title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W221 was introduced in the autumn of 2005 at the Frankfurt International Motor Show, with sales starting in autumn of 2005 and export to other markets beginning in 2006. Again there was a big change in design. The W221 S-Class made its North American premiere at the 2006 North American International Auto Show in January. The W221 is slightly larger in all dimensions than its predecessor, and it features three newly developed engines with up to 26% power increase. The interior is completely new, all materials have been upgraded and make for a more luxurious ride, and the center console transmission gear lever has been replaced with a column-mounted shifter. New technological features on the W221 include an infrared Night View Assist feature and the latest Mercedes-Benz pre-collision system. The W221 features sharper exterior styling (most notably wide fender arcs) and technological improvements. The W221 is the second consecutive generation of the S-Class to be solely produced in a sedan body style.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Models sold in North America are the S450 (2008– , SWB and Canada only), S400 Hybrid (2010– ), S350 Bluetec 4MATIC (2012- ), S550, S600, S63 AMG and S65 AMG; other models to be sold outside North America include the S280, S350, S300, S420 CDI and S320 CDI. The first W221 model released in North America and Japan was the S550 (called S500 outside North America), with the S600 arriving in the following spring.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In the US for the 2010 model year, the S-Class received a facelift across the entire model line in mid-2009, with a new S400 Hybrid version. Daytime LED running lights were fitted to the outer edges of the bi-xenon lamp units. The rear end was accented with a total of 52 distinctively arranged LEDs in the two taillights. Gone are the body-colored strips through the tail lamps. Other noticeable changes at the front of the car are a more pronounced arrow-shaped grille, a new front bumper with a light-catching contour, and a chrome strip below the cooling air intakes. New, sleeker rear-view door mirrors with LED turn signals were also added. The exhaust tailpipes of all S-Class variants were visibly integrated into the rear bumper. The wheels were updated to more modern-style ones. Safety is also improved on most Mercedes-Benz models with the orange-colored light reflectors mounted on the sides of the bumpers. The C-Class look at the front is removed. Some shiny chrome is added to the bottom of the doors and bumper.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In terms of performance, the S550 completes the 0– run in just 5.4 seconds. Despite weighing , the S65 AMG still makes in just 4.2 seconds. The S600 makes the same sprint in about 4.6 seconds.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The brakes continue to become more advanced with the new Brake Assist Plus system monitoring for an impending collision and increasing braking if needed, while the Distronic Plus radar-guided cruise control can now bring the car to a complete stop. This system works in outdoor conditions; a test demonstration by Mercedes-Benz in a crash-test hall resulted in embarrassment for the company when a new S-Class crashed into the back of a stationary W220 S-Class. This incident was later attributed to the radar system malfunctioning inside the radar-reflective (i.e. radar-confusing) steel test building where the event was filmed.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Upscale department store Saks Fifth Avenue offered 20 special-edition S600 sedans for sale in its 2005 Christmas catalog. All 20 cars, priced at US$145,000 each, were sold on November 22, 2005, in under seven minutes. The Saks-edition S600 sedans were finished in a mocha black exterior with an almond beige interior and were the first examples of the S600 to be sold to private owners. The S600s came with nearly every option standard. In 2007, "Automobile Magazine" named the W221 S-Class as one of its 2007 "All-Stars" over rivals from Lexus and BMW, and "Car and Driver" selected the S550 as the winner in a five-way comparison test of flagship luxury sedans, as did "Motor Trend Magazine" in July 2009 in a three-way comparison test, with the other two competitors being the BMW 750Li, and Audi A8L 4.2 Quattro. The W221 S-Class was also the recipient of several other motoring awards (see following).


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Officially unveiled in May 2013, the newest S-Class has a more streamlined appearance than the outgoing model. Some interesting features include a large front grille inspired by the F700 Concept car and LED lights used exclusively inside and out — a first in the automotive industry. Two strong converging character lines give the flanks a more sculpted look, while integrated exhaust tips and a large glass roof (likely optional) highlight the design.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Along with the sedan, the S-Class spawned a coupe (Mercedes-Benz C217) and convertible (Mercedes-Benz A217) as well as an extended-wheelbase 'Pullman' variant, longer than the long-wheelbase 'L.' While the short-wheelbase model carries chassis code W222, the long-wheelbase model uses chassis code V222. Unlike previous generations, Mercedes focused primarily on the development of the longer model as many customers in the fast-growing Asian markets prefer to be chauffeured. In 2016 Mercedes W222 was the last car with an S65 AMG engine.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Inside, almost every surface is covered by a 'luxury' material – everything that looks like leather is genuine leather, and metal is used rather than any plastic alternative. The instrument cluster consists entirely of two widescreens (30.5 cm diagonal) LCDs with animated graphics. A 'Head-Up' display and gesture-responsive touchpad became options in early 2014. It featured a new infotainment system.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W222 debuts the available Magic Body Control, consisting of windshield-mounted stereo cameras that can 'read' the road ahead (Road Surface Scan) and communicate with the Active Body Control suspension to ready it for an uneven road surface. Initially available only on 8-cylinder models and above, Magic Ride Control attempts to isolate the car's body by predicting rather than reacting to broken pavement and speed humps.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Available luxury appointments over and above what was offered in the W221 include a choice of massage type for each seat occupant (the W221 offered various intensities of a single massage type) and two levels of premium audio from the luxury German brand, Burmester.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W222 has driver assistance systems aboard that allow it to steer a course within a lane and follow a leading vehicle for a short period (DISTRONIC PLUS with Steering Assist, also called traffic jam assistant). It will also slow or come to a dead stop and accelerate in response to traffic ahead. Mercedes engineers claim to have, under controlled conditions, ridden aboard a W222 S Class that has driven autonomously for 50 km, merely by altering parameters controlling equipment already fitted. Such modifications are not available to the general public.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Like the W221 S500, the W222 S-Class is powered by a more powerful twin-turbo V8 producing while the S600 will carry a twin-turbo V12. There is also a diesel-powered S350 BlueTEC version, a hybrid S400 with a electric motor and V6 engine, a diesel-electric hybrid S300 BlueTEC. An S500 Plug-in Hybrid was later introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show (IAA) with a market release in 2014 and claimed a mileage, a CO rating of and up to of emissions-free driving. The S500 Plug-In hybrid is fitted with a 3-litre V6 and an electric motor. AMG fettled S63 (V8 bi-turbo) and S65 (V12 bi-turbo) LWB sedans are also on offer. All S-Class models will come with a 7-speed automatic transmission.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The W223 was unveiled on 2 September 2020. This generation will not feature a coupe or convertible model as they will instead be replaced by the next generation AMG GT and SL-Class models respectively. The interior of the new model includes up to five displays, AR Head Up Display and an ambient lighting system. Additionally, the W223 S-Class is the first car in the world to come with rear seat airbags that use ambient air, instead of gas that is widely used in automotive airbag systems. On the 5th of December 2022 Mercedes-AMG has debuted the S 63 E Performance V8 PHEV with 791 HP.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Historically, the engineering of the S-Class was claimed to have been designed without regard to cost, a practice that continued unfettered up through the W140 line. The company in turn has been able to exploit this as a marketing tool, culminating in its one-time slogan, "engineered like no other car in the world." This slogan was used throughout the 1980s with the marketing of the W126 S-Class. However, following the formation of DaimlerChrysler and the cessation of engineer-sanctioned overbudgeting in the late 1990s, this slogan was dropped. The subsequent W220 model S-Class was reported to suffer from relatively lower reliability and quality rates than previous models. However, ratings have been improving since the W221.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In the 1980s, Mercedes-Benz built the world's first driverless cars using the S-Class, together with the team of Professor Ernst Dickmanns at Bundeswehr Universität München. The culmination of this effort was achieved in 1995, when Dickmanns' re-engineered autonomous S-Class robot completed a trip from Munich, Bavaria to Copenhagen, Denmark and back. On the autobahn, the robot S-Class achieved speeds exceeding . It suggested and executed overtaking maneuvers. The car's abilities left a big impression on many observers and are said to have heavily influenced robot car research and funding decisions worldwide.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: A concept future hybrid, the F700 research car, was also unveiled at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show. The F700 featured three regular opening doors and a fourth door capable of 180-degree rotation. The concept also featured bulletproof and puncture-resistant tires.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Mercedes-Benz has traditionally introduced its safety innovations in the S-Class. For instance, the S-Class was the first car in Europe to incorporate airbags. S-Class safety features included innovations in active safety (accident avoidance), passive safety (collision protection), and holistic safety (integration of both active and passive safety features). Active safety features include: ABS braking in 1978 (acts to reduce braking distances and improve stopping control; co-developed with Bosch); traction control and Electronic Stability Program (ESP) in 1995 (improves driver control during difficult road conditions); and Brake Assist (provides full braking power during emergency stops). In 2005, a new infrared night vision feature was introduced (improves visibility during nighttime conditions). Despite the popular misconception, the S-Class was not the first car fitted with ABS braking technology, although some credit can be given for popularizing this now largely standard feature (ABS was initially an option on most models of the W126 S-Class). Active lane keeping became standard in 2011.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Passive safety features include: crumple zones in 1957 (vehicle body structure absorbs the force of impact); collapsible steering column (prevents the steering column from protruding into the cabin during accidents), strengthened occupant cell enhanced occupant protection during severe impacts (rollovers); pre-accident seatbelt tensioning (tightens seatbelts prior to impact), and sandwich platforms (allows the engine to slide under the occupants in a head-on collision).


