title: Stomach

text: The inner part of the lining of the stomach, the gastric mucosa, consists of an outer layer of column-shaped cells, a lamina propria, and a thin layer of smooth muscle called the muscularis mucosa. Beneath the mucosa lies the submucosa, consisting of fibrous connective tissue. Meissner's plexus is in this layer interior to the oblique muscle layer.


title: Stomach

text: Outside of the submucosa lies another muscular layer, the muscularis externa. It consists of three layers of muscular fibres, with fibres lying at angles to each other. These are the inner oblique, middle circular, and outer longitudinal layers. The presence of the inner oblique layer is distinct from other parts of the gastrointestinal tract, which do not possess this layer. Stomach contains the thickest muscularis layer consisting of three layers, thus maximum peristalsis occurs here.


title: Stomach

text: The "outer longitudinal layer" is responsible for moving the bolus towards the pylorus of the stomach through muscular shortening.


title: Stomach

text: To the outside of the muscularis externa lies a serosa, consisting of layers of connective tissue continuous with the peritoneum.


title: Stomach

text: The mucosa lining the stomach is lined with a number of these pits, which receive gastric juice, secreted by between 2 and 7 gastric glands. Gastric juice is an acidic fluid containing hydrochloric acid and the digestive enzyme pepsin. The glands contains a number of cells, with the function of the glands changing depending on their position within the stomach.


title: Stomach

text: Within the body and fundus of the stomach lie the "fundic glands". In general, these glands are lined by column-shaped cells that secrete a protective layer of mucus and bicarbonate. Additional cells present include parietal cells that secrete hydrochloric acid and intrinsic factor, chief cells that secrete pepsinogen (this is a precursor to pepsin- the highly acidic environment converts the pepsinogen to pepsin), and neuroendocrine cells that secrete serotonin.


title: Stomach

text: Glands differ where the stomach meets the esophagus and near the pylorus. Near the junction between the stomach and the oesophagus lie "cardiac glands", which primarily secrete mucus. They are fewer in number than the other gastric glands and are more shallowly positioned in the mucosa. There are two kinds - either simple tubular with short ducts or compound racemose resembling the duodenal Brunner's glands. Near the pylorus lie "pyloric glands" located in the antrum of the pylorus. They secrete mucus, as well as gastrin produced by their G cells.


title: Stomach

text: About 20,000 protein coding genes are expressed in human cells and nearly 70% of these genes are expressed in the normal stomach. Just over 150 of these genes are more specifically expressed in the stomach compared to other organs, with only some 20 genes being highly specific. The corresponding specific proteins expressed in stomach are mainly involved in creating a suitable environment for handling the digestion of food for uptake of nutrients. Highly stomach-specific proteins include GKN1, expressed in the mucosa; pepsinogen PGC and the lipase LIPF, expressed in chief cells; and gastric ATPase ATP4A and gastric intrinsic factor GIF, expressed in parietal cells.


title: Stomach

text: In early human embryogenesis, the ventral part of the embryo abuts the yolk sac. During the third week of development, as the embryo grows, it begins to surround parts of the sac. The enveloped portions form the basis for the adult gastrointestinal tract. The sac is surrounded by a network of vitelline arteries and veins. Over time, these arteries consolidate into the three main arteries that supply the developing gastrointestinal tract: the celiac artery, superior mesenteric artery, and inferior mesenteric artery. The areas supplied by these arteries are used to define the foregut, midgut, and hindgut. The surrounded sac becomes the primitive gut. Sections of this gut begin to differentiate into the organs of the gastrointestinal tract, and the esophagus, and stomach form from the foregut.


title: Stomach

text: In the human digestive system, a bolus (a small rounded mass of chewed up food) enters the stomach through the esophagus via the lower esophageal sphincter. The stomach releases proteases (protein-digesting enzymes such as pepsin) and hydrochloric acid, which kills or inhibits bacteria and provides the acidic pH of 2 for the proteases to work. Food is churned by the stomach through muscular contractions of the wall called peristalsis – reducing the volume of the bolus, before looping around the fundus and the body of stomach as the boluses are converted into chyme (partially digested food). Chyme slowly passes through the pyloric sphincter and into the duodenum of the small intestine, where the extraction of nutrients begins.


title: Stomach

text: Gastric juice in the stomach also contains pepsinogen. Hydrochloric acid activates this inactive form of enzyme into the active form, pepsin. Pepsin breaks down proteins into polypeptides.


title: Stomach

text: Although the absorption in the human digestive system is mainly a function of the small intestine, some absorption of certain small molecules nevertheless does occur in the stomach through its lining. This includes:


title: Stomach

text: The parietal cells of the human stomach are responsible for producing intrinsic factor, which is necessary for the absorption of vitamin B12. B12 is used in cellular metabolism and is necessary for the production of red blood cells, and the functioning of the nervous system.


title: Stomach

text: Chyme from the stomach is slowly released into the duodenum through coordinated peristalsis and opening of the pyloric sphincter. The movement and the flow of chemicals into the stomach are controlled by both the autonomic nervous system and by the various digestive hormones of the digestive system:


title: Stomach

text: Other than gastrin, these hormones all act to turn off the stomach action. This is in response to food products in the liver and gall bladder, which have not yet been absorbed. The stomach needs to push food into the small intestine only when the intestine is not busy. While the intestine is full and still digesting food, the stomach acts as storage for food.


title: Stomach

text: Epidermal growth factor (EGF) results in cellular proliferation, differentiation, and survival. EGF is a low-molecular-weight polypeptide first purified from the mouse submandibular gland, but since then found in many human tissues including the submandibular gland, and the parotid gland. Salivary EGF, which also seems to be regulated by dietary inorganic iodine, also plays an important physiological role in the maintenance of oro-oesophageal and gastric tissue integrity. The biological effects of salivary EGF include healing of oral and gastroesophageal ulcers, inhibition of gastric acid secretion, stimulation of DNA synthesis, and mucosal protection from intraluminal injurious factors such as gastric acid, bile acids, pepsin, and trypsin and from physical, chemical, and bacterial agents.


title: Stomach

text: The human stomach can "taste" sodium glutamate using glutamate receptors and this information is passed to the lateral hypothalamus and limbic system in the brain as a palatability signal through the vagus nerve. The stomach can also sense, independently of tongue and oral taste receptors, glucose, carbohydrates, proteins, and fats. This allows the brain to link nutritional value of foods to their tastes.


