to take the outfits of the diamonds and "position them as the diamonds". When the interviewer remarked "fuck, Pink Diamond," he countered this and remarked "we love Pink Diamond. She did what she had to do." He additionally argued that "Star Wars" is "decent" but that "Steven Universe" is "next level" in comparison.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the north of France, between 26 May and 4 June 1940. The operation commenced after large numbers of Belgian, British, and French troops were cut off and surrounded by German troops during the six-week Battle of France. In a speech to the House of Commons, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill called this "a colossal military disaster", saying "the whole root and core and brain of the British Army" had been stranded at Dunkirk and seemed about to perish or be captured. In his "We shall fight on the beaches" speech on 4 June, he hailed their rescue as a "miracle of deliverance".


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: After Germany invaded Poland in September 1939, France and the British Empire declared war on Germany and imposed an economic blockade. The British Expeditionary Force (BEF) was sent to help defend France. After the Phoney War of October 1939 to April 1940, Germany invaded Belgium, the Netherlands, and France on 10 May 1940. Three panzer corps attacked through the Ardennes and drove northwest to the English Channel. By 21 May, German forces had trapped the BEF, the remains of the Belgian forces, and three French field armies along the northern coast of France. BEF commander General Viscount Gort immediately saw evacuation across the Channel as the best course of action, and began planning a withdrawal to Dunkirk, the closest good port.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Late on 23 May, a halt order was issued by "Generaloberst" Gerd von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group A. Adolf Hitler approved this order the next day, and had the German High Command send confirmation to the front. Attacking the trapped BEF, French, and Belgian armies was left to the "Luftwaffe" until the order was rescinded on 26 May. This gave Allied forces time to construct defensive works and pull back large numbers of troops to fight the Battle of Dunkirk. From 28 to 31 May, in the siege of Lille, the remaining 40,000 men of the French First Army fought a delaying action against seven German divisions, including three armoured divisions.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On the first day only 7,669 Allied soldiers were evacuated, but by the end of the eighth day, 338,226 had been rescued by a hastily assembled fleet of over 800 vessels. Many troops were able to embark from the harbour's protective mole onto 39 British Royal Navy destroyers, four Royal Canadian Navy destroyers, at least three French Navy destroyers, and a variety of civilian merchant ships. Others had to wade out from the beaches, waiting for hours in shoulder-deep water. Some were ferried to the larger ships by what became known as the Little Ships of Dunkirk, a flotilla of hundreds of merchant marine boats, fishing boats, pleasure craft, yachts, and lifeboats called into service from Britain. The BEF lost 68,000 soldiers during the French campaign and had to abandon nearly all of its tanks, vehicles, and equipment. In his 4 June speech, Churchill also reminded the country that "we must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations."