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: PRE-SAFE, Mercedes-Benz's holistic safety feature, was introduced on the S-Class in 2002. PRE-SAFE integrates multiple active and passive safety features for a "safety net" approach to vehicle safety by attempting to prevent accidents; if accidents do occur, "PRE-SAFE" aims to reduce occupant injury. In the latest version of this pre-collision system, PRE-SAFE will prime the brake assist system, lock the doors to prevent accidental opening during the accident, adjust the seats, close the windows and sunroof, and tighten seatbelts during certain types of collisions. In the event an accident results in a rollover, the PRE-SAFE feature unlocks the doors and lowers the windows approximately to allow you to exit or safety workers to gain access easily.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Rear seat airbags are a world-first and will be introduced on the W223. In addition, E-ACTIVE BODY CONTROL is available for the first time on an S-Class.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: A special armored version of the Mercedes-Benz S-Class has been produced, known as the S-Guard. Features include the capability to withstand small arms fire and certain explosive devices, a self-sealing fuel tank, and an alarm system.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: In 2009, Mercedes-Benz launched a long-wheelbase version of the S-Guard, known as the Pullman Guard. This model is longer than the standard model. It also has a higher roof and a taller rear window, with a different rake. The Pullman Guard is also available in the W222 and the W223.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: The S-Guard is widely used at the diplomatic level to protect world leaders. Ninety governments worldwide are known to use the S-Guard for the transport of government leaders and dignitaries. The S-Guard is built on a special production line at the S-Class facility in Sindelfingen, Germany, with specific S-Guard enhancements integrated at multiple stages throughout the production process.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Most S-Class models, including the W221, are built at the Daimler AG plant in Sindelfingen, Germany, and the Mercedes-Benz-Valdez plant in Santiago Tianguistenco, Mexico. Founded by Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft in 1915, the Sindelfingen plant also produced the model 600 ""Grosser Mercedes"" and past generations of the S-Class. Previous S-Class models (such as the W126) were built in different locations ranging from Stuttgart to South Africa, but with recent models (such as the W220) production has been concentrated in Sindelfingen and Santiago Tianguistenco. In February 2007, DaimlerChrysler Malaysia's (now, Mercedes-Benz Malaysia) plant in Pekan, Pahang began production of S350 (model W221) vehicles and is currently assembling S300, S350L, and S500L. In all, some 2.7 million S-Class vehicles have been produced in the past forty years.


title: Mercedes-Benz S-Class

text: Notable examples of awards received by the Mercedes-Benz S-Class include the top ranking in the J.D. Power Sales Satisfaction Index from 1987 to 1990, seven time ranking as "What Car?" "Best Luxury Car", and five times as "Fleet News" "Luxury Car of the Year". The S-Class was "Wheels Magazine" Car of the Year for 1981 and 1999, U.S. Highway Loss Data Institute "Safest Passenger Car of the Year" in 1988 and 1989, and European Car of the Year in 1974. The S-Class is also the first car ever (2005) to receive an environmental certificate from the German Commission on Technical Compliance (TÜV). Other awards range from "Popular Science" Best of What's New—Grand Award 2005 to "Top Gear" magazine's "Limousine of the Year" for 2006.


title: Tanner Buchanan

text: Tanner Buchanan (born December 8, 1998) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Leo Kirkman in the ABC political drama "Designated Survivor" and Robby Keene in the Netflix series "Cobra Kai". He is also known for his role in the Nickelodeon television series "Game Shakers" as Mason Kendall.


title: Tanner Buchanan

text: In 2010, he made his first appearance on television, playing a child role in the "Modern Family" series. Three years later he appeared in "Grey's Anatomy", "Major Crimes", and "The Goldbergs". He had recurring roles on "Girl Meets World", "Game Shakers", and "The Fosters". In 2016, he played his first main role on television, playing Leo Kirkman in the political drama series "Designated Survivor". In 2018, he began playing Johnny Lawrence's estranged son Robby Keene in the YouTube Premium (and later Netflix) series "Cobra Kai". He also starred in the remake of "She's All That" called "He's All That".


title: Lightning

text: Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous release of an average of one gigajoule of energy. This discharge may produce a wide range of electromagnetic radiation, from heat created by the rapid movement of electrons, to brilliant flashes of visible light in the form of black-body radiation. Lightning causes thunder, a sound from the shock wave which develops as gases in the vicinity of the discharge experience a sudden increase in pressure. Lightning occurs commonly during thunderstorms as well as other types of energetic weather systems, but volcanic lightning can also occur during volcanic eruptions.


title: Lightning

text: The three main kinds of lightning are distinguished by where they occur: either inside a single thundercloud (intra-cloud), between two clouds (cloud-to-cloud), or between a cloud and the ground (cloud-to-ground). Many other observational variants are recognized, including "heat lightning", which can be seen from a great distance but not heard; dry lightning, which can cause forest fires; and ball lightning, which is rarely observed scientifically.


title: Lightning

text: Humans have deified lightning for millennia. Idiomatic expressions derived from lightning, such as the English expression "bolt from the blue", are common across languages. At all times people have been fascinated by the sight and difference of lightning. The fear of lightning is called "astraphobia".


title: Lightning

text: The first known photograph of lightning is from 1847, by Thomas Martin Easterly. The first surviving photograph is from 1882, by William Nicholson Jennings, a photographer who spent half his life capturing pictures of lightning and proving its diversity.


title: Lightning

text: The details of the charging process are still being studied by scientists, but there is general agreement on some of the basic concepts of thunderstorm electrification. Electrification can be by the triboelectric effect as a result of ion transfer between colliding bodies. Uncharged, colliding water-drops can become charged because of charge transfer between them (as aqueous ions) in an electric field as would exist in a thunder cloud. The main charging area in a thunderstorm occurs in the central part of the storm where air is moving upward rapidly (updraft) and temperatures range from ; see Figure 1. In that area, the combination of temperature and rapid upward air movement produces a mixture of super-cooled cloud droplets (small water droplets below freezing), small ice crystals, and graupel (soft hail). The updraft carries the super-cooled cloud droplets and very small ice crystals upward. At the same time, the graupel, which is considerably larger and denser, tends to fall or be suspended in the rising air.


title: Lightning

text: The differences in the movement of the precipitation cause collisions to occur. When the rising ice crystals collide with graupel, the ice crystals become positively charged and the graupel becomes negatively charged; see Figure 2. The updraft carries the positively charged ice crystals upward toward the top of the storm cloud. The larger and denser graupel is either suspended in the middle of the thunderstorm cloud or falls toward the lower part of the storm.


title: Lightning

text: The result is that the upper part of the thunderstorm cloud becomes positively charged while the middle to lower part of the thunderstorm cloud becomes negatively charged.


title: Lightning

text: The upward motions within the storm and winds at higher levels in the atmosphere tend to cause the small ice crystals (and positive charge) in the upper part of the thunderstorm cloud to spread out horizontally some distance from the thunderstorm cloud base. This part of the thunderstorm cloud is called the anvil. While this is the main charging process for the thunderstorm cloud, some of these charges can be redistributed by air movements within the storm (updrafts and downdrafts). In addition, there is a small but important positive charge buildup near the bottom of the thunderstorm cloud due to the precipitation and warmer temperatures.


title: Lightning

text: The induced separation of charge in pure liquid water has been known since the 1840s as has the electrification of pure liquid water by the tribo-electric effect.


title: Lightning

text: William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) demonstrated that charge separation in water occurs in the usual electric fields at the earth's surface and developed a continuous electric field measuring device using that knowledge.


title: Lightning

text: The physical separation of charge into different regions using liquid water was demonstrated by Kelvin with the Kelvin water dropper. The most likely charge-carrying species were considered to be the aqueous hydrogen ion and the aqueous hydroxide ion.


title: Lightning

text: The electrical charging of solid water ice has also been considered. The charged species were again considered to be the hydrogen ion and the hydroxide ion.


title: Lightning

text: An electron is not stable in liquid water with respect to a hydroxide ion plus dissolved hydrogen for the time scales involved in thunder storms.


title: Lightning

text: The charge carrier in lightning is mainly electrons in a plasma. The process of going from charge as ions (positive hydrogen ion and negative hydroxide ion) associated with liquid water or solid water to charge as electrons associated with lightning must involve some form of electro-chemistry, that is, the oxidation and/or the reduction of chemical species. As hydroxide functions as a base and carbon dioxide is an acidic gas, it is possible that charged water clouds in which the negative charge is in the form of the aqueous hydroxide ion, interact with atmospheric carbon dioxide to form aqueous carbonate ions and aqueous hydrogen carbonate ions.


title: Lightning

text: The typical cloud-to-ground lightning flash culminates in the formation of an electrically conducting plasma channel through the air in excess of tall, from within the cloud to the ground's surface. The actual discharge is the final stage of a very complex process. At its peak, a typical thunderstorm produces three or more "strikes" to the Earth per minute. Lightning primarily occurs when warm air is mixed with colder air masses, resulting in atmospheric disturbances necessary for polarizing the atmosphere. However, it can also occur during dust storms, forest fires, tornadoes, volcanic eruptions, and even in the cold of winter, where the lightning is known as thundersnow. Hurricanes typically generate some lightning, mainly in the rainbands as much as from the center.


title: Lightning

text: On Earth, the lightning frequency is approximately 44 (± 5) times per second, or nearly 1.4 billion flashes per year and the median duration is 0.52 seconds made up from a number of much shorter flashes (strokes) of around 60 to 70 microseconds.


title: Lightning

text: Many factors affect the frequency, distribution, strength and physical properties of a typical lightning flash in a particular region of the world. These factors include ground elevation, latitude, prevailing wind currents, relative humidity, and proximity to warm and cold bodies of water. To a certain degree, the proportions of intra-cloud, cloud-to-cloud, and cloud-to-ground lightning may also vary by season in middle latitudes.


title: Lightning

text: Because human beings are terrestrial and most of their possessions are on the Earth where lightning can damage or destroy them, cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is the most studied and best understood of the three types, even though in-cloud (IC) and cloud-to-cloud (CC) are more common types of lightning. Lightning's relative unpredictability limits a complete explanation of how or why it occurs, even after hundreds of years of scientific investigation.