title: Stomach

text: This syndrome defines the association between thyroid disease and chronic gastritis, which was first described in the 1960s. This term was coined also to indicate the presence of thyroid autoantibodies or autoimmune thyroid disease in patients with pernicious anemia, a late clinical stage of atrophic gastritis. In 1993, a more complete investigation on the stomach and thyroid was published, reporting that the thyroid is, embryogenetically and phylogenetically, derived from a primitive stomach, and that the thyroid cells, such as primitive gastroenteric cells, migrated and specialized in uptake of iodide and in storage and elaboration of iodine compounds during vertebrate evolution. In fact, the stomach and thyroid share iodine-concentrating ability and many morphological and functional similarities, such as cell polarity and apical microvilli, similar organ-specific antigens and associated autoimmune diseases, secretion of glycoproteins (thyroglobulin and mucin) and peptide hormones, the digesting and readsorbing ability, and lastly, similar ability to form iodotyrosines by peroxidase activity, where iodide acts as an electron donor in the presence of HO. In the following years, many researchers published reviews about this syndrome.


title: Stomach

text: A series of radiographs can be used to examine the stomach for various disorders. This will often include the use of a barium swallow. Another method of examination of the stomach, is the use of an endoscope. A gastric emptying scan is considered the gold standard to assess gastric emptying rate.


title: Stomach

text: A large number of studies have indicated that most cases of peptic ulcers, and gastritis, in humans are caused by "Helicobacter pylori" infection, and an association has been seen with the development of stomach cancer.


title: Stomach

text: In humans, many bariatric surgery procedures involve the stomach, in order to lose weight. A gastric band may be placed around the cardia area, which can adjust to limit intake. The anatomy of the stomach may be modified, or the stomach may be bypassed entirely.


title: Stomach

text: Surgical removal of the stomach is called a gastrectomy, and removal of the cardia area is a called a cardiectomy. "Cardiectomy" is a term that is also used to describe the removal of the heart. A gastrectomy may be carried out because of gastric cancer or severe perforation of the stomach wall.


title: Stomach

text: Fundoplication is stomach surgery in which the fundus is wrapped around the lower esophagus and stitched into place. It is used to treat gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD).


title: Stomach

text: There were previously conflicting statements in the academic anatomy community over whether the cardia is part of the stomach, part of the oesophagus or a distinct entity. Modern surgical and medical textbooks have agreed that "the gastric cardia is now clearly considered to be part of the stomach."


title: Stomach

text: The word "stomach" is derived from the Latin "" which has roots from the Greek word "stomachos" (), ultimately from "stoma" (), "mouth". "Gastro-" and "gastric" (meaning "related to the stomach") are both derived from the Greek word "gaster" (, meaning "belly").


title: Stomach

text: Although the precise shape and size of the stomach varies widely among different vertebrates, the relative positions of the oesophageal and duodenal openings remain relatively constant. As a result, the organ always curves somewhat to the left before curving back to meet the pyloric sphincter. However, lampreys, hagfishes, chimaeras, lungfishes, and some teleost fish have no stomach at all, with the oesophagus opening directly into the intestine. These animals all consume diets that require little storage of food, no predigestion with gastric juices, or both.


title: Stomach

text: The gastric lining is usually divided into two regions, an anterior portion lined by fundic glands and a posterior portion lined with pyloric glands. Cardiac glands are unique to mammals, and even then are absent in a number of species. The distributions of these glands vary between species, and do not always correspond with the same regions as in humans. Furthermore, in many non-human mammals, a portion of the stomach anterior to the cardiac glands is lined with epithelium essentially identical to that of the oesophagus. Ruminants, in particular, have a complex stomach, the first three chambers of which are all lined with oesophageal mucosa.


title: Stomach

text: In birds and crocodilians, the stomach is divided into two regions. Anteriorly is a narrow tubular region, the proventriculus, lined by fundic glands, and connecting the true stomach to the crop. Beyond lies the powerful muscular gizzard, lined by pyloric glands, and, in some species, containing stones that the animal swallows to help grind up food.


title: Myth

text: Myth is a folklore genre consisting of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society, such as foundational tales or origin myths. Since "myth" is widely used to imply that a story is not objectively true, the identification of a narrative as a myth can be highly controversial. Many adherents of religions view their own religions' stories as truth and so object to their characterization as myth, the way they see the stories of other religions. As such, some scholars label all religious narratives "myths" for practical reasons, such as to avoid depreciating any one tradition because cultures interpret each other differently relative to one another. Other scholars avoid using the term "myth" altogether and instead use different terms like "sacred history", "holy story", or simply "history" to avoid placing pejorative overtones on any sacred narrative.


title: Myth

text: Myths are often endorsed by secular and religious authorities and are closely linked to religion or spirituality. Many societies group their myths, legends, and history together, considering myths and legends to be true accounts of their remote past. In particular, creation myths take place in a primordial age when the world had not achieved its later form. Other myths explain how a society's customs, institutions, and taboos were established and sanctified. There is a complex relationship between recital of myths and the enactment of rituals.


title: Myth

text: The main characters in myths are usually non-humans, such as gods, demigods, and other supernatural figures. Others include humans, animals, or combinations in their classification of myth. Stories of everyday humans, although often of leaders of some type, are usually contained in legends, as opposed to myths. Myths are sometimes distinguished from legends in that myths deal with gods, usually have no historical basis, and are set in a world of the remote past, very different from that of the present.


title: Myth

text: Definitions of "myth" vary to some extent among scholars, though Finnish folklorist Lauri Honko offers a widely-cited definition:


title: Myth

text: Another definition of myth comes from myth criticism theorist and professor José Manuel Losada. According to Cultural Myth Criticism, the studies of myth must explain and understand “myth from inside”, that is, only “as a myth”. Losada defines myth as “a functional, symbolic and thematic narrative of one or several extraordinary events with a transcendent, sacred and supernatural referent; that lacks, in principle, historical testimony; and that refers to an individual or collective, but always absolute, cosmogony or eschatology”.


title: Myth

text: Scholars in other fields use the term "myth" in varied ways. In a broad sense, the word can refer to any traditional story, popular misconception or imaginary entity.


title: Myth

text: Though myth and other folklore genres may overlap, myth is often thought to differ from genres such as legend and folktale in that neither are considered to be sacred narratives. Some kinds of folktales, such as fairy stories, are not considered true by anyone, and may be seen as distinct from myths for this reason. Main characters in myths are usually gods, demigods or supernatural humans, while legends generally feature humans as their main characters. Many exceptions and combinations exist, as in the "Iliad", "Odyssey" and "Aeneid". Moreover, as stories spread between cultures or as faiths change, myths can come to be considered folktales, their divine characters recast as either as humans or demihumans such as giants, elves and faeries. Conversely, historical and literary material may acquire mythological qualities over time. For example, the Matter of Britain (the legendary history of Great Britain, especially those focused on King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table) and the Matter of France, seem distantly to originate in historical events of the 5th and 8th-centuries respectively, and became mythologised over the following centuries.