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: In September 1939, after Germany invaded Poland, the United Kingdom sent the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) to aid in the defence of France, landing at Cherbourg, Nantes, and Saint-Nazaire. By May 1940 the force consisted of ten divisions in three corps under the command of General John Vereker, 6th Viscount Gort. Working with the BEF were the Belgian Army and the French First, Seventh, and Ninth Armies.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: During the 1930s, the French had constructed the Maginot Line, a series of fortifications along their border with Germany. This line had been designed to deter a German invasion across the Franco-German border and funnel an attack into Belgium, which could then be met by the best divisions of the French Army. Thus, any future war would take place outside of French territory, avoiding a repeat of the First World War. The area immediately to the north of the Maginot Line was covered by the heavily wooded Ardennes region, which French General Philippe Pétain declared to be "impenetrable" as long as "special provisions" were taken. He believed that any enemy force emerging from the forest would be vulnerable to a pincer attack and destroyed. The French commander-in-chief, Maurice Gamelin, also believed the area to be of a limited threat, noting that it "never favoured large operations". With this in mind, the area was left lightly defended.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The initial plan for the German invasion of France called for an encirclement attack through the Netherlands and Belgium, avoiding the Maginot Line. Erich von Manstein, then Chief of Staff of the German Army Group A, prepared the outline of a different plan and submitted it to the Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH; German High Command) via his superior, "Generaloberst" Gerd von Rundstedt. Manstein's plan suggested that panzer divisions should attack through the Ardennes, then establish bridgeheads on the Meuse River and rapidly drive to the English Channel. The Germans would thus cut off the Allied armies in Belgium. This part of the plan later became known as the "Sichelschnitt" ("sickle cut"). Adolf Hitler approved a modified version of Manstein's ideas, today known as the Manstein Plan, after meeting with him on 17 February.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On 10 May, Germany invaded Belgium and the Netherlands. Army Group B, under "Generaloberst" Fedor von Bock, attacked into Belgium, while the three panzer corps of Army Group A under Rundstedt swung around to the south and drove for the Channel. The BEF advanced from the Belgian border to positions along the River Dyle within Belgium, where they fought elements of Army Group B starting on 10 May. They were ordered to begin a fighting withdrawal to the Scheldt River on 14 May when the Belgian and French positions on their flanks failed to hold. During a visit to Paris on 17 May, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was astonished to learn from Gamelin that the French had committed all their troops to the ongoing engagements and had no strategic reserves. On 19 May, Gort met with French General Gaston Billotte, commander of the French First Army and overall coordinator of the Allied forces. Billotte revealed that the French had no troops between the Germans and the sea. Gort immediately saw that evacuation across the Channel was the best course of action, and began planning a withdrawal to Dunkirk, the closest location with good port facilities. Surrounded by marshes, Dunkirk boasted old fortifications and the longest sand beach in Europe, where large groups could assemble. On 20 May, on Churchill's suggestion, the Admiralty began arranging for all available small vessels to be made ready to proceed to France. After continued engagements and a failed Allied attempt on 21 May at Arras to cut through the German spearhead, the BEF was trapped, along with the remains of the Belgian forces and the three French armies, in an area along the coast of northern France and Belgium.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Without informing the French, the British began planning on 20 May for Operation Dynamo, the evacuation of the BEF. This planning was headed by Vice Admiral Bertram Ramsay at the naval headquarters below Dover Castle, from which he briefed Churchill as it was under way. Ships began gathering at Dover for the evacuation. On 20 May, the BEF sent Brigadier Gerald Whitfield to Dunkirk to start evacuating unnecessary personnel. Overwhelmed by what he later described as "a somewhat alarming movement towards Dunkirk by both officers and men", due to a shortage of food and water, he had to send many along without thoroughly checking their credentials. Even officers ordered to stay behind to aid the evacuation disappeared onto the boats.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On 22 May, Churchill ordered the BEF to attack southward in coordination with the French First Army under General Georges Blanchard to reconnect with the remainder of the French forces. This proposed action was dubbed the Weygand Plan after General Maxime Weygand, appointed Supreme Commander after Gamelin's dismissal on 18 May. On 25 May, Gort had to abandon any hope of achieving this objective and withdrew on his own initiative, along with Blanchard's forces, behind the Lys Canal, part of a canal system that reached the sea at Gravelines. Sluice gates had already been opened all along the canal to flood the system and create a barrier (the Canal Line) against the German advance.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: By 24 May, the Germans had captured the port of Boulogne and surrounded Calais. The engineers of the 2nd Panzer Division under "Generalmajor" Rudolf Veiel built five bridges over the Canal Line and only one British battalion barred the way to Dunkirk. On 23 May, at the suggestion of Fourth Army commander "Generalfeldmarschall" Günther von Kluge, Rundstedt had ordered the panzer units to halt, concerned about the vulnerability of his flanks and the question of supply to his forward troops. He was also concerned that the marshy ground around Dunkirk would prove unsuitable for tanks and he wished to conserve them for later operations (in some units, tank losses were 30–50 per cent). Hitler was also apprehensive, and on a visit to Army Group A headquarters on 24 May, he endorsed the order.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Air Marshal Hermann Göring urged Hitler to let the "Luftwaffe" (aided by Army Group B) finish off the British, to the consternation of General Franz Halder, who noted in his diary that the "Luftwaffe" was dependent upon the weather and aircrews were worn out after two weeks of battle. Rundstedt issued another order, which was sent uncoded. It was picked up by the Royal Air Force (RAF) Y service intelligence network at 12:42: "By order of the Fuhrer ... attack north-west of Arras is to be limited to the general line Lens–Bethune–Aire–St Omer–Gravelines. The Canal will not be crossed." Later that day, Hitler issued Directive 13, which called for the "Luftwaffe" to defeat the trapped Allied forces and stop their escape. At 15:30 on 26 May, Hitler ordered the panzer groups to continue their advance, but most units took another 16 hours to attack. The delay gave the Allies time to prepare defences vital for the evacuation and prevented the Germans from stopping the Allied retreat from Lille.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The halt order has been the subject of much discussion by historians. Guderian considered the failure to order a timely assault on Dunkirk to be one of the major German mistakes on the Western Front. Rundstedt called it "one of the great turning points of the war", and Manstein described it as "one of Hitler's most critical mistakes". B. H. Liddell Hart interviewed many of the generals after the war and put together a picture of Hitler's strategic thinking on the matter. Hitler believed that once Britain's troops left continental Europe, they would never return.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The retreat was undertaken amid chaotic conditions, with abandoned vehicles blocking the roads and a flood of refugees heading in the opposite direction. Due to wartime censorship and the desire to keep up British morale, the full extent of the unfolding disaster at Dunkirk was not initially publicised. A special service attended by King George VI was held in Westminster Abbey on 26 May, which was declared a national day of prayer. The Archbishop of Canterbury led prayers "for our soldiers in dire peril in France". Similar prayers were offered in synagogues and churches throughout the UK that day, confirming to the public their suspicion of the desperate plight of the troops. Just before 19:00 on 26 May, Churchill ordered Dynamo to begin, by which time 28,000 men had already departed. Initial plans called for the recovery of 45,000 men from the BEF within two days, at which time German troops were expected to block further evacuation. Only 25,000 men escaped during this period, including 7,669 on the first day.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On 27 May, the first full day of the evacuation, one cruiser, eight destroyers, and 26 other craft were active. Admiralty officers combed nearby boatyards for small craft that could ferry personnel from the beaches out to larger craft in the harbour, as well as larger vessels that could load from the docks. An emergency call was put out for additional help, and by 31 May nearly four hundred small craft were voluntarily and enthusiastically taking part in the effort.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The same day, the "Luftwaffe" heavily bombed Dunkirk, both the town and the dock installations. As the water supply was knocked out, the resulting fires could not be extinguished. An estimated one thousand civilians were killed, one-third of the remaining population of the town. RAF squadrons were ordered to provide air supremacy for the Royal Navy during evacuation. Their efforts shifted to covering Dunkirk and the English Channel, protecting the evacuation fleet. The "Luftwaffe" was met by 16 squadrons of the RAF, who claimed 38 kills on 27 May while losing 14 aircraft. Many more RAF fighters sustained damage and were subsequently written off. On the German side, "Kampfgeschwader 2" (KG 2) and KG 3 suffered the heaviest casualties. German losses amounted to 23 Dornier Do 17s. KG 1 and KG 4 bombed the beach and harbour and KG 54 sank the 8,000-ton steamer "Aden". Junkers Ju 87 "Stuka" dive bombers sank the troopship "Cote d' Azur". The "Luftwaffe" engaged with 300 bombers which were protected by 550 fighter sorties and attacked Dunkirk in twelve raids. They dropped 15,000 high explosive and 30,000 incendiary bombs, destroying the oil tanks and wrecking the harbour. No. 11 Group RAF flew 22 patrols with 287 aircraft this day, in formations of up to 20 aircraft.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Altogether, over 3,500 sorties were flown in support of Operation Dynamo. The RAF continued to inflict a heavy toll on the German bombers throughout the week. Soldiers being bombed and strafed while awaiting transport were for the most part unaware of the efforts of the RAF to protect them, as most of the dogfights took place far from the beaches. As a result, many British soldiers bitterly accused the airmen of doing nothing to help, reportedly leading to some army troops accosting and insulting RAF personnel once they returned to England.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On 25 and 26 May, the "Luftwaffe" focused their attention on Allied pockets holding out at Calais, Lille, and Amiens, and did not attack Dunkirk. Calais, held by the BEF, surrendered on 26 May. Remnants of the French First Army, surrounded at Lille, fought off seven German divisions, several of them armoured, until 31 May, when the remaining 35,000 soldiers were forced to surrender after running out of food and ammunition. The Germans accorded the honours of war to the defenders of Lille in recognition of their bravery.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The Belgian Army surrendered on 28 May, leaving a large gap to the east of Dunkirk. Several British divisions were rushed in to cover that side. The "Luftwaffe" flew fewer sorties over Dunkirk on 28 May, switching their attention to the Belgian ports of Ostend and Nieuwpoort. The weather over Dunkirk was not conducive to dive or low-level bombing. The RAF flew 11 patrols and 321 sorties, claiming 23 destroyed for the loss of 13 aircraft. On 28 May, 17,804 soldiers arrived at British ports.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On 29 May, 47,310 British troops were rescued as the "Luftwaffe"s Ju 87s exacted a heavy toll on shipping. The British destroyer HMS "Grenade" was sunk and the French destroyer "Mistral" was crippled, while her sister ships, each laden with 500 men, were damaged by near misses. British destroyers "Jaguar" and "Verity" were badly damaged but escaped the harbour. Two trawlers disintegrated in the attack. Later, the passenger steamer sank with 600 men aboard at the pier but the men were able to get off. The paddle steamer suffered a direct hit, caught fire, and sank with severe casualties. The raiders also destroyed the two rail-owned ships, the and the . Of the five major German attacks, just two were contested by RAF fighters; the British lost 16 fighters in nine patrols. German losses amounted to 11 Ju 87s destroyed or damaged.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: On 30 May, Churchill received word that all British divisions were now behind the defensive lines, along with more than half of the French First Army. By this time, the perimeter ran along a series of canals about from the coast, in marshy country not suitable for tanks. With the docks in the harbour rendered unusable by German air attacks, senior naval officer Captain (later Admiral) William Tennant initially ordered men to be evacuated from the beaches. When this proved too slow, he re-routed the evacuees to two long stone and concrete breakwaters, called the east and west moles, as well as the beaches. The moles were not designed to dock ships, but despite this, the majority of troops rescued from Dunkirk were taken off this way. Almost 200,000 troops embarked on ships from the east mole (which stretched nearly a mile out to sea) over the next week. James Campbell Clouston, pier master on the east mole, organised and regulated the flow of men along the mole into the waiting ships. Once more, low clouds kept "Luftwaffe" activity to a minimum. Nine RAF patrols were mounted, with no German formation encountered. The following day, the "Luftwaffe" sank one transport and damaged 12 others for 17 losses; the British claimed 38 kills, which is disputed. The RAF and Fleet Air Arm lost 28 aircraft.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The next day, an additional 53,823 men were embarked, including the first French soldiers. Lord Gort and 68,014 men were evacuated on 31 May, leaving Major-General Harold Alexander in command of the rearguard. A further 64,429 Allied soldiers departed on 1 June, before the increasing air attacks prevented further daylight evacuation. The British rearguard of 4,000 men left on the night of 2–3 June. An additional 75,000 French troops were retrieved over the nights of 2–4 June, before the operation finally ended. The remainder of the rearguard, 40,000 French troops, surrendered on 4 June.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Of the total 338,226 soldiers, several hundred were unarmed Indian mule handlers on detachment from the Royal Indian Army Service Corps, forming four of the six units of Force K-6 transport. Cypriot muleteers were also present. Three units were successfully evacuated and one captured. Also present at Dunkirk were a small number of French Senegalese soldiers and Moroccans.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Three routes were allocated to the evacuating vessels. The shortest was Route Z, a distance of , but it entailed hugging the French coast and thus ships using it were subject to bombardment from on-shore batteries, particularly in daylight hours. Route X, although the safest from shore batteries, travelled through a particularly heavily mined portion of the Channel. Ships on this route travelled north out of Dunkirk, proceeded through the Ruytingen Pass, and headed towards the North Goodwin Lightship before heading south around the Goodwin Sands to Dover. The route was safest from surface attacks, but the nearby minefields and sandbanks meant it could not be used at night. The longest of the three was Route Y, a distance of ; using this route increased the sailing time to four hours, double the time required for Route Z. This route followed the French coast as far as Bray-Dunes, then turned north-east until reaching the Kwinte Buoy. Here, after making an approximately 135-degree turn, the ships sailed west to the North Goodwin Lightship and headed south around the Goodwin Sands to Dover. Ships on Route Y were the most likely to be attacked by German surface vessels, submarines, and the "Luftwaffe".