title: Lightning

text: This occurs from both the mixture of warmer and colder air masses, as well as differences in moisture concentrations, and it generally happens at the boundaries between them. The flow of warm ocean currents past drier land masses, such as the Gulf Stream, partially explains the elevated frequency of lightning in the Southeast United States. Because large bodies of water lack the topographic variation that would result in atmospheric mixing, lightning is notably less frequent over the world's oceans than over land. The North and South Poles are limited in their coverage of thunderstorms and therefore result in areas with the least lightning.


title: Lightning

text: In general, CG lightning flashes account for only 25% of all total lightning flashes worldwide. Since the base of a thunderstorm is usually negatively charged, this is where most CG lightning originates. This region is typically at the elevation where freezing occurs within the cloud. Freezing, combined with collisions between ice and water, appears to be a critical part of the initial charge development and separation process. During wind-driven collisions, ice crystals tend to develop a positive charge, while a heavier, slushy mixture of ice and water (called graupel) develops a negative charge. Updrafts within a storm cloud separate the lighter ice crystals from the heavier graupel, causing the top region of the cloud to accumulate a positive space charge while the lower level accumulates a negative space charge.


title: Lightning

text: Because the concentrated charge within the cloud must exceed the insulating properties of air, and this increases proportionally to the distance between the cloud and the ground, the proportion of CG strikes (versus CC or IC discharges) becomes greater when the cloud is closer to the ground. In the tropics, where the freezing level is generally higher in the atmosphere, only 10% of lightning flashes are CG. At the latitude of Norway (around 60° North latitude), where the freezing elevation is lower, 50% of lightning is CG.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning is usually produced by cumulonimbus clouds, which have bases that are typically above the ground and tops up to in height.


title: Lightning

text: The place on Earth where lightning occurs most often is over Lake Maracaibo, wherein the Catatumbo lightning phenomenon produces 250 bolts of lightning a day. This activity occurs on average, 297 days a year. The second most lightning density is near the village of Kifuka in the mountains of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the elevation is around . On average, this region receives . Other lightning hotspots include Singapore and Lightning Alley in Central Florida.


title: Lightning

text: The place on Earth where lightning occurs most often is near the small village of Kifuka in the mountains of the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where the elevation is around . On average, this region receives . Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela averages 297 days per year with lightning activity, an effect recognized as Catatumbo lightning. Other lightning hotspots include Singapore and Lightning Alley in Central Florida.


title: Lightning

text: According to the United Nations' WMO, on April 29, 2020, a bolt 768 km (477.2 mi) long was observed in the southern U.S.—sixty km (37 mi) longer than the previous distance record (southern Brazil, October 31, 2018). A single flash in Uruguay and northern Argentina on June 18, 2020, lasted for 17.1 seconds—0.37 seconds longer than the previous record (March 4, 2019, also in northern Argentina).


title: Lightning

text: In order for an electrostatic discharge to occur, two preconditions are necessary: first, a sufficiently high potential difference between two regions of space must exist, and second, a high-resistance medium must obstruct the free, unimpeded equalization of the opposite charges. The atmosphere provides the electrical insulation, or barrier, that prevents free equalization between charged regions of opposite polarity.


title: Lightning

text: It is well understood that during a thunderstorm there is charge separation and aggregation in certain regions of the cloud; however, the exact processes by which this occurs are not fully understood.


title: Lightning

text: As a thundercloud moves over the surface of the Earth, an equal electric charge, but of opposite polarity, is induced on the Earth's surface underneath the cloud. The induced positive surface charge, when measured against a fixed point, will be small as the thundercloud approaches, increasing as the center of the storm arrives and dropping as the thundercloud passes. The referential value of the induced surface charge could be roughly represented as a bell curve.


title: Lightning

text: The oppositely charged regions create an electric field within the air between them. This electric field varies in relation to the strength of the surface charge on the base of the thundercloud – the greater the accumulated charge, the higher the electrical field.


title: Lightning

text: The best-studied and understood form of lightning is cloud to ground (CG) lightning. Although more common, intra-cloud (IC) and cloud-to-cloud (CC) flashes are very difficult to study given there are no "physical" points to monitor inside the clouds. Also, given the very low probability of lightning striking the same point repeatedly and consistently, scientific inquiry is difficult even in areas of high CG frequency.


title: Lightning

text: In a process not well understood, a bidirectional channel of ionized air, called a "leader", is initiated between oppositely-charged regions in a thundercloud. Leaders are electrically conductive channels of ionized gas that propagate through, or are otherwise attracted to, regions with a charge opposite of that of the leader tip. The negative end of the bidirectional leader fills a positive charge region, also called a well, inside the cloud while the positive end fills a negative charge well. Leaders often split, forming branches in a tree-like pattern. In addition, negative and some positive leaders travel in a discontinuous fashion, in a process called "stepping". The resulting jerky movement of the leaders can be readily observed in slow-motion videos of lightning flashes.


title: Lightning

text: It is possible for one end of the leader to fill the oppositely-charged well entirely while the other end is still active. When this happens, the leader end which filled the well may propagate outside of the thundercloud and result in either a cloud-to-air flash or a cloud-to-ground flash. In a typical cloud-to-ground flash, a bidirectional leader initiates between the main negative and lower positive charge regions in a thundercloud. The weaker positive charge region is filled quickly by the negative leader which then propagates toward the inductively-charged ground.


title: Lightning

text: The positively and negatively charged leaders proceed in opposite directions, positive upwards within the cloud and negative towards the earth. Both ionic channels proceed, in their respective directions, in a number of successive spurts. Each leader "pools" ions at the leading tips, shooting out one or more new leaders, momentarily pooling again to concentrate charged ions, then shooting out another leader. The negative leader continues to propagate and split as it heads downward, often speeding up as it gets closer to the Earth's surface.


title: Lightning

text: About 90% of ionic channel lengths between "pools" are approximately in length. The establishment of the ionic channel takes a comparatively long amount of time (hundreds of milliseconds) in comparison to the resulting discharge, which occurs within a few dozen microseconds. The electric current needed to establish the channel, measured in the tens or hundreds of amperes, is dwarfed by subsequent currents during the actual discharge.


title: Lightning

text: Initiation of the lightning leader is not well understood. The electric field strength within the thundercloud is not typically large enough to initiate this process by itself. Many hypotheses have been proposed. One hypothesis postulates that showers of relativistic electrons are created by cosmic rays and are then accelerated to higher velocities via a process called runaway breakdown. As these relativistic electrons collide and ionize neutral air molecules, they initiate leader formation. Another hypothesis involves locally enhanced electric fields being formed near elongated water droplets or ice crystals. Percolation theory, especially for the case of biased percolation, describes random connectivity phenomena, which produce an evolution of connected structures similar to that of lightning strikes. A streamer avalanche model has recently been favored by observational data taken by LOFAR during storms.


title: Lightning

text: When a stepped leader approaches the ground, the presence of opposite charges on the ground enhances the strength of the electric field. The electric field is strongest on grounded objects whose tops are closest to the base of the thundercloud, such as trees and tall buildings. If the electric field is strong enough, a positively charged ionic channel, called a positive or upward streamer, can develop from these points. This was first theorized by Heinz Kasemir.


title: Lightning

text: As negatively charged leaders approach, increasing the localized electric field strength, grounded objects already experiencing corona discharge will exceed a threshold and form upward streamers.


title: Lightning

text: Once a downward leader connects to an available upward leader, a process referred to as attachment, a low-resistance path is formed and discharge may occur. Photographs have been taken in which unattached streamers are clearly visible. The unattached downward leaders are also visible in branched lightning, none of which are connected to the earth, although it may appear they are. High-speed videos can show the attachment process in progress.


title: Lightning

text: Once a conductive channel bridges the air gap between the negative charge excess in the cloud and the positive surface charge excess below, there is a large drop in resistance across the lightning channel. Electrons accelerate rapidly as a result in a zone beginning at the point of attachment, which expands across the entire leader network at up to one third of the speed of light. This is the "return stroke" and it is the most luminous and noticeable part of the lightning discharge.


title: Lightning

text: A large electric charge flows along the plasma channel, from the cloud to the ground, neutralising the positive ground charge as electrons flow away from the strike point to the surrounding area. This huge surge of current creates large radial voltage differences along the surface of the ground. Called step potentials, they are responsible for more injuries and deaths in groups of people or of other animals than the strike itself. Electricity takes every path available to it.


title: Lightning

text: Such step potentials will often flow through one leg and out another, electrocuting an unlucky human or animal standing near the point where the lightning strikes.


title: Lightning

text: The electric current of the return stroke averages 30 kiloamperes for a typical negative CG flash, often referred to as "negative CG" lightning. In some cases, a ground-to-cloud (GC) lightning flash may originate from a positively charged region on the ground below a storm. These discharges normally originate from the tops of very tall structures, such as communications antennas. The rate at which the return stroke current travels has been found to be around 100,000 km/s (one-third of the speed of light).


title: Lightning

text: The massive flow of electric current occurring during the return stroke combined with the rate at which it occurs (measured in microseconds) rapidly superheats the completed leader channel, forming a highly electrically conductive plasma channel. The core temperature of the plasma during the return stroke may exceed 50,000 K, causing it to radiate with a brilliant, blue-white color. Once the electric current stops flowing, the channel cools and dissipates over tens or hundreds of milliseconds, often disappearing as fragmented patches of glowing gas. The nearly instantaneous heating during the return stroke causes the air to expand explosively, producing a powerful shock wave which is heard as thunder.


title: Lightning

text: High-speed videos (examined frame-by-frame) show that most negative CG lightning flashes are made up of 3 or 4 individual strokes, though there may be as many as 30.


title: Lightning

text: Each re-strike is separated by a relatively large amount of time, typically 40 to 50 milliseconds, as other charged regions in the cloud are discharged in subsequent strokes. Re-strikes often cause a noticeable "strobe light" effect.