title: Myth

text: In colloquial use, "myth" can also be used of a collectively held belief that has no basis in fact, or any false story. This usage, which is often pejorative, arose from labelling the religious myths and beliefs of other cultures as incorrect, but it has spread to cover non-religious beliefs as well.


title: Myth

text: As commonly used by folklorists and academics in other relevant fields, such as anthropology, "myth" has no implication whether the narrative may be understood as true or otherwise. Among biblical scholars of both the Old and New Testament, the word "myth" has a technical meaning, in that it usually refers to "describe the actions of the other‐worldly in terms of this world" such as the Creation and the Fall.


title: Myth

text: In present use, "mythology" usually refers to the collection of myths of a group of people. For example, Greek mythology, Roman mythology, Celtic mythology and Hittite mythology all describe the body of myths retold among those cultures.


title: Myth

text: The compilation or description of myths is sometimes known as "mythography", a term also used for a scholarly anthology of myths or of the study of myths generally.


title: Myth

text: Other prominent mythographies include the thirteenth-century "Prose Edda" attributed to the Icelander Snorri Sturluson, which is the main surviving survey of Norse Mythology from the Middle Ages.


title: Myth

text: Jeffrey G. Snodgrass (professor of anthropology at the Colorado State University) has termed India's "Bhats" as mythographers.


title: Myth

text: Myth criticism is a system of anthropological interpretation of culture created by French philosopher Gilbert Durand. Scholars have used myth criticism to explain the mythical roots of contemporary fiction, which means that modern myth criticism needs to be interdisciplinary.


title: Myth

text: José Manuel Losada offers his own methodologic, hermeneutic and epistemological approach to myth. While assuming mythopoetical perspectives, Losada’s Cultural Myth Criticism takes a step further, incorporating the study of the transcendent dimension (its function, its disappearance) to evaluate the role of myth as a mirror of contemporary culture.


title: Myth

text: Cultural myth criticism, without abandoning the analysis of the symbolic, invades all cultural manifestations and delves into the difficulties in understanding myth today. This cultural myth criticism studies mythical manifestations in fields as wide as literature, film and television, theater, sculpture, painting, video games, music, dancing, the Internet and other artistic fields.


title: Myth

text: Because "myth" is sometimes used in a pejorative sense, some scholars have opted for "mythos" instead. "Mythos" now more commonly refers to its Aristotelian sense as a "plot point" or to a body of interconnected myths or stories, especially those belonging to a particular religious or cultural tradition. It is sometimes used specifically for modern, fictional mythologies, such as the world building of H. P. Lovecraft.


title: Myth

text: "Mythopoeia" ( + , 'I make myth') was termed by J. R. R. Tolkien, amongst others, to refer to the "conscious generation" of mythology. It was notoriously also suggested, separately, by Nazi ideologist Alfred Rosenberg.


title: Myth

text: The word "myth" comes from Ancient Greek "μῦθος" ("mȳthos"), meaning 'speech, narrative, fiction, myth, plot'. In Anglicised form, this Greek word began to be used in English (and was likewise adapted into other European languages) in the early 19th century, in a much narrower sense, as a scholarly term for "[a] traditional story, especially one concerning the early history of a people or explaining a natural or social phenomenon, and typically involving supernatural beings or events."


title: Myth

text: In turn, Ancient Greek ("mythología", 'story', 'lore', 'legends', or 'the telling of stories') combines the word "mȳthos" with the suffix -"λογία" ("-logia", 'study') in order to mean 'romance, fiction, story-telling.' Accordingly, Plato used "mythología" as a general term for 'fiction' or 'story-telling' of any kind.


title: Myth

text: The Greek term "mythología" was then borrowed into Late Latin, occurring in the title of Latin author Fulgentius' 5th-century "Mythologiæ" to denote what we now call "classical mythology"—i.e., Greco-Roman etiological stories involving their gods. Fulgentius' "Mythologiæ" explicitly treated its subject matter as allegories requiring interpretation and not as true events.


title: Myth

text: The Latin term was then adopted in Middle French as "mythologie". Whether from French or Latin usage, English adopted the word "mythology" in the 15th century, initially meaning 'the exposition of a myth or myths,' 'the interpretation of fables,' or 'a book of such expositions'. The word is first attested in John Lydgate's "Troy Book" (c. 1425).


title: Myth

text: From Lydgate until the 17th or 18th century, "mythology" meant a moral, fable, allegory or a parable, or collection of traditional stories, understood to be false. It came eventually to be applied to similar bodies of traditional stories among other polytheistic cultures around the world.


title: Myth

text: Thus "mythology" entered the English language before "myth". Johnson's "Dictionary", for example, has an entry for mythology, but not for myth. Indeed, the Greek loanword "mythos" (pl. "mythoi") and Latinate "mythus" (pl. "mythi") both appeared in English before the first example of "myth" in 1830.


title: Myth

text: Comparative mythology is a systematic comparison of myths from different cultures. It seeks to discover underlying themes that are common to the myths of multiple cultures. In some cases, comparative mythologists use the similarities between separate mythologies to argue that those mythologies have a common source. This source may inspire myths or provide a common "protomythology" that diverged into the mythologies of each culture.


title: Myth

text: A number of commentators have argued that myths function to form and shape society and social behaviour. Eliade argued that one of the foremost functions of myth is to establish models for behavior and that myths may provide a religious experience. By telling or reenacting myths, members of traditional societies detach themselves from the present, returning to the mythical age, thereby coming closer to the divine.


title: Myth

text: Honko asserted that, in some cases, a society reenacts a myth in an attempt to reproduce the conditions of the mythical age. For example, it might reenact the healing performed by a god at the beginning of time in order to heal someone in the present. Similarly, Barthes argued that modern culture explores religious experience. Since it is not the job of science to define human morality, a religious experience is an attempt to connect with a perceived moral past, which is in contrast with the technological present.


title: Myth

text: Pattanaik defines mythology as "the subjective truth of people communicated through stories, symbols and rituals." He says, "Facts are everybody's truth. Fiction is nobody's truth. Myths are somebody's truth."