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The Royal Navy provided the anti-aircraft cruiser HMS "Calcutta", 39 destroyers, and many other craft. The Merchant Navy supplied passenger ferries, hospital ships, and other vessels. Britain's Belgian, Dutch, Canadian, Polish, and French allies provided vessels as well. Admiral Ramsay arranged for around a thousand copies to be made of the required charts, had buoys laid around the Goodwin Sands and down to Dunkirk, and organised the flow of shipping. Larger ships such as destroyers were able to carry about 900 men per trip. The soldiers mostly travelled on the upper decks for fear of being trapped below if the ship sank. After the loss on 29 May of 19 British and French navy ships plus three of the larger requisitioned vessels, the Admiralty withdrew their eight best destroyers for the future defence of the country.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: A wide variety of small vessels from all over the south of England were pressed into service to aid in the Dunkirk evacuation. They included speedboats, Thames vessels, car ferries, pleasure craft, and many other types of small craft. The most useful proved to be the motor lifeboats, which had a reasonably good capacity and speed. Some boats were requisitioned without the owner's knowledge or consent. Agents of the Ministry of Shipping, accompanied by a naval officer, scoured the Thames for likely vessels, had them checked for seaworthiness, and took them downriver to Sheerness, where naval crews were to be placed aboard. Due to shortages of personnel, many small craft crossed the Channel with civilian crews.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The first of the "little ships" arrived at Dunkirk on 28 May. The wide sand beaches meant that large vessels could not get anywhere near the shore, and even small craft had to stop about from the waterline and wait for the soldiers to wade out. In many cases, personnel would abandon their boat upon reaching a larger ship, and subsequent evacuees had to wait for boats to drift ashore with the tide before they could make use of them. In most areas on the beaches, soldiers queued up with their units and patiently awaited their turn to leave. But at times, panicky soldiers had to be warned off at gunpoint when they attempted to rush to the boats out of turn. In addition to ferrying out on boats, soldiers at De Panne and Bray-Dunes constructed improvised jetties by driving rows of abandoned vehicles onto the beach at low tide, anchoring them with sandbags, and connecting them with wooden walkways.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Before the operation was completed, the prognosis had been gloomy, with Churchill warning the House of Commons on 28 May to expect "hard and heavy tidings". Subsequently, Churchill referred to the outcome as a miracle, and the British press presented the evacuation as a "disaster turned to triumph" so successfully that Churchill had to remind the country in a speech to the House of Commons on 4 June that "we must be very careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a victory. Wars are not won by evacuations." Andrew Roberts comments that the confusion over the Dunkirk evacuation is illustrated by two of the best books on it being called "Strange Defeat" and "Strange Victory".