title: Lightning

text: To understand why multiple return strokes utilize the same lightning channel, one needs to understand the behavior of positive leaders, which a typical ground flash effectively becomes following the negative leader's connection with the ground. Positive leaders decay more rapidly than negative leaders do. For reasons not well understood, bidirectional leaders tend to initiate on the tips of the decayed positive leaders in which the negative end attempts to re-ionize the leader network. These leaders, also called "recoil leaders", usually decay shortly after their formation. When they do manage to make contact with a conductive portion of the main leader network, a return stroke-like process occurs and a "dart leader" travels across all or a portion of the length of the original leader. The dart leaders making connections with the ground are what cause a majority of subsequent return strokes.


title: Lightning

text: Each successive stroke is preceded by intermediate dart leader strokes that have a faster rise time but lower amplitude than the initial return stroke. Each subsequent stroke usually re-uses the discharge channel taken by the previous one, but the channel may be offset from its previous position as wind displaces the hot channel.


title: Lightning

text: Since recoil and dart leader processes do not occur on negative leaders, subsequent return strokes very seldom utilize the same channel on positive ground flashes which are explained later in the article.


title: Lightning

text: The electric current within a typical negative CG lightning discharge rises very quickly to its peak value in 1–10 microseconds, then decays more slowly over 50–200 microseconds. The transient nature of the current within a lightning flash results in several phenomena that need to be addressed in the effective protection of ground-based structures. Rapidly changing currents tend to travel on the surface of a conductor, in what is called the skin effect, unlike direct currents, which "flow-through" the entire conductor like water through a hose. Hence, conductors used in the protection of facilities tend to be multi-stranded, with small wires woven together. This increases the total bundle surface area in inverse proportion to the individual strand radius, for a fixed total cross-sectional area.


title: Lightning

text: The rapidly changing currents also create electromagnetic pulses (EMPs) that radiate outward from the ionic channel. This is a characteristic of all electrical discharges. The radiated pulses rapidly weaken as their distance from the origin increases. However, if they pass over conductive elements such as power lines, communication lines, or metallic pipes, they may induce a current which travels outward to its termination. The surge current is inversely related to the surge impedance: the higher in impedance, the lower the current. This is the surge that, more often than not, results in the destruction of delicate electronics, electrical appliances, or electric motors. Devices known as surge protectors (SPD) or transient voltage surge suppressors (TVSS) attached in parallel with these lines can detect the lightning flash's transient irregular current, and, through alteration of its physical properties, route the spike to an attached earthing ground, thereby protecting the equipment from damage.


title: Lightning

text: Three primary types of lightning are defined by the "starting" and "ending" points of a flash channel.


title: Lightning

text: There are variations of each type, such as "positive" versus "negative" CG flashes, that have different physical characteristics common to each which can be measured. Different common names used to describe a particular lightning event may be attributed to the same or to different events.


title: Lightning

text: "Cloud-to-ground" (CG) lightning is a lightning discharge between a thundercloud and the ground. It is initiated by a stepped leader moving down from the cloud, which is met by a streamer moving up from the ground.


title: Lightning

text: CG is the least common, but best understood of all types of lightning. It is easier to study scientifically because it terminates on a physical object, namely the Earth, and lends itself to being measured by instruments on the ground. Of the three primary types of lightning, it poses the greatest threat to life and property since it terminates on the Earth or "strikes".


title: Lightning

text: The overall discharge, termed a flash, is composed of a number of processes such as preliminary breakdown, stepped leaders, connecting leaders, return strokes, dart leaders, and subsequent return strokes. The conductivity of the electrical ground, be it soil, fresh water, or salt water, may affect the lightning discharge rate and thus visible characteristics.


title: Lightning

text: Cloud-to-ground (CG) lightning is either positive or negative, as defined by the direction of the conventional electric current between cloud and ground. Most CG lightning is negative, meaning that a negative charge is transferred to ground and electrons travel downward along the lightning channel (conventionally the current flows from the ground to the cloud). The reverse happens in a positive CG flash, where electrons travel upward along the lightning channel and a positive charge is transferred to the ground (conventionally the current flows from the cloud to the ground). Positive lightning is less common than negative lightning, and on average makes up less than 5% of all lightning strikes.


title: Lightning

text: Contrary to popular belief, positive lightning flashes do "not" necessarily originate from the anvil or the upper positive charge region and strike a rain-free area outside of the thunderstorm. This belief is based on the outdated idea that lightning leaders are unipolar and originate from their respective charge region.


title: Lightning

text: Positive lightning strikes tend to be much more intense than their negative counterparts. An average bolt of negative lightning carries an electric current of 30,000 amperes (30 kA), and transfers 15 C (coulombs) of electric charge and 1 gigajoule of energy. Large bolts of positive lightning can carry up to 120 kA and 350 C. The average positive ground flash has roughly double the peak current of a typical negative flash, and can produce peak currents up to 400 kA and charges of several hundred coulombs. Furthermore, positive ground flashes with high peak currents are commonly followed by long continuing currents, a correlation not seen in negative ground flashes.


title: Lightning

text: As a result of their greater power, positive lightning strikes are considerably more dangerous than negative strikes. Positive lightning produces both higher peak currents and longer continuing currents, making them capable of heating surfaces to much higher levels which increases the likelihood of a fire being ignited. The long distances positive lightning can propagate through clear air explains why they are known as "bolts from the blue", giving no warning to observers.


title: Lightning

text: Despite the popular misconception that these are positive lightning strikes due to them seemingly originating from the positive charge region, observations have shown that these are in fact negative flashes. They begin as IC flashes within the cloud, the negative leader then exits the cloud from the positive charge region before propagating through clear air and striking the ground some distance away.


title: Lightning

text: Positive lightning has also been shown to trigger the occurrence of upward lightning flashes from the tops of tall structures and is largely responsible for the initiation of sprites several tens of km above ground level. Positive lightning tends to occur more frequently in winter storms, as with thundersnow, during intense tornadoes and in the dissipation stage of a thunderstorm. Huge quantities of extremely low frequency (ELF) and very low frequency (VLF) radio waves are also generated.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning discharges may occur between areas of cloud without contacting the ground. When it occurs between two separate clouds, it is known as "cloud-to-cloud" (CC) or "inter-cloud" lightning; when it occurs between areas of differing electric potential within a single cloud, it is known as "intra-cloud" (IC) lightning. IC lightning is the most frequently occurring type.


title: Lightning

text: IC lightning most commonly occurs between the upper anvil portion and lower reaches of a given thunderstorm. This lightning can sometimes be observed at great distances at night as so-called "sheet lightning". In such instances, the observer may see only a flash of light without hearing any thunder.


title: Lightning

text: Another term used for cloud–cloud or cloud–cloud–ground lightning is "Anvil Crawler", due to the habit of charge, typically originating beneath or within the anvil and scrambling through the upper cloud layers of a thunderstorm, often generating dramatic multiple branch strokes. These are usually seen as a thunderstorm passes over the observer or begins to decay. The most vivid crawler behavior occurs in well developed thunderstorms that feature extensive rear anvil shearing.


title: Lightning

text: Objects struck by lightning experience heat and magnetic forces of great magnitude. The heat created by lightning currents travelling through a tree may vaporize its sap, causing a steam explosion that bursts the trunk. As lightning travels through sandy soil, the soil surrounding the plasma channel may melt, forming tubular structures called fulgurites.


title: Lightning

text: Buildings or tall structures hit by lightning may be damaged as the lightning seeks unimpeded paths to the ground. By safely conducting a lightning strike to the ground, a lightning protection system, usually incorporating at least one lightning rod, can greatly reduce the probability of severe property damage.


title: Lightning

text: Aircraft are highly susceptible to being struck due to their metallic fuselages, but lightning strikes are generally not dangerous to them. Due to the conductive properties of aluminium alloy, the fuselage acts as a Faraday cage. Present day aircraft are built to be safe from a lightning strike and passengers will generally not even know that it has happened.


title: Lightning

text: Although 90 percent of people struck by lightning survive, animalsincluding humansstruck by lightning may suffer severe injury due to internal organ and nervous system damage.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning serves an important role in the nitrogen cycle by oxidizing diatomic nitrogen in the air into nitrates which are deposited by rain and can fertilize the growth of plants and other organisms.


title: Lightning

text: Because the electrostatic discharge of terrestrial lightning superheats the air to plasma temperatures along the length of the discharge channel in a short duration, kinetic theory dictates gaseous molecules undergo a rapid increase in pressure and thus expand outward from the lightning creating a shock wave audible as thunder. Since the sound waves propagate not from a single point source but along the length of the lightning's path, the sound origin's varying distances from the observer can generate a rolling or rumbling effect. Perception of the sonic characteristics is further complicated by factors such as the irregular and possibly branching geometry of the lightning channel, by acoustic echoing from terrain, and by the usually multiple-stroke characteristic of the lightning strike.


title: Lightning

text: Light travels at about , and sound travels through air at about . An observer can approximate the distance to the strike by timing the interval between the visible lightning and the audible thunder it generates. A lightning flash preceding its thunder by one second would be approximately in distance; a delay of three seconds would indicate a distance of about (3 × 343 m). A flash preceding thunder by five seconds would indicate a distance of approximately (5 × 343 m). Consequently, a lightning strike observed at a very close distance will be accompanied by a sudden clap of thunder, with almost no perceptible time lapse, possibly accompanied by the smell of ozone (O).


title: Lightning

text: Lightning at a sufficient distance may be seen and not heard; there is data that a lightning storm can be seen at over whereas the thunder travels about . Anecdotally, there are many examples of people saying 'the storm was directly overhead or all-around and yet there was no thunder'. Since thunderclouds can be up to 20 km high, lightning occurring high up in the cloud may appear close but is actually too far away to produce noticeable thunder.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning discharges generate radio-frequency pulses which can be received thousands of kilometres from their source as radio atmospheric signals and whistlers.