title: Myth

text: One theory claims that myths are distorted accounts of historical events. According to this theory, storytellers repeatedly elaborate upon historical accounts until the figures in those accounts gain the status of gods. For example, the myth of the wind-god Aeolus may have evolved from a historical account of a king who taught his people to use sails and interpret the winds. Herodotus (fifth-century BCE) and Prodicus made claims of this kind. This theory is named "euhemerism" after mythologist Euhemerus (c. 320 BCE), who suggested that Greek gods developed from legends about humans.


title: Myth

text: Some theories propose that myths began as allegories for natural phenomena: Apollo represents the sun, Poseidon represents water, and so on. According to another theory, myths began as allegories for philosophical or spiritual concepts: Athena represents wise judgment, Aphrodite romantic desire, and so on. Müller supported an allegorical theory of myth. He believed myths began as allegorical descriptions of nature and gradually came to be interpreted literally. For example, a poetic description of the sea as "raging" was eventually taken literally and the sea was then thought of as a raging god.


title: Myth

text: Some thinkers claimed that myths result from the personification of objects and forces. According to these thinkers, the ancients worshiped natural phenomena, such as fire and air, gradually deifying them. For example, according to this theory, ancients tended to view things as gods, not as mere objects. Thus, they described natural events as acts of personal gods, giving rise to myths.


title: Myth

text: According to the myth-ritual theory, myth is tied to ritual. In its most extreme form, this theory claims myths arose to explain rituals. This claim was first put forward by Smith, who argued that people begin performing rituals for reasons not related to myth. Forgetting the original reason for a ritual, they account for it by inventing a myth and claiming the ritual commemorates the events described in that myth. James George Frazer — author of "The Golden Bough", a book on the comparative study of mythology and religion — argued that humans started out with a belief in magical rituals; later, they began to lose faith in magic and invented myths about gods, reinterpreting their rituals as religious rituals intended to appease the gods.


title: Myth

text: Historically, important approaches to the study of mythology have included those of Vico, Schelling, Schiller, Jung, Freud, Lévy-Bruhl, Lévi-Strauss, Frye, the Soviet school, and the Myth and Ritual School.


title: Myth

text: The critical interpretation of myth began with the Presocratics. Euhemerus was one of the most important pre-modern mythologists. He interpreted myths as accounts of actual historical events, though distorted over many retellings.


title: Myth

text: Plato condemned poetic myth when discussing education in the "Republic". His critique was primarily on the grounds that the uneducated might take the stories of gods and heroes literally. Nevertheless, he constantly referred to myths throughout his writings. As Platonism developed in the phases commonly called Middle Platonism and neoplatonism, writers such as Plutarch, Porphyry, Proclus, Olympiodorus, and Damascius wrote explicitly about the symbolic interpretation of traditional and Orphic myths.


title: Myth

text: Mythological themes were consciously employed in literature, beginning with Homer. The resulting work may expressly refer to a mythological background without itself becoming part of a body of myths (Cupid and Psyche). Medieval romance in particular plays with this process of turning myth into literature. "Euhemerism", as stated earlier, refers to the rationalization of myths, putting themes formerly imbued with mythological qualities into pragmatic contexts. An example of this would be following a cultural or religious paradigm shift (notably the re-interpretation of pagan mythology following Christianization).


title: Myth

text: Interest in polytheistic mythology revived during the Renaissance, with early works of mythography appearing in the sixteenth century, among them the "Theologia Mythologica" (1532).


title: Myth

text: The first modern, Western scholarly theories of myth appeared during the second half of the 19th century—at the same time as "myth" was adopted as a scholarly term in European languages. They were driven partly by a new interest in Europe's ancient past and vernacular culture, associated with Romantic Nationalism and epitomised by the research of Jacob Grimm (1785–1863). This movement drew European scholars' attention not only to Classical myths, but also material now associated with Norse mythology, Finnish mythology, and so forth. Western theories were also partly driven by Europeans' efforts to comprehend and control the cultures, stories and religions they were encountering through colonialism. These encounters included both extremely old texts such as the Sanskrit "Rigveda" and the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh", and current oral narratives such as mythologies of the indigenous peoples of the Americas or stories told in traditional African religions.


title: Myth

text: The intellectual context for nineteenth-century scholars was profoundly shaped by emerging ideas about evolution. These ideas included the recognition that many Eurasian languages—and therefore, conceivably, stories—were all descended from a lost common ancestor (the Indo-European language) which could rationally be reconstructed through the comparison of its descendant languages. They also included the idea that cultures might evolve in ways comparable to species. In general, 19th-century theories framed myth as a failed or obsolete mode of thought, often by interpreting myth as the primitive counterpart of modern science within a unilineal framework that imagined that human cultures are travelling, at different speeds, along a linear path of cultural development.


title: Myth

text: One of the dominant mythological theories of the latter 19th century was "nature mythology", the foremost exponents of which included Max Müller and Edward Burnett Tylor. This theory posited that "primitive man" was primarily concerned with the natural world. It tended to interpret myths that seemed distasteful to European Victorians—such as tales about sex, incest, or cannibalism—as metaphors for natural phenomena like agricultural fertility. Unable to conceive impersonal natural laws, early humans tried to explain natural phenomena by attributing souls to inanimate objects, thus giving rise to animism.


title: Myth

text: According to Tylor, human thought evolved through stages, starting with mythological ideas and gradually progressing to scientific ideas. Müller also saw myth as originating from language, even calling myth a "disease of language." He speculated that myths arose due to the lack of abstract nouns and neuter gender in ancient languages. Anthropomorphic figures of speech, necessary in such languages, were eventually taken literally, leading to the idea that natural phenomena were in actuality conscious or divine. Not all scholars, not even all 19th-century scholars, accepted this view. Lucien Lévy-Bruhl claimed that "the primitive mentality is a condition of the human mind and not a stage in its historical development." Recent scholarship, noting the fundamental lack of evidence for "nature mythology" interpretations among people who actually circulated myths, has likewise abandoned the key ideas of "nature mythology."


title: Myth

text: Frazer saw myths as a misinterpretation of magical rituals, which were themselves based on a mistaken idea of natural law. This idea was central to the "myth and ritual" school of thought. According to Frazer, humans begin with an unfounded belief in impersonal magical laws. When they realize applications of these laws do not work, they give up their belief in natural law in favor of a belief in personal gods controlling nature, thus giving rise to religious myths. Meanwhile, humans continue practicing formerly magical rituals through force of habit, reinterpreting them as reenactments of mythical events. Finally, humans come to realize nature follows natural laws, and they discover their true nature through science. Here again, science makes myth obsolete as humans progress "from magic through religion to science." Segal asserted that by pitting mythical thought against modern scientific thought, such theories imply modern humans must abandon myth.