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was cut off south of the Somme, by the German "race to the sea", in addition to the 1st Armoured Division and a host of logistical and labour troops. Some of the latter had been formed into the improvised Beauman Division. At the end of May, further elements of two divisions began deploying to France with the hope of establishing a Second BEF. The majority of the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division was forced to surrender on 12 June. However, almost 192,000 Allied personnel, including 144,000 British, were evacuated through various French ports from 15 to 25 June under the codename Operation Aerial. Remaining British forces under the French Tenth Army as "Norman Force" retreated towards Cherbourg. The Germans marched into Paris on 14 June and France surrendered eight days later.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The more than 100,000 French troops evacuated from Dunkirk were quickly and efficiently shuttled to camps in various parts of south-western England, where they were temporarily lodged before being repatriated. British ships ferried French troops to Brest, Cherbourg, and other ports in Normandy and Brittany, although only about half of the repatriated troops were redeployed against the Germans before the surrender of France. For many French soldiers, the Dunkirk evacuation represented only a few weeks' delay before being killed or captured by the German army after their return to France. Of the French soldiers evacuated from France in June 1940, about 3,000 joined Charles de Gaulle's Free French army in Britain.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: In France, the unilateral British decision to evacuate through Dunkirk rather than counter-attack to the south, and the perceived preference of the Royal Navy for evacuating British forces at the expense of the French, led to some bitter resentment. According to Churchill, French Admiral François Darlan originally ordered that the British forces should receive preference, but on 31 May, he intervened at a meeting in Paris to order that the evacuation should proceed on equal terms and that the British would form the rearguard. In fact, the 35,000 men who finally surrendered after covering the final evacuations were mostly French soldiers of the 2nd Light Mechanized and the 68th Infantry Divisions. Their resistance allowed the evacuation effort to be extended to 4 June, on which date another 26,175 Frenchmen were transported to England.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The evacuation was presented to the German public as an overwhelming and decisive German victory. On 5 June 1940, Hitler stated, "Dunkirk has fallen! 40,000 French and English troops are all that remains of the formerly great armies. Immeasurable quantities of materiel have been captured. The greatest battle in the history of the world has come to an end." "Oberkommando der Wehrmacht" (the German armed forces high command) announced the event as "the greatest annihilation battle of all time".


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: During the entire campaign, from 10 May until the armistice with France on 22 June, the BEF suffered 68,000 casualties. This included 3,500 killed and 13,053 wounded. Most heavy equipment had to be abandoned during the various evacuations, resulting in the loss of 2,472 pieces of artillery, 20,000 motorcycles, nearly 65,000 other vehicles, of stores, more than of ammunition, and of fuel. Almost all of the 445 British tanks despatched to France were abandoned.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Six British and three French destroyers were sunk, along with nine other major vessels. In addition, 19 destroyers were damaged. Over 200 British and Allied sea craft were sunk, with a similar number damaged. The Royal Navy's most significant losses in the operation were six destroyers:


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The RAF lost 145 aircraft, of which at least 42 were Spitfires, while the "Luftwaffe" lost 156 aircraft in operations during the nine days of Operation Dynamo, including 35 destroyed by Royal Navy ships (plus 21 damaged) during the six days from 27 May to 1 June.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: For every seven soldiers who escaped through Dunkirk, one man became a prisoner of war. The majority of these prisoners were sent on forced marches into Germany. Prisoners reported brutal treatment by their guards, including beatings, starvation, and murder. Another complaint was that German guards kicked over buckets of water that had been left at the roadside by French civilians, for the marching prisoners to drink.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Many of the prisoners were marched to the city of Trier, with the march taking as long as 20 days. Others were marched to the river Scheldt and were sent by barge to the Ruhr. The prisoners were then sent by rail to prisoner of war camps in Germany. The majority (those below the rank of corporal) then worked in German industry and agriculture for the remainder of the war.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: Those of the BEF who died or were captured and have no known grave are commemorated on the Dunkirk Memorial.


title: Dunkirk evacuation

text: The St George's Cross defaced with the arms of Dunkirk is the warranted house flag of the Association of Dunkirk Little Ships. It is known as the Dunkirk Jack. The flag may be flown from the jack staff only by civilian vessels that took part in the Dunkirk rescue operation.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Tiffani Amber Thiessen (born January 23, 1974) is an American actress who starred as Kelly Kapowski on NBC's "Saved by the Bell" (1989–1993), as Valerie Malone on Fox's "Beverly Hills, 90210" (1994–98), and as Lori on Netflix's "Alexa & Katie" (2018–2020). Thiessen has also starred in other TV series such as Fox's "Fastlane" (2002–2003), ABC's "What About Brian" (2007), and USA Network's "White Collar" (2009–2014), as well as in a number of TV movies, and she has also appeared in several films, such as "Son in Law" (1993), "Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the 13th" (2000), "Hollywood Ending" (2002) and "Cyborg Soldier" (2008).


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Thiessen was born in Long Beach, California, the daughter of Robyn (née Ernest), a homemaker, and Frank Thiessen, a park designer and landscape architect. She has credited her brother, Todd, as one of her most important sources of inspiration, and her mother and grandmother as role models. Thiessen told "InStyle" magazine: "I'm a mutt. I have so much of everything in me, and half of it I don't even know. German on one side, Greek, Turkish and Welsh on the other. My mom is very olive-skinned; I get my blue eyes from my dad."