title: Lightning

text: The production of X-rays by a bolt of lightning was theoretically predicted as early as 1925, but no evidence was found until 2001/2002, when researchers at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology detected X-ray emissions from an induced lightning strike along a grounded wire trailed behind a rocket shot into a storm cloud. In the same year University of Florida and Florida Tech researchers used an array of electric field and X-ray detectors at a lightning research facility in North Florida to confirm that natural lightning makes X-rays in large quantities during the propagation of stepped leaders. The cause of the X-ray emissions is still a matter for research, as the temperature of lightning is too low to account for the X-rays observed.


title: Lightning

text: A number of observations by space-based telescopes have revealed even higher energy gamma ray emissions, the so-called terrestrial gamma-ray flashes (TGFs). These observations pose a challenge to current theories of lightning, especially with the recent discovery of the clear signatures of antimatter produced in lightning. Recent research has shown that secondary species, produced by these TGFs, such as electrons, positrons, neutrons or protons, can gain energies of up to several tens of MeV.


title: Lightning

text: The very high temperatures generated by lightning lead to significant local increases in ozone and oxides of nitrogen. Each lightning flash in temperate and sub-tropical areas produces 7 kg of on average. In the troposphere the effect of lightning can increase by 90% and ozone by 30%.


title: Lightning

text: Volcanic activity produces lightning-friendly conditions in multiple ways. The enormous quantity of pulverized material and gases explosively ejected into the atmosphere creates a dense plume of particles. The ash density and constant motion within the volcanic plume produces charge by frictional interactions (triboelectrification), resulting in very powerful and very frequent flashes as the cloud attempts to neutralize itself. Due to the extensive solid material (ash) content, unlike the water rich charge generating zones of a normal thundercloud, it is often called a dirty thunderstorm.


title: Lightning

text: If the volcanic ash plume rises to freezing temperatures, ice particles form and collide with ash particles to cause electrification. Lightning can be detected in any explosion but the causation of additional electrification from ice particles in ash can lead to a stronger electrical field and a higher rate of detectable lightning. Lightning is also used as a volcano monitoring tool for detecting hazardous eruptions.


title: Lightning

text: Intense forest fires, such as those seen in the 2019–20 Australian bushfire season, can create their own weather systems that can produce lightning and other weather phenomena.<ref name="ABC / Ceranic"></ref> Intense heat from a fire causes air to rapidly rise within the smoke plume, causing the formation of pyrocumulonimbus clouds. Cooler air is drawn in by this turbulent, rising air, helping to cool the plume. The rising plume is further cooled by the lower atmospheric pressure at high altitude, allowing the moisture in it to condense into cloud. Pyrocumulonimbus clouds form in an unstable atmosphere. These weather systems can produce dry lightning, fire tornadoes, intense winds, and dirty hail.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning has been observed within the atmospheres of other planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn. Although in the minority on Earth, superbolts appear to be common on Jupiter.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning on Venus has been a controversial subject after decades of study. During the Soviet Venera and U.S. Pioneer missions of the 1970s and 1980s, signals suggesting lightning may be present in the upper atmosphere were detected. Although the Cassini–Huygens mission fly-by of Venus in 1999 detected no signs of lightning, the observation window lasted mere hours. Radio pulses recorded by the spacecraft Venus Express (which began orbiting Venus in April 2006) may originate from lightning on Venus.


title: Lightning

text: Thunder is heard as a rolling, gradually dissipating rumble because the sound from different portions of a long stroke arrives at slightly different times.


title: Lightning

text: When the local electric field exceeds the dielectric strength of damp air (about 3 MV/m), electrical discharge results in a "strike", often followed by commensurate discharges branching from the same path. Mechanisms that cause the charges to build up to lightning are still a matter of scientific investigation. A 2016 study confirmed dielectric breakdown is involved. Lightning may be caused by the circulation of warm moisture-filled air through electric fields. Ice or water particles then accumulate charge as in a Van de Graaff generator.


title: Lightning

text: Researchers at the University of Florida found that the final one-dimensional speeds of 10 flashes observed were between 1.0 and 1.4 m/s, with an average of 4.4 m/s.


title: Lightning

text: The earliest detector invented to warn of the approach of a thunderstorm was the lightning bell. Benjamin Franklin installed one such device in his house. The detector was based on an electrostatic device called the 'electric chimes' invented by Andrew Gordon in 1742.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning discharges generate a wide range of electromagnetic radiations, including radio-frequency pulses. The times at which a pulse from a given lightning discharge arrives at several receivers can be used to locate the source of the discharge with a precision on the order of metres. The United States federal government has constructed a nationwide grid of such lightning detectors, allowing lightning discharges to be tracked in real time throughout the continental U.S.


title: Lightning

text: In addition, a private global detection system that consists of over 500 detection stations owned and operated by hobbyists/volunteers provides near real-time lightning maps at blitzortung.org


title: Lightning

text: The Earth-ionosphere waveguide traps electromagnetic VLF- and ELF waves. Electromagnetic pulses transmitted by lightning strikes propagate within that waveguide. The waveguide is dispersive, which means that their group velocity depends on frequency. The difference of the group time delay of a lightning pulse at adjacent frequencies is proportional to the distance between transmitter and receiver. Together with direction-finding methods, this allows locating lightning strikes up to distances of 10,000 km from their origin. Moreover, the eigenfrequencies of the Earth-ionospheric waveguide, the Schumann resonances


title: Lightning

text: In addition to ground-based lightning detection, several instruments aboard satellites have been constructed to observe lightning distribution. These include the Optical Transient Detector (OTD), aboard the OrbView-1 satellite launched on April 3, 1995, and the subsequent Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) aboard TRMM launched on November 28, 1997.


title: Lightning

text: Starting in 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration launched Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite–R Series (GOES-R) weather satellites outfitted with Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) instruments which are near-infrared optical transient detectors that can detect the momentary changes in an optical scene, indicating the presence of lightning. The lighting detection data can be converted into a real-time map of lightning activity across the Western Hemisphere; this mapping technique has been implemented by the United States National Weather Service.


title: Lightning

text: In 2022 EUMETSAT plan to launch the Lightning Imager (MTG-I LI) on board Meteosat Third Generation. This will complement NOAA's GLM. MTG-I LI will cover Europe and Africa and will include products on events, groups and flashes.


title: Lightning

text: The movement of electrical charges produces a magnetic field (see electromagnetism). The intense currents of a lightning discharge create a fleeting but very strong magnetic field. Where the lightning current path passes through rock, soil, or metal these materials can become permanently magnetized. This effect is known as lightning-induced remanent magnetism, or LIRM. These currents follow the least resistive path, often horizontally near the surface but sometimes vertically, where faults, ore bodies, or ground water offers a less resistive path. One theory suggests that lodestones, natural magnets encountered in ancient times, were created in this manner.


title: Lightning

text: Lightning-induced magnetic anomalies can be mapped in the ground, and analysis of magnetized materials can confirm lightning was the source of the magnetization and provide an estimate of the peak current of the lightning discharge.


title: Lightning

text: Research at the University of Innsbruck has found that magnetic fields generated by plasma may induce hallucinations in subjects located within of a severe lightning storm.


title: Lightning

text: Some high energy cosmic rays produced by supernovas as well as solar particles from the solar wind, enter the atmosphere and electrify the air, which may create pathways for lightning bolts.


title: Lightning

text: Due to the low resolution of global climate models, accurately representing lightning in these climate models is difficult, largely due to their inability to simulate the convection and cloud ice imperative which are fundamental to lightning formation. Research from the Future Climate for Africa programme demonstrates that using a convection-permitting model over Africa can more accurately capture convective thunderstorms and the distribution of ice particles. This research indicates climate change may increase the total amount of lightning only slightly: the total number of lightning days per year decreases, while more cloud ice and stronger convection leads to more lightning strikes occurring on days when lightning does occur.


title: Lightning

text: A study from the University of Washington looked at lightning activity in the Arctic from 2010 to 2020. The ratio of Arctic summertime strokes was compared to total global strokes and was observed to be increasing with time, indicating that the region is becoming more influenced by lightning. The fraction of strokes above 65 degrees north was found to be increasing linearly with the NOAA global temperature anomaly and grew by a factor of 3 as the anomaly increased from 0.65 to 0.95 °C


title: Lightning

text: In many cultures, lightning has been viewed as part of a deity or a deity in and of itself. These include the Greek god Zeus, the Aztec god Tlaloc, the Mayan God K, Slavic mythology's Perun, the Baltic Pērkons/Perkūnas, Thor in Norse mythology, Ukko in Finnish mythology, the Hindu god Indra, the Yoruba god Sango, Illapa in Inca mythology and the Shinto god Raijin. In the traditional religion of the African Bantu tribes, lightning is a sign of the ire of the gods. Scriptures in Judaism, Islam and Christianity also ascribe supernatural importance to lightning. In Christianity, the Second Coming of Jesus is compared to lightning.


title: Lightning

text: The expression "Lightning never strikes twice (in the same place)" is similar to "Opportunity never knocks twice" in the vein of a "once in a lifetime" opportunity, "i.e.", something that is generally considered improbable. Similarly, "A bolt from the blue" refers to something totally unexpected, and "A person being struck by lightning" is an imaginative or comedic metaphor for someone to experience a once in a lifetime, striking, sudden lightning-speed revelation, similar to an epiphany or an enlightenment.


title: Lightning

text: Although sometimes used figuratively as above, the idea that "lightning never strikes the same place twice" is a common myth. In fact, lightning can, and often does, strike the same place twice. Lightning in a thunderstorm is more likely to strike objects and spots that are more prominent or conductive. For instance, lightning strikes the Empire State Building in New York City on average 23 times per year.