title: Myth

text: The earlier 20th century saw major work developing psychoanalytical approaches to interpreting myth, led by Sigmund Freud, who, drawing inspiration from Classical myth, began developing the concept of the Oedipus complex in his 1899 "The Interpretation of Dreams". Jung likewise tried to understand the psychology behind world myths. Jung asserted that all humans share certain innate unconscious psychological forces, which he called "archetypes". He believed similarities between the myths of different cultures reveals the existence of these universal archetypes.


title: Myth

text: The mid-20th century saw the influential development of a structuralist theory of mythology, led by Lévi-Strauss. Strauss argued that myths reflect patterns in the mind and interpreted those patterns more as fixed mental structures, specifically pairs of opposites (good/evil, compassionate/callous), rather than unconscious feelings or urges. Meanwhile, Bronislaw Malinowski developed analyses of myths focusing on their social functions in the real world. He is associated with the idea that myths such as origin stories might provide a "mythic charter"—a legitimisation—for cultural norms and social institutions. Thus, following the Structuralist Era (c. 1960s–1980s), the predominant anthropological and sociological approaches to myth increasingly treated myth as a form of narrative that can be studied, interpreted, and analyzed like ideology, history, and culture. In other words, myth is a form of understanding and telling stories that are connected to power, political structures, and political and economic interests.


title: Myth

text: These approaches contrast with approaches, such as those of Joseph Campbell and Eliade, which hold that myth has some type of essential connection to ultimate sacred meanings that transcend cultural specifics. In particular, myth was studied in relation to history from diverse social sciences. Most of these studies share the assumption that history and myth are not distinct in the sense that history is factual, real, accurate, and truth, while myth is the opposite.


title: Myth

text: In the 1950s, Barthes published a series of essays examining modern myths and the process of their creation in his book "Mythologies", which stood as an early work in the emerging post-structuralist approach to mythology, which recognised myths' existence in the modern world and in popular culture.


title: Myth

text: The 20th century saw rapid secularisation in Western culture. This made Western scholars more willing to analyse narratives in the Abrahamic religions as myths; theologians such as Rudolf Bultmann argued that a modern Christianity needed to demythologize; and other religious scholars embraced the idea that the mythical status of Abrahamic narratives was a legitimate feature of their importance. This, in his appendix to "Myths, Dreams and Mysteries", and in "The Myth of the Eternal Return", Eliade attributed modern humans’ anxieties to their rejection of myths and the sense of the sacred.


title: Myth

text: Both in 19th-century research, which tended to see existing records of stories and folklore as imperfect fragments of partially lost myths, and in 20th-century structuralist work, which sought to identify underlying patterns and structures in often diverse versions of a given myth, there had been a tendency to synthesise sources to attempt to reconstruct what scholars supposed to be more perfect or underlying forms of myths. From the late 20th century, researchers influenced by postmodernism tended instead to argue that each account of a given myth has its own cultural significance and meaning, and argued that rather than representing degradation from a once more perfect form, myths are inherently plastic and variable. There is, consequently, no such thing as the 'original version' or 'original form' of a myth. One prominent example of this movement was A. K. Ramanujan's essay "".


title: Myth

text: Correspondingly, scholars challenged the precedence that had once been given to texts as a medium for mythology, arguing that other media, such as the visual arts or even landscape and place-naming, could be as or more important.


title: Myth

text: Scholars in the field of cultural studies research how myth has worked itself into modern discourses. Mythological discourse can reach greater audiences than ever before via digital media. Various , as well as television, cinema and video games.


title: Myth

text: Although myth was traditionally transmitted through the oral tradition on a small scale, the film industry has enabled filmmakers to transmit myths to large audiences via film. In Jungian psychology myths are the expression of a culture or society’s goals, fears, ambitions and dreams.


title: Myth

text: The basis of modern visual storytelling is rooted in the mythological tradition. Many contemporary films rely on ancient myths to construct narratives. The Walt Disney Company is well-known among cultural study scholars for "reinventing" traditional childhood myths. While many films are not as obvious as Disney fairy tales, the plots of many films are based on the rough structure of myths. Mythological archetypes, such as the cautionary tale regarding the abuse of technology, battles between gods and creation stories, are often the subject of major film productions. These films are often created under the guise of cyberpunk action films, fantasy, dramas and apocalyptic tales.


title: Myth

text: 21st-century films such as "Clash of the Titans", "Immortals" and "Thor" continue the trend of using traditional mythology to frame modern plots. Authors use mythology as a basis for their books, such as Rick Riordan, whose Percy Jackson and the Olympians series is situated in a modern-day world where the Greek deities are manifest.


title: Claymore

text: A claymore (; from , "great sword") is either the Scottish variant of the late medieval two-handed sword or the Scottish variant of the basket-hilted sword. The former is characterised as having a cross hilt of forward-sloping quillons with quatrefoil terminations and was in use from the 15th to 17th centuries. The weapon was also employed by the Irish and favoured by the mercenary Gallowglass in battle.


title: Claymore

text: The word "claymore" was first used in reference to basket-hilted swords during the 18th century in Scotland and parts of England. This description was maybe not used during the 17th century, when basket-hilted swords were the primary military swords across Europe, but these basket-hilted, broad-bladed, swords remained in service with officers of Scottish regiments into the 21st century. After the Acts of Union in 1707 when Scottish and English regiments were integrated together, the swords were seen as a mark of distinction by Scottish officers over the more slender sabres used by their English contemporaries: a symbol of physical strength and prowess, and a link to the historic Highland way of life.


title: Claymore

text: The term "claymore" is an anglicisation of the Gaelic "claidheamh mór" "big/great sword", attested in 1772 (as "Cly-more") with the gloss "great two-handed sword". The sense "basket-hilted sword" is contemporaneous, attested in 1773 as "the broad-sword now used ... called the Claymore, (i.e., the great sword)", although OED observes that this usage is "inexact, but very common". The 1911 "Encyclopædia Britannica" likewise judged that the term is "wrongly" applied to the basket-hilted sword.


title: Claymore

text: Countering this view, Paul Wagner and Christopher Thompson argue that the term "claymore" was applied first to the basket-hilted broadsword, and then to all Scottish swords. They provide quotations that are earlier than those given above in support of its use to refer to a basket-hilted broadsword and targe: "a strong handsome target, with a sharp pointed steel, of above half an ell in length, screw'd into the navel of it, on his left arm, a sturdy claymore by his side" (1715 pamphlet). They also note its use as a battle-cry as early as 1678. Some authors suggest that "claybeg" should be used instead, from a purported Gaelic "claidheamh beag" "small sword". This does not parallel Scottish Gaelic usage. According to the "Gaelic Dictionary" by R. A. Armstrong (1825), "claidheamh mòr" "big/great sword" translates to "broadsword", and "claidheamh dà làimh" to "two-handed sword", while "claidheamh beag" "small sword" is given as a translation of "Bilbo".