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Thiessen participated in beauty pageants during her childhood and was crowned Miss Junior America in 1987. The following year, she appeared on the cover of "Teen" magazine, having won the magazine's "Great Model Search". In 1989, she was named "Cover Girl"s "Model of the Year", and landed her first role of Kelly Kapowski on NBC's television sitcom "Saved by the Bell", starring until its end in 1993. The success of the show gave her career a boost and Thiessen received Young Artist Award nominations for Outstanding Young Ensemble Cast in 1990 and Best Young Actress in an Off-Primetime Series in 1992 and 1993. Simultaneously, Thiessen guest-starred on series such as "Married... with Children", "Charles in Charge" and "Step by Step". In 1992, she starred in her first television movies "" and "A Killer Among Friends", making her film debut in "Son in Law" in 1993. She then continued with starring in spin-off "" in its single season (1993–94) and in television movie "" (1994), which marked the end of the original "Saved by the Bell" series.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: In 1994, after her tenure on "Saved by the Bell" had ended, Thiessen landed the role of Valerie Malone in Fox's Aaron Spelling-produced hit teen-drama "Beverly Hills, 90210", to fill the void after Shannen Doherty's departure. She was the first actress to join directly the main cast of the show and portrayed Valerie until 1998, when she left in the early episodes of the ninth season of the show. While starring in "90210", Thiessen began to take on continuous dramatic leading roles in television films: "The Stranger Beside Me" (1995) and "She Fought Alone" (1995), "Sweet Dreams" and "Buried Secrets" in 1996. After her departure from the show, she appeared in a number of films, including "Speedway Junky" (1999), "" (1999), "Love Stinks" (1999) and "The Ladies Man" (2000); she also guest-starred on "NewsRadio" (1999), "Two Guys and a Girl" (2000), "Just Shoot Me!" (2001) and "Good Morning, Miami" (2003–04). In 2000, she was featured in the music video for "You're a God" by Vertical Horizon, portraying a beauty pageant contestant, in her first music video appearance. That year she also dropped her middle name which she had been including professionally for many years and is now credited as simply Tiffani Thiessen. Thiessen was Spelling's first choice to replace Doherty in the series "Charmed" in 2001, but she refused his offer because she was hoping the NBC pilot for "Everything But the Girl" would be picked up. The role eventually went to Rose McGowan.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Meanwhile, Thiessen starred in direct-to-video parody film "Shriek If You Know What I Did Last Friday the Thirteenth" (2000) and in television movie "Everything But the Girl" (2001), before appearing in the Woody Allen-directed film "Hollywood Ending" (2002) and starring in action-drama series "Fastlane" (2002–03) as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers, for which she received a Teen Choice Award nomination for Choice TV Actress in Drama/Action Adventure. In 2003, she launched her production company Tit 4 Tat Productions, producing and directing the short film "Just Pray" in 2005, which earned distinctions at several film festivals, including winning Best Score at the Rhode Island International Film Festival, an Academy Award qualifying festival. The original motion picture soundtrack album, co-produced by Thiessen and Al Gomes of Big Noise, was placed on the Official Ballot for the 49th Annual Grammy Awards by The Recording Academy in several categories including Best Compilation Soundtrack Album For Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Later on, she starred in television movies "Stroller Wars" (2006) and "Pandemic" (2007), she joined the cast of ABC's drama "What About Brian" (2007) for its last five episodes and starred in the science fiction film "Cyborg Soldier" (2008). In 2008, she made her second music video appearance, this time for Ben Lee's "American Television". Thiessen appeared with her husband Brady Smith on the September 6, 2009 episode of season four of the reality show "HGTV Design Star". Interior designer Lonni Paul, one of the final three contestants of the season, was given the task of redesigning Thiessen's guest bedroom with an eco-friendly theme; Thiessen and Paul now have a nursery furniture line called PetitNest. From 2009 through 2014 Thiessen appeared in the USA Network crime series "White Collar" as Elizabeth Burke.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: On February 4, 2015, Thiessen reunited with "Saved By the Bell" costars Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Elizabeth Berkley, Dennis Haskins and Mario Lopez on "The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon", in which they appeared in a "Saved by the Bell" sketch with host Jimmy Fallon. In the same year, Thiessen started hosting her own show on Cooking Channel called "Dinner at Tiffani's", which ran until 2017.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: On June 7, 2017, Thiessen was cast as Lori Mendoza, mother of the Mendoza family on the multi camera Netflix sitcom "Alexa & Katie", which premiered its first two seasons on March 23 and December 26, 2018.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: In March 2020, it was announced that Thiessen would join the cast of the "Saved by the Bell" sequel series, reprising her role as Kelly Kapowski. She guest-starred in three episodes. The show premiered on NBCUniversal's streaming network Peacock beginning November 2020. In November, it was announced that Thiessen would host the MTV comedy clip show "Deliciousness", a spinoff of that network's previous program, "Ridiculousness".


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: In April 2013, she participated in the One Bag party as part of Earth Month, in which the Glad company promoted "clean, green living".


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Thiessen was a teen idol during the 1990s, starting from her role as cheerleader Kelly Kapowski on "Saved by the Bell" and then playing bad girl Valerie Malone on "Beverly Hills, 90210". In a much-discussed moment, Justin Bieber appeared wearing a T-shirt with a photo of Thiessen in her "Saved by the Bell" days at the 2011 MuchMusic Video Awards, admitting his admiration for her. Basketball player Chris Paul also revealed publicly that he was a fan of Thiessen back then, when she sent him an autographed


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Thiessen dated her "Saved By the Bell" co-star Mark-Paul Gosselaar (who played Zack in the show). She also dated Mario Lopez, who played A.C. Slater, from 1991 to November 1993.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: In early 1992, Thiessen started dating her future "90210" co-star Brian Austin Green, introduced by mutual friend David Faustino; they moved in together in July 1994, then broke up the next year. In 1999, she went through a difficult period in her personal life, when David Strickland, also an actor, whom she had begun dating, committed suicide. From 2001 to the spring of 2003, she was engaged to actor Richard Ruccolo, whom she had met during the "Two Guys and a Girl" run. She married actor Brady Smith on July 9, 2005, and they have two children: a daughter born in 2010, and a son born in 2015.


title: Tiffani Thiessen

text: Thiessen served as maid of honor at "90210" co-star and best friend Jennie Garth's 2001 wedding to actor Peter Facinelli, with whom she co-starred on "Fastlane." Garth and Thiessen's friendship has since come to an end. Her friendship with fellow "90210" star Tori Spelling also ended after Spelling's marriage to her first husband ended.


title: House of Hanover

text: The House of Hanover (), whose members are known as Hanoverians, is a European royal house of German origin that ruled Hanover, Great Britain, and Ireland at various times during the 17th to 20th centuries. The house originated in 1635 as a cadet branch of the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, growing in prestige until Hanover became an Electorate in 1692. George I became the first Hanoverian monarch of Great Britain and Ireland in 1714. At Queen Victoria's death in 1901, the throne of the United Kingdom passed to her eldest son Edward VII, a member of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The last reigning members of the House lost the Duchy of Brunswick in 1918 when Germany became a republic.


title: House of Hanover

text: The formal name of the house was the House of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Hanover line. The senior line of Brunswick-Lüneburg, which ruled Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, became extinct in 1884. The House of Hanover is now the only surviving branch of the House of Welf, which is the senior branch of the House of Este. The current head of the House of Hanover is Ernst August, Prince of Hanover.


title: House of Hanover

text: George, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg was the first member of the House of Hanover. When the Duchy of Brunswick-Lüneburg was divided in 1635, George inherited the Principality of Calenberg and moved his residence to Hanover. His son, Christian Louis, inherited the Principality of Lüneburg from George's brother. Calenberg and Lüneburg were then shared between George's sons until united in 1705 under his grandson, also called George, who subsequently became George I of Great Britain. All held the title "Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg". George died in 1641 and was succeeded by:


title: House of Hanover

text: George Louis became the first British monarch of the House of Hanover as George I in 1714. The dynasty provided six British monarchs:


title: House of Hanover

text: "Of the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland" (changed in 1801 to "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland"):


title: House of Hanover

text: George I, George II, and George III also served as electors and dukes of Brunswick-Lüneburg, informally, Electors of Hanover (cf. "personal union").


title: House of Hanover

text: Upon the death of William IV in 1837, the personal union of the thrones of the United Kingdom and Hanover ended. Succession to the Hanoverian throne was regulated by semi-Salic law (agnatic-cognatic), which gave priority to all male lines before female lines, so that it passed not to Queen Victoria but to her uncle, the Duke of Cumberland. In 1901, when Queen Victoria, the last British monarch provided by the House of Hanover, died, her son and heir Edward VII became the first British Monarch of the House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, Edward taking his family name from that of his father, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha.