title: Lightning

text: In French and Italian, the expression for "Love at first sight" is "coup de foudre" and "colpo di fulmine", respectively, which literally translated means "lightning strike". Some European languages have a separate word for lightning which strikes the ground (as opposed to lightning in general); often it is a cognate of the English word "rays". The name of Australia's most celebrated thoroughbred horse, Phar Lap, derives from the shared Zhuang and Thai word for lightning.


title: Lightning

text: The bolt of lightning in heraldry is called a thunderbolt and is shown as a zigzag with non-pointed ends. This symbol usually represents power and speed.


title: Lightning

text: Some political parties use lightning flashes as a symbol of power, such as the People's Action Party in Singapore, the British Union of Fascists during the 1930s, and the National States' Rights Party in the United States during the 1950s. The Schutzstaffel, the paramilitary wing of the Nazi Party, used the Sig rune in their logo which symbolizes lightning. The German word Blitzkrieg, which means "lightning war", was a major offensive strategy of the German army during World War II.


title: Lightning

text: The lightning bolt is a common insignia for military communications units throughout the world. A lightning bolt is also the NATO symbol for a signal asset.


title: Lightning

text: The deadliest single direct lightning strike occurred when 21 people died as they huddled for safety in a hut that was hit (1975, Zimbabwe).


title: Lightning

text: The deadliest single indirect lightning strike was the 1994 Dronka lightning strike. 469 people died when lightning struck a set of oil tanks in 1994, causing burning oil to flood a town (1994, Dronka, Egypt).


title: Bram Stoker

text: Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel "Dracula". During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre, which Irving owned. In his early years, Stoker worked as a theatre critic for an Irish newspaper, and wrote stories as well as commentaries. He also enjoyed travelling, particularly to Cruden Bay where he set two of his novels. During another visit to the English coastal town of Whitby, Stoker drew inspiration for writing "Dracula". He died on 20 April 1912 due to locomotor ataxia and was cremated in north London. Since his death, his magnum opus "Dracula" has become one of the most well-known works in English literature, and the novel has been adapted for numerous films, short stories, and plays.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker was born on 8 November 1847 at 15 Marino Crescent, Clontarf, on the northside of Dublin, Ireland. The park adjacent to the house is now known as Bram Stoker Park. His parents were Abraham Stoker (1799–1876) from Dublin and Charlotte Mathilda Blake Thornley (1818–1901), who was raised in County Sligo. Stoker was the third of seven children, the eldest of whom was Sir Thornley Stoker, 1st Bt. Abraham and Charlotte were members of the Church of Ireland Parish of Clontarf and attended the parish church with their children, who were baptised there. Abraham was a senior civil servant.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker was bedridden with an unknown illness until he started school at the age of seven, when he made a complete recovery. Of this time, Stoker wrote, "I was naturally thoughtful, and the leisure of long illness gave opportunity for many thoughts which were fruitful according to their kind in later years." He was educated in a private school run by the Reverend (William Woods).


title: Bram Stoker

text: After his recovery, he grew up without further serious illnesses, even excelling as an athlete at Trinity College, Dublin, which he attended from 1864 to 1870. He graduated with a BA in 1870, and pursued his MA in 1875. Though he later in life recalled graduating "with honours in mathematics", this appears to have been a mistake. He was named University Athlete, participating in multiple sports, including playing rugby for Dublin University. He was auditor of the College Historical Society ("the Hist") and president of the University Philosophical Society (he remains the only student in Trinity's history to hold both positions), where his first paper was on "Sensationalism in Fiction and Society".


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker became interested in the theatre while a student through his friend Dr. Maunsell. While working for the Irish Civil Service, he became the theatre critic for the "Dublin Evening Mail", which was co-owned by Sheridan Le Fanu, an author of Gothic tales. Theatre critics were held in low esteem at the time, but Stoker attracted notice by the quality of his reviews. In December 1876, he gave a favourable review of Henry Irving's "Hamlet" at the Theatre Royal in Dublin. Irving invited Stoker for dinner at the Shelbourne Hotel where he was staying, and they became friends. Stoker also wrote stories, and "Crystal Cup" was published by the London Society in 1872, followed by "The Chain of Destiny" in four parts in "The Shamrock". In 1876, while a civil servant in Dublin, Stoker wrote the non-fiction book "The Duties of Clerks of Petty Sessions in Ireland" (published 1879), which remained a standard work. Furthermore, he possessed an interest in art and was a founder of the Dublin Sketching Club in 1879.


title: Bram Stoker

text: In 1878, Stoker married Florence Balcombe, daughter of Lieutenant-Colonel James Balcombe of 1 Marino Crescent. She was a celebrated beauty whose former suitor had been Oscar Wilde. Stoker had known Wilde from his student days, having proposed him for membership of the university's Philosophical Society while he was president. Wilde was upset at Florence's decision, but Stoker later resumed the acquaintanceship, and, after Wilde's fall, visited him on the Continent.


title: Bram Stoker

text: The Stokers moved to London, where Stoker became acting manager and then business manager of Irving's Lyceum Theatre, London, a post he held for 27 years. On 31 December 1879, Bram and Florence's only child was born, a son whom they christened Irving Noel Thornley Stoker. The collaboration with Henry Irving was important for Stoker and through him, he became involved in London's high society, where he met James Abbott McNeill Whistler and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (to whom he was distantly related). Working for Irving, the most famous actor of his time, and managing one of the most successful theatres in London made Stoker a notable if busy man. He was dedicated to Irving and his memoirs show he idolised him. In London, Stoker also met Hall Caine, who became one of his closest friends – he dedicated "Dracula" to him.


title: Bram Stoker

text: In the course of Irving's tours, Stoker travelled the world, although he never visited Eastern Europe, a setting for his most famous novel. Stoker enjoyed the United States, where Irving was popular. With Irving he was invited twice to the White House, and knew William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt. Stoker set two of his novels in America, and used Americans as characters, the most notable being Quincey Morris. He also met one of his literary idols, Walt Whitman, having written to him in 1872 an extraordinary letter that some have interpreted as the expression of a deeply-suppressed homosexuality.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker was a regular visitor to Cruden Bay in Scotland between 1892 and 1910. His month-long holidays to the Aberdeenshire coastal village provided a large portion of available time for writing his books. Two novels were set in Cruden Bay: "The Watter's Mou' "(1895) and "The Mystery of the Sea" (1902). He started writing "Dracula" there in 1895 while in residence at the Kilmarnock Arms Hotel. The guest book with his signatures from 1894 and 1895 still survives. The nearby Slains Castle (also known as New Slains Castle) is linked with Bram Stoker and plausibly provided the visual palette for the descriptions of Castle Dracula during the writing phase. A distinctive room in Slains Castle, the octagonal hall, matches the description of the octagonal room in Castle Dracula.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker visited the English coastal town of Whitby in 1890, and that visit was said to be part of the inspiration for "Dracula". He began writing novels while working as manager for Irving and secretary and director of London's Lyceum Theatre, beginning with "The Snake's Pass" in 1890 and "Dracula" in 1897. During this period, Stoker was part of the literary staff of "The Daily Telegraph" in London, and he wrote other fiction, including the horror novels "The Lady of the Shroud" (1909) and "The Lair of the White Worm" (1911). He published his "Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving" in 1906, after Irving's death, which proved successful, and managed productions at the Prince of Wales Theatre.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Before writing "Dracula", Stoker met Ármin Vámbéry, a Hungarian-Jewish writer and traveller (born in Szent-György, Kingdom of Hungary now Svätý Jur, Slovakia). Dracula likely emerged from Vámbéry's dark stories of the Carpathian mountains. However this claim has been challenged by many including Elizabeth Miller, a professor who, since 1990, has had as her major field of research and writing "Dracula", and its author, sources, and influences. She has stated, “The only comment about the subject matter of the talk was that Vambery 'spoke loudly against Russian aggression.'" There had been nothing in their conversations about the "tales of the terrible Dracula" that are supposed to have "inspired Stoker to equate his vampire-protagonist with the long-dead tyrant." At any rate, by this time, Stoker's novel was well underway, and he was already using the name Dracula for his vampire. Stoker then spent several years researching Central and East European folklore and mythological stories of vampires.


title: Bram Stoker

text: The 1972 book "In Search of Dracula" by Radu Florescu and Raymond McNally claimed that the Count in Stoker's novel was based on Vlad III Dracula. However, according to Elizabeth Miller, Stoker borrowed only the name and "scraps of miscellaneous information" about Romanian history; further, there are no comments about Vlad III in the author's working notes.


title: Bram Stoker

text: "Dracula" is an epistolary novel, written as a collection of realistic but completely fictional diary entries, telegrams, letters, ship's logs, and newspaper clippings, all of which added a level of detailed realism to the story, a skill which Stoker had developed as a newspaper writer. At the time of its publication, "Dracula" was considered a "straightforward horror novel" based on imaginary creations of supernatural life. "It gave form to a universal fantasy ... and became a part of popular culture."


title: Bram Stoker

text: According to the "Encyclopedia of World Biography", Stoker's stories are today included in the categories of horror fiction, romanticized Gothic stories, and melodrama. They are classified alongside other works of popular fiction, such as Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein", which also used the myth-making and story-telling method of having multiple narrators telling the same tale from different perspectives. According to historian Jules Zanger, this leads the reader to the assumption that "they can't all be lying".


title: Bram Stoker

text: The original 541-page typescript of "Dracula" was believed to have been lost until it was found in a barn in northwestern Pennsylvania in the early 1980s. It consisted of typed sheets with many emendations, and handwritten on the title page was "THE UN-DEAD." The author's name was shown at the bottom as Bram Stoker. Author Robert Latham remarked: "the most famous horror novel ever published, its title changed at the last minute." The typescript was purchased by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker's inspirations for the story, in addition to Whitby, may have included a visit to Slains Castle in Aberdeenshire, a visit to the crypts of St. Michan's Church in Dublin, and the novella "Carmilla" by Sheridan Le Fanu.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker's original research notes for the novel are kept by the Rosenbach Museum and Library in Philadelphia. A facsimile edition of the notes was created by Elizabeth Miller and Robert Eighteen-Bisang in 1998.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker was a member of The London Library and conducted much of the research for "Dracula" there"." In 2018, the Library discovered some of the books that Stoker used for his research, complete with notes and marginalia.