title: Claymore

text: The two-handed claymore was a large sword used in the late Medieval and early modern periods. It was used in the constant clan warfare and border fights with the English from circa 1400 to 1700. Although claymores existed as far back as the Wars of Scottish Independence they were smaller, and few had the typical quatrefoil design (as can be seen on the Great Seal of John Balliol King of Scots). The last known battle in which it is considered to have been used in a significant number was the Battle of Killiecrankie in 1689. It was somewhat longer than other two-handed swords of the era. The English did use swords similar to the Claymore during the renaissance called a greatsword. The two-handed claymore seems to be an offshoot of early Scottish medieval longswords (similar to the espee de guerre or grete war sword) which had developed a distinctive style of a cross-hilt with forward-angled arms that ended in spatulate swellings. The lobed pommels on earlier swords were inspired by the Viking style. The spatulate swellings were later frequently made in a quatrefoil design.


title: Claymore

text: The average claymore ran about 140 cm (55 in) in overall length, with a 33 cm (13 in) grip, 107 cm (42 in) blade, and a weight of approximately 5.5 lb (2.5 kg). For instance, in 1772 Thomas Pennant described a sword seen on his visit to Raasay as: "an unwieldy weapon, two inches broad, doubly edged; the length of the blade three feet seven inches; of the handle, fourteen inches; of a plain transverse guard, one foot; the weight six pounds and a half."


title: Claymore

text: Fairly uniform in style, the sword was set with a wheel pommel often capped by a crescent-shaped nut and a guard with straight, forward-sloping arms ending in quatrefoils, and langets running down the centre of the blade from the guard. Another common style of two-handed claymore (though lesser known today) was the "clamshell hilted" claymore. It had a crossguard that consisted of two downward-curving arms and two large, round, concave plates that protected the foregrip. It was so named because the round guards resembled an open clam.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Garth Ennis (born January 16, 1970) is a Northern Irish-American comics writer, best known for the Vertigo series "Preacher" with artist Steve Dillon, his nine-year run on Marvel Comics' Punisher franchise, and "The Boys" with artist Darick Robertson. He has collaborated with artists such as Dillon and Glenn Fabry on "Preacher", John McCrea on "Hitman", Marc Silvestri on "The Darkness", and Carlos Ezquerra on both "Preacher" and "Hitman". His work has won him recognition in the comics industry, including nominations for the Comics Buyer's Guide Award for Favorite Writer in 1997, 1998, 1999, and 2000.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Raised with no religion, Ennis's first exposure to the idea of God was as a six-year-old in primary school. Ennis's teacher told the class that God was a being who could see inside their hearts, was always around them, and would ultimately reward or punish them. Ennis described the idea as bewildering, strange and terrifying. He later used this experience in his comic book series, "Preacher", whose protagonist is slapped after telling his grandmother that he finds the concept of God "scary." Although the fictional violence in that story was not reflected in Ennis's real-life upbringing, his classmates later reassured each other that they all loved God, though Ennis said, "I think I hate him." Ennis later asked his mother about God, and when she asked him what he thought about the idea, Ennis responded, "It sounds kind of stupid," a statement the adult Ennis clarified was meant to mask his fear. His mother's response was, "Well, there you are, then."


title: Garth Ennis

text: In 1987, Ennis befriended artist John McCrea while shopping at the first comic book specialty shop in Belfast, which had been opened by McCrea and another friend. Ennis would later ask McCrea to illustrate his first professional comics project. It was here that Ennis first met comics writer Alan Moore, who advised him to focus on creator-owned work rather than letting comic companies take ownership of his intellectual property.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis began his comic-writing career on his nineteenth birthday in 1989, with the series "Troubled Souls" in the British anthology "Crisis". Illustrated by Ennis's friend John McCrea, as living in Northern Ireland meant he did not require reference material for the Belfast-based series, it tells the story of a young, Protestant man caught up by fate in the violence of the Irish Troubles. It spawned a sequel, "For a Few Troubles More", a broad comedy featuring two supporting characters from "Troubled Souls", Dougie and Ivor. In 1997, American publisher Caliber released "Dicks", serving as another Dougie and Ivor adventure. Several follow-ups featuring these characters were subsequently published by Avatar Press.


title: Garth Ennis

text: In explaining why he chose to write "Troubled Souls" as his debut comics work, Ennis explained, "It was the kind of thing that was doing well at the time. I ought to be completely clear and say that, with hindsight, what Troubled Souls really represented was naked ambition. It was a direct attempt to get published. And that was the road that seemed most likely to lead me to success."


title: Garth Ennis

text: Another series for "Crisis" was "True Faith", a religious satire inspired by his school days, drawn by Warren Pleece. A collected edition was issued in 1990 but a series of complaints from churches and religious groups led to it being quickly withdrawn from sale. It was republished in 1997 by the U.S. DC Comics imprint Vertigo. The plot follows an atheist teenager attending Christian school. After publicly insulting his classmates' religion to get back at a girl he was interested in who did not return his romantic feelings, the boy attracts the attention of a maltheist and is coerced into helping him murder clergy and bomb churches. Following the death of maltheist, the book ends with the atheistic hero willingly carrying out a shooting at his Christian school. In the introduction to the Vertigo edition, Ennis described this as wish-fulfillment. Shortly after, Ennis began to write for the UK comics series "2000 AD", and later wrote stories for the title's flagship character, Judge Dredd, taking over from creator John Wagner for several years. Ennis's "Dredd" stories include "Muzak Killer", a pastiche of mainstream pop music; "Emerald Isle", a tongue-in-cheek story set in Ennis's native Ireland; and the 20-part "Judgment Day". Ennis also contributed the story "Time Flies", with artist Philip Bond, dealing with time-travel paradoxes and Nazis.


title: Garth Ennis

text: In 2001, following much work in the United States, Ennis briefly returned to UK comics to write the Judge Dredd story "Helter Skelter". Ennis said afterward there was "not a hope" to his returning to writing Dredd as he was generally not happy with his run. "I'm too close to Dredd. I like him too much. I can't tamper with the formula; nor can I take the piss the way I do with superheroes".