title: House of Hanover

text: The Kingdom of Hanover ended in 1866 when it was annexed by Kingdom of Prussia and the king of Hanover (and duke of Cumberland) was forced to go into exile in Austria. The 1866 rift between the houses of Hanover and Hohenzollern was settled by the 1913 marriage of Princess Viktoria Luise of Prussia to Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, the last king's grandson.


title: House of Hanover

text: At the end of the Thirty Years' War, the Peace of Westphalia (1648) awarded the Prince-Bishopric of Osnabrück alternately to a Catholic bishop and to a cadet branch of Brunswick-Lüneburg. Since the treaty gave cadets priority over heirs and reigning princes, Osnabrück became a form of appanage (in alternation) of the House of Hanover.


title: House of Hanover

text: In 1884, the senior branch of the House of Welf became extinct. By semi-Salic law, the House of Hanover would have acceded to the Duchy of Brunswick, but there had been strong Prussian pressure against having George V of Hanover or his son, the Duke of Cumberland, succeed to a member state of the German Empire, at least without strong conditions, including swearing to the German constitution. By a law of 1879, the Duchy of Brunswick established a temporary council of regency to take over at the Duke's death, and if necessary appoint a regent.


title: House of Hanover

text: The Duke of Cumberland proclaimed himself Duke of Brunswick at the Duke's death, and lengthy negotiations ensued, but were never resolved. Prince Albert of Prussia was appointed regent; after his death in 1906, Duke John Albert of Mecklenburg succeeded him. The Duke of Cumberland's eldest son died in a car accident in 1912; the father renounced Brunswick in favor of his younger son Ernest Augustus, who married the Kaiser's daughter Victoria Louise the same year, swore allegiance to the German Empire, and was allowed to ascend the throne of the Duchy in November 1913. He was a major-general during the First World War; but he was overthrown as Duke of Brunswick in 1918. His father was also deprived of his British titles in 1919, for "bearing arms against Great Britain".


title: House of Hanover

text: After having left Brunswick Palace, the duke and his family moved back to their exile seat Cumberland Castle at Gmunden, Austria, but in 1924 he received Blankenburg Castle and some other estates in a settlement with the Free State of Brunswick, and moved there in 1930. A few days before Blankenburg was handed over to the Red Army by British and US forces in late 1945, to become part of East Germany, the family was able to quickly move to Marienburg Castle (Hanover) with all their furniture, transported by British army trucks, on the order of King George VI. Duke Ernest Augustus died at Marienburg Castle in 1953. His Herrenhausen Palace in Hanover had been completely destroyed during World War II. His eldest son, Prince Ernest Augustus, sold his remaining property at Herrenhausen Gardens in 1961, but kept the nearby Princely House, a small palace built in 1720 by George I for his daughter Anna Louise. It is now his grandson Ernest Augustus's private home, along with Marienburg Castle.


title: House of Hanover

text: The family has been resident in Austria since 1866 and thus took on Austrian nationality besides their German and British. Since the later king Ernest Augustus had been created Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale and Earl of Armagh by his father George III in 1799, these British peerages were inherited by his descendants. In 1914 the title of a Prince of Great Britain and Ireland was additionally granted to the members of the house by King George V. These peerages and titles however were suspended under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917. However, the title "Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland" had been entered into the family's German passports, together with the German titles, in 1914. After the German Revolution of 1918–19, with the abolishment of nobility's privileges, titles officially became parts of the last name. So, curiously, the British prince's title is still part of the family's last name in their German passports, while it is no longer mentioned in their British documents.


title: House of Hanover

text: On 29 August 1931, Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick, as head of the House of Hanover, declared the formal resumption, for himself and his dynastic descendants, of use of his former British princely title as a secondary title of pretense, which style, "Royal Prince of Great Britain and Ireland", his grandson, the current head of the house, also called Ernest Augustus, continues to claim. He has the right to petition under the Titles Deprivation Act 1917 for the restoration of his ancestors' suspended British peerages "Duke of Cumberland and Teviotdale" and "Earl of Armagh", but he has not done so. His father, another Ernest Augustus, did, however, successfully claim British nationality after World War II by virtue of a hitherto overlooked (and since repealed) provision of the Sophia Naturalization Act 1705. According to the decision taken by a court of the House of Lords, all family members bear the last name "Guelph" in the UK and are styled Royal Highnesses in their documents.


title: House of Hanover

text: Many towns and provinces across the British Empire were named after the ruling House of Hanover and its members. They include the U.S. state of Georgia, U.S. towns Hanover, Massachusetts; Hanover, New Hampshire; Hanover, Pennsylvania; Hanover Township, Jo Daviess County, Illinois, counties Hanover County, Virginia; Caroline County, Virginia; Brunswick County, Virginia; New Hanover County, North Carolina; Brunswick County, North Carolina; King George County, Virginia, places named Georgia in New Jersey (e.g. New Brunswick, NJ), Vermont, Arkansas and South Dakota, seven towns in the U.S. and Canada named after Queen Charlotte. Furthermore the Canadian province of New Brunswick and towns Hanover, Ontario, Guelph; Ontario, and Victoria, British Columbia; in South Africa the town Hanover, Northern Cape, in Australia the state Victoria (Australia) and the city Adelaide, in the UK six and in the US thirteen towns named Brunswick. Furthermore one each in Australia and New Zealand, and worldwide more than fifty towns named Victoria. There are also numerous streets and squares, such as Hanover Square, Westminster, Hanover Square (Manhattan), Hanover Square, Syracuse or Queen Street, Brisbane with its intersections named after members of the House.


title: House of Hanover

text: Georgian architecture gives distinction to the architectural styles current between 1714 and 1830 in most English-speaking countries.


title: Nigel Ng

text: Nigel Ng Kin-ju ( ; born 15 March 1991), better known by his online persona Uncle Roger, is a Malaysian stand-up comedian and internet celebrity based in London, England. Ng prides himself on various East, Southeast, and South Asian stereotypes, and became popular on social media as his online persona, a middle-aged Asian man reviewing Asian food recipes who speaks Cantonese as a first language with an exaggerated and pronounced accent.


title: Nigel Ng

text: Ng was born in Kuala Lumpur to Malaysian Chinese parents of Hokkien ancestry. Ng's father is a car salesman and his mother is a full-time homemaker.


title: Nigel Ng

text: After graduating from Chong Hwa Independent High School, Kuala Lumpur in 2009, Ng moved to the United States to study at Northwestern University, majoring in engineering and minoring in philosophy, graduating in 2014.