title: Bram Stoker

text: After suffering a number of strokes, Stoker died at No. 26 St George's Square, London on 20 April 1912. Some biographers attribute the cause of death to overwork, others to tertiary syphilis. His death certificate listed the cause of death as "Locomotor ataxia 6 months", presumed to be a reference to syphilis. He was cremated, and his ashes were placed in a display urn at Golders Green Crematorium in north London. The ashes of Irving Noel Stoker, the author's son, were added to his father's urn following his death in 1961. The original plan had been to keep his parents' ashes together, but after Florence Stoker's death, her ashes were scattered at the Gardens of Rest.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker was raised a Protestant in the Church of Ireland. He was a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and took a keen interest in Irish affairs. As a "philosophical home ruler", he supported Home Rule for Ireland brought about by peaceful means. He remained an ardent monarchist who believed that Ireland should remain within the British Empire, an entity that he saw as a force for good. He was an admirer of Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone, whom he knew personally, and supported his plans for Ireland.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Stoker believed in progress and took a keen interest in science and science-based medicine. Some of Stoker's novels represent early examples of science fiction, such as "The Lady of the Shroud" (1909). He had a writer's interest in the occult, notably mesmerism, but despised fraud and believed in the superiority of the scientific method over superstition. Stoker counted among his friends J. W. Brodie-Innis, a member of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and hired member Pamela Colman Smith as an artist for the Lyceum Theatre, but no evidence suggests that Stoker ever joined the Order himself. Although Irving was an active Freemason, no evidence has been found of Stoker taking part in Masonic activities in London. The Grand Lodge of Ireland also has no record of his membership.


title: Bram Stoker

text: The short story collection "Dracula's Guest and Other Weird Stories" was published in 1914 by Stoker's widow, Florence Stoker, who was also his literary executrix. The first film adaptation of "Dracula" was F. W. Murnau's "Nosferatu", released in 1922, with Max Schreck starring as Count Orlok. Florence Stoker eventually sued the filmmakers, and was represented by the attorneys of the British Incorporated Society of Authors. Her chief legal complaint was that she had neither been asked for permission for the adaptation nor paid any royalty. The case dragged on for some years, with Mrs. Stoker demanding the destruction of the negative and all prints of the film. The suit was finally resolved in the widow's favour in July 1925. A single print of the film survived, however, and it has become well known. The first authorised film version of "Dracula" did not come about until almost a decade later when Universal Studios released Tod Browning's "Dracula" starring Bela Lugosi.


title: Bram Stoker

text: Canadian writer Dacre Stoker, a great-grandnephew of Bram Stoker, decided to write "a sequel that bore the Stoker name" to "reestablish creative control over" the original novel, with encouragement from screenwriter Ian Holt, because of the Stokers' frustrating history with "Dracula's" copyright. In 2009, "Dracula: The Un-Dead" was released, written by Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt. Both writers "based [their work] on Bram Stoker's own handwritten notes for characters and plot threads excised from the original edition" along with their own research for the sequel. This also marked Dacre Stoker's writing debut.


title: Bram Stoker

text: In spring 2012, Dacre Stoker (in collaboration with Elizabeth Miller) presented the "lost" Dublin Journal written by Bram Stoker, which had been kept by his great-grandson Noel Dobbs. Stoker's diary entries shed a light on the issues that concerned him before his London years. A remark about a boy who caught flies in a bottle might be a clue for the later development of the Renfield character in "Dracula".


title: Bram Stoker

text: On 8 November 2012, Stoker was honoured with a Google Doodle on Google's homepage commemorating the 165th anniversary of his birth.


title: Bram Stoker

text: An annual festival takes place in Dublin, the birthplace of Bram Stoker, in honour of his literary achievements. The 2014 Bram Stoker Festival encompassed literary, film, family, street, and outdoor events, and ran from October 24 to 27 in Dublin. The festival is supported by the Bram Stoker Estate and funded by Dublin City Council and Fáilte Ireland.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers of independent Wales.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The first native Welsh prince was Gruffudd ap Cynan of Gwynedd, in 1137, although his son Owain Gwynedd (Owain ap Gruffudd) is often cited as having established the title. Llywelyn the Great is typically regarded as the strongest leader, holding power over the vast majority of Wales for 45 years. One of the last independent princes was Llywelyn ap Gruffydd (Llywelyn the Last), who was killed at the Battle of Orewin Bridge in 1282. His brother, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, was executed the following year. After these two deaths, Edward I of England invested his son Edward of Caernarfon as the first English prince of Wales in 1301. The title was later claimed by the heir of Gwynedd, Owain Glyndŵr (Owain ap Gruffydd), from 1400 until 1415 (date of his assumed death) who led Welsh forces against the English. Since then, it has only been held by the heir apparent of the English and subsequently British monarch.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The incumbent, William, received the title on 9 September 2022, the day after his father's accession to the throne as Charles III.


title: Prince of Wales

text: While many different Welsh rulers claimed the title of 'King of Wales' and some ruled a majority of the country, the modern-day territory was only fully united between 1055 and 1063, under the direct rule of Gruffydd ap Llywelyn, who was referred to as 'King of Wales' or "Rex Walensium" by John of Worcester.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The native use of the title 'Prince of Wales' appeared more frequently by the eleventh century as a modernised form of the old 'King of the Britons', a title used to describe the leader of the Celtic Britons, ancestors of the Welsh. The princes of the medieval period hailed largely from west Wales, mainly Gwynedd. They had significant power which allowed them to claim authority beyond the borders of their kingdoms.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Following the uniting of Wales under the rule of the Llywelyn princes, Edward I of England led 15,000 men to capture Wales. Resistance was led by Llywelyn ap Gruffydd who was killed by English soldiers in an ambush trick at the Battle of Orewin Bridge. Llywelyn's brother, Dafydd ap Gruffydd, took over leadership of Welsh fighters, but was captured and executed in 1283.


title: Prince of Wales

text: After the deaths of Llywelyn and Dafydd, King Edward introduced the royal ordinance of the Statute of Rhuddlan in 1284. The statute was a constitutional change causing Wales to lose its de facto independence and formed the Principality of Wales within the Realm of England. Almost two decades later, Edward appointed his son and heir, Edward of Caernarfon, as prince of Wales.


title: Prince of Wales

text: With the assassination of Owain Lawgoch in 1378, the senior line of the House of Aberffraw (descended from Llywelyn the Great in patrilineal succession) became extinct. As a result, the claim of the title 'Prince of Wales' fell to the other royal dynasties of Wales, namely Deheubarth and Powys. The leading heir in this respect was Owain Glyndŵr who was descended from both dynasties.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Glyndŵr was announced as prince of Wales in Glyndyfrdwy on 16 September 1400, and with his armies, he proceeded to attack English towns in north-east Wales. Henry IV led several attempted invasions but with limited success, while Owain solidified his control of the nation.


title: Prince of Wales

text: However, in 1407, the much larger and better equipped English forces began to overwhelm the Welsh and by 1409 they had reconquered most of the region. Glyndŵr fought on until he was cornered and under siege at Harlech Castle. He managed to escape and retreated to the Welsh wilderness with a band of loyal supporters, where he refused to surrender and continued the war with guerilla tactics. The last documented sighting of Owain Glyndŵr was in 1412 and his death was recorded by a former follower in the year 1415.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Three native princes of Wales used the House of Gwynedd arms. The House of Gwynedd is divided between the earlier House of Cunedda, which lasted from c. 420–825, and the later House of Aberffraw, beginning in 844.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Owain Glyndŵr adapted the House of Gwynedd arms by making the lions rampant, making clear his descent from the princes of Gwynedd and Llywelyn the Last, and his defence of Wales. It is also suggested that this design was influenced by the arms of Powys Fadog and the coat of Deheubarth. Glyndŵr's father was a hereditary prince of Powys Fadog and his mother was noblewoman of Deheubarth.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The Glyndŵr arms were also used as a banner, carried into battle against the English. This banner is a symbol of Welsh defiance, resilience and protest, and is associated with Welsh nationhood.


title: Prince of Wales

text: According to conventional wisdom, since 1301 the prince of Wales has usually been the eldest living son (only if he is also the heir apparent) of the King or Queen Regnant of England (subsequently of Great Britain, 1707, and of the United Kingdom, 1801).


title: Prince of Wales

text: The title is neither automatic or heritable; it merges with the Crown when its holder eventually accedes to the throne, or reverts to the Crown if its holder predeceases the current monarch, leaving the sovereign free to grant it to the new heir apparent (such as the late prince's son or brother).


title: Prince of Wales

text: William Camden's "Britannia" describes the beginning of the English prince of Wales as heir apparent after Llywelyn ap Gruffydd was "slain":


title: Prince of Wales

text: In 2011, along with the other Commonwealth realms, the United Kingdom committed to the Perth Agreement, which proposed changes to the laws governing succession, including altering the male-preference primogeniture to absolute primogeniture. The Succession to the Crown Act 2013 was introduced to the British parliament on 12 December 2012, published the next day, and received royal assent on 25 April 2013. It was brought into force on 26 March 2015, at the same time as the other realms implemented the Perth Agreement in their own laws.