title: Garth Ennis

text: In 1991, Ennis took over the horror series "Hellblazer", from DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. He wrote the series through 1994, with Steve Dillon becoming the regular artist during the second half of Ennis's run; Ennis and Dillon would later become regular collaborators on other comics, including the one-shot "Heartland", exploring one of "Hellblazer"s secondary characters. Years afterward, Ennis briefly returned to "Hellblazer" for the five-part "Son of Man" story with artist John Higgins.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis and Dillon went on to create the 66-issue Vertigo series "Preacher". Running from 1995 to 2000, "Preacher" has been cited as Ennis's landmark work. Its plot concerns a preacher with supernatural powers who literally searches for the Christian God, who had abandoned His creation. Mixing influences from Western and horror films with twisted humor and religious satire, it drew plaudits for Ennis from all sections of the media; the "Guardian" newspaper voted one of the "Preacher" collections its "book of the week", and film director Kevin Smith described it as "more fun than going to the movies." The AMC television series "Preacher", adapted from the comic, premiered in 2016. From 1993 to 1995, Ennis worked with artist John McCrea on another DC title, "The Demon", during which the duo introduced superpowered contract killer Tommy Monaghan, a character Ennis and McCrea would go on to do in the character's own title, "Hitman". With the exception of a reverent depiction of Superman, Ennis's writing on "Hitman" was known for portraying superheroes as ridiculous, a characteristic common in Ennis material involving such characters. "Hitman" ran 60 issues from 1996 to 2001. Ennis also penned several "Hitman" specials and spinoffs. Following the main title's cancellation, Ennis and McCrea returned to the world of "Hitman" for a "Justice League" crossover, and later a comedic miniseries following the supporting characters from "Hitman", entitled "Section Eight".


title: Garth Ennis

text: Other DC comics projects Ennis wrote include "Bloody Mary" for the Helix imprint; a run on "The Authority" for the Wildstorm imprint; and the first arc of the "Authority" spin-off series "Midnighter", as well as a story for the series "Unknown Soldier" and the original creations "Goddess" and "Pride & Joy", all for the Vertigo imprint.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis's first work for Marvel was "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe" in 1995. Ennis noted that he quit writing for Marvel afterwards, as the dialogue in this comic had been altered without his consultation. Following the end of "Hitman", Ennis was once again offered the chance to write "The Punisher" at Marvel. The initial 12-issue miniseries was illustrated by Steve Dillon, who also illustrated much of Ennis's subsequent 37-issue run of the Marvel Knights "Punisher" series. No longer finding violence comedic in light of the September 11th terrorist attacks, Ennis relaunched "The Punisher" under Marvel's MAX imprint, allowing for darker stories. His 60-issue run was released concurrently with several Ennis-penned "Punisher" miniseries such as "Born" and "Barracuda", and the one-shots "The End", "The Cell", and "The Tyger". The creators of "" have attributed Ennis's "The Punisher MAX" run as one of the major influences on the film, and Ennis and Dillon reunited for a "Punisher: War Zone" miniseries to tie-in with the film.


title: Garth Ennis

text: In 2008, Ennis ended his five-year run on the MAX imprint's Punisher series to write the Marvel miniseries "War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle". Illustrated by Howard Chaykin, it featured the little-used character Phantom Eagle, a World War I pilot. Other series Ennis wrote for Marvel include "Where Monsters Dwell", "Spider-Man", "Ghost Rider", "Hulk", "Thor", and a series of Goran Parlov-illustrated Nick Fury stories under the MAX imprint. These stories stripped superspy Fury of his science-fiction trappings in favor of military and CIA situations, including a focus on the First Indochina War in one storyline.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis has written a 2008 "Dan Dare" miniseries published by Virgin Comics, and origin stories for "The Darkness" for Image Comics and "Shadowman" for Valiant Comics. Original comics Ennis has created include the 5-issue mini-series "Seven Brothers" for Virgin Comics, on which Ennis collaborated with film director John Woo, a vulgar superhero satire entitled "The Pro" for Image Comics, the post-apocalyptic "Just a Pilgrim" for Black Bull Press, and "War Stories" for DC and later Avatar Press.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Avatar has published the bulk of Ennis's creator-owned material, which includes the post-9/11 war story "303", a western entitled "Streets of Glory", the extreme horror comic "Crossed", "Back to Brooklyn", a crime limited series co-written with Jimmy Palmiotti for Image Comics, "Caliban", a science fiction horror series inspired by the movie "Prometheus", and "Chronicles of Wormwood", which dealt with the friendship between an African-American Jesus Christ and a benign Antichrist. In 2011, Avatar commissioned Ennis to write and direct an original short film, "Stitched", produced to drum up support for a possible feature. Ennis was also the initial writer for the "Stitched" comic book tie-in, also published by Avatar.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis has also done both creator-owned and commissioned work for Dynamite Entertainment, most notably "The Boys". Mainly illustrated by co-creator Darick Robertson, who Ennis previously worked with on the Marvel series "" and "", "The Boys" ran for 72 issues before concluding in 2012. This creator-owned extended series was a superhero satire, bringing the genre to places far darker than Ennis had before, by not only portraying superheroes as ridiculous, but also amoral, malevolent, and deviant. Announced in 2006 and originally published by DC's Wildstorm imprint, "The Boys" was initially cancelled after six issues. Ennis later explained that this was because DC Comics were uneasy with the anti-superhero tone of the work. The series was subsequently picked up by Dynamite. The series was successful and spawned spinoffs, including a mini-series focused on the anti-hero Billy Butcher. In 2019, "The Boys" was adapted into a TV series by Amazon.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Other original projects for Dynamite include the Howard Chaykin-illustrated crime comic "Red Team" and a metaseries of war comics called "Battlefields," made up of mini-series including "Night Witches", "Dear Billy", and "Tankies". In terms of commissioned material, Ennis wrote the pulp character "The Shadow" for Dynamite. In a surprise move, Ennis attempted to crowdfund a children's book through the Kickstarter platform. Unable to secure a children's book publisher due to its violent ending, "Erf" as the book became known, was ultimately published by Dynamite.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis wrote "Sara" in October 2018 for TKO Studios, a war story following a team of female Russian snipers as they beat back the Nazi invaders during a brutal winter campaign on the WWII Eastern Front.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis wrote "Stringbags" in 2020 for the U. S. Naval Institute. The graphic novel relates the adventures of Allied airmen who crewed a Swordfish airplane during World War II.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis has explained that as an avid reader of British war comics during his formative years, he did not read superhero comics until his late teens, at which point he found them ridiculous, although he frequently cites mid-eighties superhero material among his influences. For instance, Ennis noted that the first American comic book he read in its entirety and appreciated was "The Dark Knight Returns" by Frank Miller, an author who would prove influential on Ennis's subsequent work, with Ennis citing Miller's portrayal of Nick Fury in "" as his model for writing the character. Ennis said he was "blown away" by Miller, as "The Dark Knight Returns" was the first time he encountered a comic writer who approached his work like a novelist. While Ennis was already interested in a creative profession, Frank Miller's material and other mid-eighties mature readers comics like "Swamp Thing" and "Love and Rockets" inspired him to look into specifically writing comics as a career.