title: Nigel Ng

text: Ng is a fan of Hong Kong comic actor Stephen Chow, and cites Chow's films as having inspired him to become a comedian.


title: Nigel Ng

text: Ng won the Amused Moose Laugh-Off 2016 and was runner-up in the Laughing Horse New Act of the Year 2015. He was also a finalist in the "Leicester Mercury" Comedian of the Year (2016) and Leicester Square New Comedian of the Year (2015). Ng was nominated for the "Best Newcomer Award" for his stand-up comedy show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2019.


title: Nigel Ng

text: On 2 January 2021, Ng uploaded his first Chinese video in Bilibili, a video sharing website in China. On 12 January, Ng apologised on the China social media platform Sina Weibo and deleted a video featuring fellow YouTube star Mike Chen who had been critical of the Chinese Communist Party, and who had been associated with Falun Gong. Ng stated, "This video has made a bad social impact...I wasn't aware of his political thoughts and his past incorrect remarks about China...I hope you can give Uncle Roger, who has just entered China, a chance to improve!" Ng's move attracted criticism on Twitter. In his first subsequent video as Uncle Roger, he said he would "keep making funny videos – no politics, no drama".


title: Nigel Ng

text: In 2021, he appeared on the first episode of "Mock the Week" Series 19, a British comedy show on BBC Two.


title: Nigel Ng

text: Ng has become best known for his comedic persona Uncle Roger, who speaks with a pronounced Cantonese-like accent and prides himself on various East and Southeast Asian stereotypes. His comedy partner Evelyn Mok came up with the middle-aged Asian uncle character for a sitcom with Ng in mind, and Ng further developed the character on TikTok and Instagram sketches before moving the character onto YouTube.


title: Nigel Ng

text: In July 2020, Ng attracted attention for his YouTube video critique of Hersha Patel's BBC Food video on cooking egg-fried rice in the Uncle Roger persona. After the video went viral, Ng and Patel appeared on BBC together. Ng has also collaborated with Patel on a YouTube video. In August 2020, Ng worked in Liz Haigh's restaurant, Mei Mei. In September 2020, he posted a critique video with regards to Gordon Ramsay's fried rice cooking, in which he praised Ramsay for his correct technique. Ng has released numerous videos critiquing Jamie Oliver's versions of popular Asian dishes like egg-fried rice and Thai green curry. He has made it clear that he does not want any of his viewers to spread hate towards anyone. He has also reviewed the fried rice of a number of other chefs.


title: Nigel Ng

text: On August 14, 2022, he became a guest judge on "Junior MasterChef Indonesia" Season 3 during the Final 3.


title: Nigel Ng

text: On October 13, 2022, he also became a guest diner on "Hell's Kitchen" Season 21. He was complaining on the Blue Team being slow on service and wished to be on the Red Team's service with Tony Hawk.


title: Nigel Ng

text: The accent Ng uses for the Uncle Roger character has also received criticism for perpetuating negative stereotypes about Asians. Chef J. Kenji López-Alt criticised him, saying "I don't like that his schtick seems to give a free pass to people to imitate stereotypical Asian speech patterns and pronunciation. [...] It's ugly, it's yellowface, it's not funny, and it promotes anti-Asian racism at a time when Asians are already being heavily discriminated against."