title: Prince of Wales

text: After the conquest, 'Prince of Wales' has been a substantive title traditionally (but not necessarily) granted by the English or British monarch to the son or grandson who is the heir apparent to the throne.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Since 1301, the title 'Earl of Chester' has generally been granted to each heir apparent to the English throne, and from the late 14th century it has been given only in conjunction with that of 'Prince of Wales'. Both titles are bestowed to each individual by the sovereign and are not automatically acquired.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The prince of Wales usually has other titles and honours, if the eldest son of the monarch; typically this means being duke of Cornwall, which, unlike being prince of Wales, inherently includes lands and constitutional and operational responsibilities. The duchy of Cornwall was created in 1337 by Edward III for his son and heir, Edward of Woodstock (also known as 'The Black Prince'). A charter was also created which ruled that the eldest son of the king would be the duke of Cornwall.


title: Prince of Wales

text: No formal public role or responsibility has been legislated by Parliament or otherwise delegated to the prince of Wales by law or custom. In that role, Charles often assisted Elizabeth II in the performance of her duties. He represented her when welcoming dignitaries to London and during state visits. He also represented the Queen and the United Kingdom overseas at state and ceremonial occasions such as funerals. The prince of Wales has also been granted the authority to issue royal warrants.


title: Prince of Wales

text: As heir apparent to the sovereign, the prince of Wales bears the royal arms differenced by a white label of three points. To represent Wales he bears the coat of arms of the Principality of Wales, crowned with the heir apparent's crown, on an inescutcheon-en-surtout. This was first used by the future Edward VIII in 1910, and followed by the most recent prince of Wales, now King Charles III.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The heraldic badge of the three feathers is the badge of the duke of Cornwall, or heir apparent to the British throne. The ostrich feathers heraldic motif is generally traced back to Edward of Woodstock ('The Black Prince'). He bore (as an alternative to his differenced royal arms) a shield of "Sable, three ostrich feathers argent", described as his "shield for peace", probably meaning the shield he used for jousting. These arms appear several times on his chest tomb in Canterbury Cathedral, alternating with his paternal royal arms (the royal arms of King Edward III differenced by "a label of three points argent"). The Black Prince also used heraldic badges of one or more ostrich feathers in various other contexts.


title: Prince of Wales

text: While Prince Charles's 1969 investiture was "largely welcomed" in Wales, and it was watched by 19 million in the UK and another 500 million around the world, protests described as an anti-investiture movement, also took place in the days leading up to the ceremony. Multiple Welsh organisations and individuals were against the event, including Dafydd Iwan, Edward Millward, Cofia 1282 ('Remember 1282'), and the Welsh Language Society. On the day of the investiture, a few protesters were arrested.


title: Prince of Wales

text: Since then, further prominent organisations and figures in Wales have called for an end to the title including Plaid Cymru (which has since changed its stance), Republic, Michael Sheen, and Dafydd Elis-Thomas. Following Charles III's accession to the throne in September 2022, a petition was launched calling for the abolition of the title "Prince of Wales", which had received over 35,000 signatures. Mark Drakeford, Adam Price, Jane Dodds, and YesCymru have all acknowledged a potential for a debate or have suggested potential for Welsh decision. On the 6th October, Gwynedd Council, the local authority where Charles was invested, voted to declare opposition to the title of 'Prince of Wales' and against holding another investiture in Wales.


title: Prince of Wales

text: A BBC Wales poll in 1999 found that 73% of Welsh speakers wanted the position of Prince of Wales to continue.


title: Prince of Wales

text: A BBC poll in 2009, marking the 40th anniversary of the investiture, indicated that 38% of the Welsh population was in favour of a similar public ceremony for Prince William after Prince Charles became king.


title: Prince of Wales

text: An ITV poll in 2018 found 57% of Welsh people in support of the title passing on when the then prince became king, with 27% opposed. Support for a similar investiture was lower, with 31% supporting, 27% opposed and 18% wanting a different kind of investiture.


title: Prince of Wales

text: The current sovereign Charles III was the longest serving prince of Wales for 64 years and 44 days between 1958 and 2022. He was also heir apparent for longer than any other in British history. Upon the death of his mother on 8 September 2022, Charles became king and the title merged with the Crown. The following day, King Charles III bestowed the title upon his elder son, Prince William, Duke of Cornwall and Cambridge.


title: Inside Man

text: Inside Man is a 2006 American heist thriller film directed by Spike Lee and written by Russell Gewirtz. It centers on an elaborate bank heist on Wall Street over a 24-hour period. The film stars Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier, the NYPD's hostage negotiator, Clive Owen as Dalton Russell, the mastermind who orchestrates the heist, and Jodie Foster as Madeleine White, a Manhattan power broker who becomes involved at the request of the bank's founder Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer) to keep something in his safe deposit box protected from the robbers.


title: Inside Man

text: Gewirtz spent five years developing the premise before working on what became his first original screenplay. After he completed the script in 2002, Imagine Entertainment purchased it to be made by Universal Pictures, with the former company's co-founder Ron Howard attached to direct. After Howard stepped down, his Imagine partner Brian Grazer began looking for a new director for the project and ultimately hired Lee. Principal photography began in June 2005 and concluded in August; filming took place on location in New York City. "Inside Man" premiered in New York on March 20, 2006, before being released in the United States on March 24, 2006. It received positive reviews from critics and earned $184.4 million worldwide against its $45 million production budget.


title: Inside Man

text: A man identifying himself as Dalton Russell sits in a small, dark space he identifies as a cell. He proclaims he has committed the perfect bank robbery. In New York, masked robbers, dressed in painter coveralls and using variants of the name "Steve" as aliases, seize control of a Manhattan bank, taking patrons and employees hostage.


title: Inside Man

text: They divide the hostages into groups and hold them in different rooms, forcing them to don coveralls identical to their own, rotating them among various rooms and occasionally inserting themselves covertly into the groups. They also take turns working on an unspecified project involving demolishing the floor in one of the bank's storage rooms.


title: Inside Man

text: Police surround the bank, and Detectives Keith Frazier and Bill Mitchell take charge of negotiations. Russell, the head robber, demands food be provided. The police send pizzas whose boxes have hidden listening devices. The bugs pick up someone speaking Albanian, which is later identified as propaganda recordings of deceased Albanian leader Enver Hoxha, implying that the robbers anticipated the attempted surveillance.


title: Inside Man

text: When Arthur Case, chairman of the board of directors and the bank founder, learns about the holdup, he hires "fixer" Madeleine White to try and protect the contents of his safe deposit box within the bank. Russell allows her to enter the bank and inspect the box's contents, which include documents from Nazi Germany.


title: Inside Man

text: Russell implies that Case started his bank with Nazi money he received for unspecified services, resulting in many Jews dying during World War II. White tells him that Case will pay him a substantial sum if he destroys the box's contents.


title: Inside Man

text: Frazier demands to inspect the hostages before allowing the robbers to leave and Russell shows him around the bank. As he is being shown out, Frazier attacks Russell, but is restrained by another robber. Afterwards, he explains he deliberately provoked him, concluding that he is not a killer. However, this is seemingly disproven when a hostage execution is staged.


title: Inside Man

text: The execution prompts an Emergency Services Unit team into action. They plan to storm the bank, using rubber bullets to knock out those inside. Frazier discovers that the robbers have planted a listening device on the police; aware of the police plans, the robbers detonate smoke grenades, remove their disguises, and exit the bank with the hostages.


title: Inside Man

text: The police detain and question everyone but cannot distinguish the identically dressed hostages from the robbers. A search of the bank reveals the robbers' weapons were plastic replicas. They find props showing that the hostage execution was faked, and no money or valuables appear to have been stolen. Unable to identify the suspects and unable to show a crime has even been committed, Frazier's superior orders him to drop the case.


title: Inside Man

text: Frazier, however, searches bank records and finds that safe deposit box 392 has never appeared on any records since the bank's founding in 1948. He obtains a search warrant to open it. White then confronts him, informs him of Case's Nazi dealings, and attempts to persuade him to drop his investigation, but he refuses, playing a recording he had surreptitiously made of an incriminating conversation that took place earlier between the two. White confronts Case, who admits the box contained loose diamonds and a diamond ring he took from a Jewish friend whom he betrayed to the Nazis.


title: Inside Man

text: Russell repeats his opening monologue while hiding behind a fake wall the robbers had constructed inside the bank's supply room. He emerges a week after the robbery with the contents of Case's safe deposit box, including incriminating documents and several bags of diamonds. On his way out, he bumps into Frazier, who does not recognize him. He exits the bank and enters a waiting van filled with his conspirators, some of whom the police had questioned.


title: Inside Man

text: When Frazier opens the safe deposit box, he finds the ring and a note from Russell reading, "follow the ring." He confronts Case, urging White to contact the Office of War Crimes Issues at the State Department about Case's war crimes. At home, Frazier finds a loose diamond and realizes that Russell slipped it into his pocket during their "collision" while exiting the bank.


title: Inside Man

text: Appearing as some of the more notable hostages are Ken Leung as Wing, who was distracted in the bank before the heist by the bosomy woman (played by Samantha Ivers) standing behind him and talking loudly on her phone; Gerry Vichi as Herman Gluck, an elderly hostage suffering chest pains who is quickly released by the robbers; Waris Ahluwalia as Vikram Walia, a Sikh bank clerk whose turban is removed by the cops, which is a religious sacrilege for a Sikh male; Peter Frechette as Peter Hammond, a bank employee whose attempt to hide his cell phone from Russell results in his getting beaten up; Amir Ali Said as Brian Robinson, an 8-year-old boy who speaks with both Russell and Frazier and who plays a killing video game; Ed Onipede Blunt as Ray Robinson, Brian's father; and Marcia Jean Kurtz as Miriam Douglas, an older woman who initially refuses to strip and is forced to do so by Stevie; Kurtz reprises her role as Miriam from "Dog Day Afternoon" (1975), in which she was depicted as a hostage. Lionel Pina, who also appeared in "Dog Day Afternoon" as a policeman posing as pizza delivery man, reprises his role in "Inside Man", delivering pizzas at the bank's front doors.