title: Nigel Ng

text: In 2020, Ng revealed that he was a victim of an anti-Asian racist assault in London. He said in one of his live set, "I got punched, man, in London. This is real", He added that it was a cyclist that had punched him.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Gabrielle Dee Giffords (born June 8, 1970) is an American retired politician and gun control advocate who served as a member of the United States House of Representatives representing from January 2007 until January 2012, when she resigned due to a severe brain injury suffered during an assassination attempt. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to the U.S. Congress.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Born and raised in Tucson, Arizona, Giffords graduated from Scripps College and Cornell University. After initially moving to New York City, where she worked in regional economic development for Price Waterhouse, she returned to Arizona to work as the CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses, a family business started by her grandfather. She served in the Arizona House of Representatives from 2001 until 2003 and the Arizona Senate from 2003 until 2005 when she was elected to the U.S. House. She had just begun her third term in January 2011 when she was shot in the head in an assassination attempt and mass shooting just outside of Tucson during an event with constituents. Giffords has since recovered much of her ability to walk, speak, read, and write. She was greeted by a standing ovation upon her return to the House floor in August 2011. She attended President Obama's State of the Union address on January 24, 2012, and appeared on the floor of the House the following day, at which time she formally submitted her resignation, receiving a standing ovation and accolades from her colleagues and the leadership of the House.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Though a moderate on the issue during her time in Congress, Giffords has since become an ardent advocate for gun control. In January 2013, she and her husband launched Americans for Responsible Solutions, a non-profit organization and Super-PAC which later joined with the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to become Giffords. She is married to former Space Shuttle Commander Mark Kelly, a United States senator from Arizona.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Gabrielle Dee Giffords was born in and grew up in Tucson, Arizona; her parents were Gloria Kay (née Fraser) and Spencer J. Giffords. She was raised in a mixed religious environment, as her mother was a Christian Scientist and her father was Jewish. Her paternal grandfather, Akiba Hornstein, was a Jewish emigrant from Lithuania who changed his name to Giffords to avoid anti-Semitism in the United States. Through her father, Giffords is a second cousin of actress Gwyneth Paltrow and director Jake Paltrow.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords graduated from Tucson's University High School. She is a former Girl Scout. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Sociology and Latin American History from Scripps College in California in 1993; and spent a year as a Fulbright Scholar in Chihuahua, Mexico. She returned to graduate school, earning a Master's degree in Regional Planning from Cornell University in 1996. She focused her studies on Mexican-American relations.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords worked as an associate for regional economic development at Price Waterhouse in New York City. In 1996, she became president and CEO of El Campo Tire Warehouses, a local chain of auto service centers founded by her grandfather. The business was sold to Goodyear Tire in 2000. At the time of the sale, she commented on the difficulties local businesses face when competing against large national firms.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Since 2001, she has practiced Judaism exclusively and belongs to Congregation Chaverim, a Reform synagogue, in Tucson.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords switched her party affiliation from Republican to Democratic in 2000 and was elected to the Arizona House of Representatives in 2001. She was elected to the Arizona Senate in the fall of 2002, at the time the youngest woman elected to that body. She took office in January 2003 and was re-elected in 2004. She resigned from the Arizona Senate on December 1, 2005, in preparation for her congressional campaign.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: In early 2005, Giffords observed that "the 2004 election took its toll on our bipartisan coalition" and that as a result "a number of significant problems will receive far less attention than they deserve." She highlighted among these, the lack of high-paying jobs or necessary infrastructure, rapid growth, and inward migration that threatened the environment and "strain[ed] ... education, health care, and transportation", and unresolved problems such as Students First; "Arnold v. Sarn"; repayments due under "Ladewig v. Arizona"; the No Child Left Behind mandate; low educational achievement; health care costs; and the demands of the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System. She said that Arizona was not alone in facing such challenges.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Expanding health care access was an issue pursued by Giffords when she served in the legislature. She also pushed for bills related to mental health and was named by the Mental Health Association of Arizona as the 2004 Legislator of the Year. Giffords earned the Sierra Club's Most Valuable Player award.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: In the legislature, Giffords worked on the bipartisan Children's Caucus, which sought to improve education and health care for Arizona's children. Critics of this plan argued that it amounted to taxpayer-funded daycare. She worked with Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano to promote all-day kindergarten. Giffords supported raising more money for schools "through sponsorship of supplemental state aid through bonds and tax credits that could be used for school supplies." She was awarded Arizona Family Literacy's Outstanding Legislator for 2003.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords launched her first candidacy for the U.S. Congress on January 24, 2006. The campaign received national attention early on as a likely pick-up for the Democratic Party. Prominent Democrats, including Tom Daschle, Robert Reich, Janet Napolitano, and Bill Clinton, endorsed her. EMILY's List endorsed Giffords early in the campaign cycle. The Sierra Club and the Arizona Education Association also endorsed her. On September 12, 2006, Giffords won her party's nomination in the primary election.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Her Republican opponent in the general election was Randy Graf, a conservative former state senator known for his enforcement-only position on immigration and illegal aliens. Graf had run against Jim Kolbe in the 2004 GOP primary and had announced his candidacy in 2006 before Kolbe announced his retirement. The Republican establishment was somewhat cool toward Graf, believing he might be too conservative for the district. The national GOP took the unusual step of endorsing one of the more moderate candidates in the primary. Graf won anyway, helped by a split in the Republican moderate vote between two candidates.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Not long after the primary, "Congressional Quarterly" changed its rating of the race to "Leans Democrat". By late September, the national GOP had pulled most of its funding, effectively conceding the seat to Giffords. Giffords won the race on November 7, 2006, with 54 percent of the vote. Graf received 42 percent. The rest of the vote went to minor candidates. Giffords' victory was portrayed as evidence that Americans are accepting towards comprehensive immigration reform. She was the first woman with a Jewish father elected to Congress from Arizona.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: In 2008, Giffords was elected to a second term. Republican Tim Bee, a childhood classmate and former colleague in the Arizona State Senate, ran against her. Bee was the President of the Arizona State Senate and considered a strong challenger in this race. Despite native son John McCain's running as the Republican presidential candidate, Giffords was reelected with 56.20 percent of the vote to Bee's 41.45 percent.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: On November 5, 2010, Giffords was declared the victor after a close race against Republican Jesse Kelly. Kelly, an Iraq War veteran (and not related to Mark Kelly), was listed as a top-ten Tea Party candidate to watch by "Politico", and described by "The Arizona Republic" as highly conservative even compared to Sarah Palin. Giffords had been targeted for defeat by Sarah Palin's political action committee, SarahPAC.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords participated in the reading of the United States Constitution on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 6, 2011; she read the First Amendment.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Following the November 2006 election, Giffords was sworn in as a congresswoman on January 3, 2007. She was the third woman in Arizona's history to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress. In her inaugural speech on the floor of the House of Representatives, Giffords advocated a comprehensive immigration reform package, including modern technology to secure the border, more border patrol agents, tough employer sanctions for businesses that knowingly hire illegal immigrants, and a guest-worker program. In her first month in office, Giffords voted in favor of increased federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research; raising the minimum wage; endorsing the 9/11 Commission recommendations; new rules for the House of Representatives targeting ethical issues; and the repeal of $14 billion of subsidies to big oil companies, in favor of renewable energy subsidies and the founding of the Strategic Renewable Energy Reserve.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: During the 2007 session of Congress, Giffords introduced a bill (H.R. 1441) that forbids the sale of F-14 aircraft parts on the open market to prevent them from being acquired by Iran. Giffords advocated for a national day of recognition for cowboys as one of her first actions. She voted for the contentious May 2007 Iraq Emergency Supplemental Spending bill, saying, "I cannot, in good conscience, allow the military to run out of money while American servicemen and women are being attacked every day". She has also been a Girl Scout supporter for many years. On April 21, 2007, Giffords hosted her third "Congress on Your Corner" in Tucson, Arizona, and kicked things off by speaking to the Girl Scouts of Southern Arizona, Sahuaro Council.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords was a member of the Blue Dog Coalition and the New Democrat Coalition. She was a co-founder of the Congressional Motorcycle Safety Caucus. Until her husband's retirement, she was the only member of the U.S. Congress whose spouse was an active duty member of the U.S. military. She is also known as a strong proponent of solar energy as well as for her work to secure the Mexico–United States border.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: On January 8, 2011, Giffords was shot in the head outside a Safeway grocery store in Casas Adobes, Arizona, a suburban area northwest of Tucson, during her first "Congress on Your Corner" (a public opportunity for constituents to speak directly with their representatives) gathering of the year. A man ran up to the crowd and began firing a 9mm pistol with a 33-round magazine, hitting 19 people, and killing six, among them federal judge John Roll and 9-year-old child Christina-Taylor Green, who was the granddaughter of MLB baseball manager and GM Dallas Green. A 20th person was injured at the scene, but not by gunfire.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: The shooter, Jared Lee Loughner, was detained by bystanders until he was taken into police custody. Federal officials charged Loughner on the next day with killing federal government employees, attempting to assassinate a member of Congress, and attempting to kill federal employees. After eventually facing more than 50 federal criminal charges, Loughner pleaded guilty to 19 of them in a plea bargain to avoid a death sentence.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Giffords' intern, Daniel Hernández Jr., provided first-aid assistance to her immediately after she was wounded, and is credited with saving her life. She was quickly evacuated to the University Medical Center of Tucson in critical condition, though she was still conscious and "following commands" at the time.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: On the same day doctors performed emergency surgery to extract skull fragments and a small amount of necrotic tissue from her brain. The bullet passed through Giffords' head without crossing the midline of the brain, where the most critical injuries typically result. Part of her skull was removed to avoid further damage to the brain from pressure caused by swelling. Doctors who first treated Giffords said the bullet entered the back of her head and exited through the front of her skull, but physicians later concluded that it had traveled in the opposite direction.


title: Gabby Giffords

text: Upon receiving a call from a staffer about Giffords' injury, husband Mark Kelly and his daughters flew in a friend's aircraft directly from Houston to Tucson.