title: Garth Ennis

text: Despite being influenced by superhero material and having written a number of superhero stories both for and outside Marvel and DC, Ennis is noted for subverting the genre and mocking the characters in this work. For example, in the 1995 one-shot special "Punisher Kills the Marvel Universe", Ennis has the Punisher kill every single superhero and supervillain on Earth. As a World War II aficionado, Ennis also said he finds characters like Captain America "borderline offensive, because to me the reality of World War II was very human people, ordinary flesh-and-blood guys who slogged it out in miserable, flooded foxholes. So adding some fantasy superhero narrative, that has always annoyed me a little bit." Nonetheless, Ennis has admitted to having appreciation for the idea behind Wonder Woman if not the character, and even to outright liking Superman, the latter of whom he was noted for writing respectfully in "Hitman". Ennis has since explained that his issue with superhero comics is not over the genre in and of itself, but more over its dominance in the comic book industry and the constraints imposed on superhero stories by publishers. "I find most superhero stories completely meaningless," Ennis said. "Which is not to say I don’t think there’s potential for the genre – Alan Moore and Warren Ellis have both done interesting work with the notion of what it might be like to be and think beyond human, see "Miracleman", "Watchmen" and "Supergod". But so long as the industry is geared towards fulfilling audience demand – ie, for the same brightly coloured characters doing the same thing forever – you’re never going to see any real growth. The stories can’t end, so they’ll never mean anything."


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis has remarked that in terms of Marvel and DC characters, he prefers the ones he describes as more grounded, such as the Punisher, John Constantine, and Nick Fury. In particular, Ennis describes the Punisher as resembling the British comics characters he loved as a child more than Marvel and DC superheroes, which provided him with a way to the character. Though his "Constantine" stories, such as "Dangerous Habits" (1991), are widely acclaimed, Ennis grew to dislike the character. He told "Vulture" in 2014 that he had come to find Constantine morally repulsive and had "no desire to write a character who essentially gets his pals killed and then explains that they were doomed anyway, so why not just spend their lives and use them up."


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis is an atheist, and said he feels disdain toward religion. Ennis blamed growing up in Northern Ireland during the Troubles for influencing this attitude. While he was not directly involved in the conflict as a child, Ennis would hear about it each morning on the radio. Ennis has related that having been raised secular, religiously motivated violence made no sense as to him, characterizing such conflict as a disagreement among participants over "how to worship their imaginary friend. That more than anything gave me my distrust of religion."


title: Garth Ennis

text: Ennis has maintained an interest in military history since childhood, inspired by the war comics from his youth.


title: Pauly D

text: Paul Michael DelVecchio Jr. (born July 5, 1980), known as Pauly D and DJ Pauly D, is an American television personality and DJ. He is best known for being a cast member of MTV's reality show "Jersey Shore".


title: Pauly D

text: In 2011, he made a three-album deal with 50 Cent's G-Unit Records and G-Note Records. He is the first of the "Jersey Shore" cast to get his own spin-off show, "The Pauly D Project".


title: Pauly D

text: DelVecchio was born on July 5, 1980, in Providence, Rhode Island. He is the son of Donna DiCarlo and Paul D. DelVecchio Sr. He has said that he is of "100% Italian" descent. He has one sister, Vanessa. He began his career as a local DJ under the moniker Pauly D. One of his professional idols was DJ AM.


title: Pauly D

text: DelVecchio was cast in 2009 for "Jersey Shore". He has stated that his being chosen for "Jersey Shore" had nothing to do with his music, but that they instead sent him a Myspace message after liking his look. After he sent them his number, "The casting directors called me from LA and they said they wanted to send down a camera crew to Rhode Island to film a day in my life. They filmed me at the gym, filmed me tanning and filmed me going to the club. Six months later they said I got on the show. I never really auditioned."


title: Pauly D

text: His appearance in the show resulted in popularity with what "TIME" dubbed "seriously rabid fans." He won the 2011 Teen Choice Award for Choice Reality Star: Male. He was a contestant in June 2012 on the Fox show called "The Choice".


title: Pauly D

text: DelVecchio is the first housemate from "Jersey Shore" to receive his own spin-off. The show focused on his DJ career as he goes on a tour around America. Filming commenced in 2012. According to "TIME," "We're guessing Pauly D got the spot [instead of Nicole Polizzi or Michael Sorrentino] because he genuinely seems fun and easy to get along with. He's not known for diva antics like The Situation and doesn't appear a drunken mess at times, like Nicole and Michael do." The show, originally called "DelVecchio" was later renamed "The Pauly D Project". It premiered on MTV on March 29, 2012.


title: Pauly D

text: In 2010, DelVecchio released a single, "Beat Dat Beat (It's Time To)". He was also nominated for the "America's Best DJ" competition in 2010 and 2011.


title: Pauly D

text: After numerous rumors, on August 11, 2011, DelVecchio confirmed to "XXL" that he had signed a three-album deal with 50 Cent's labels G-Unit Records & G-Note Records and that he will also be releasing headphones under the label.


title: Pauly D

text: In 2011, DelVecchio announced that he would open for Britney Spears on her Femme Fatale Tour in North America in selected cities.


title: Pauly D

text: In July 2012, DelVecchio tweeted that Big Sean was with him in the studio working on his new album, which will be released in 2013.


title: Pauly D

text: In August 2012, Wrestling Inc. reported that DelVecchio would be the social media ambassador for SummerSlam.


title: Pauly D

text: DelVecchio released his first single of debut album, called "Back to Love", on January 15, 2012, featuring British singer Jay Sean.


title: Pauly D

text: In 2016, DelVecchio joined the cast of "Famously Single" on the E! network. The show follows eight single celebrities who move in together to examine their romantic problems.


title: Pauly D

text: In 2018, he joined the cast "Marriage Bootcamp: Reality Stars 11" with Aubrey O'Day. The couple first met while filming "Famously Single".


title: Pauly D

text: In 2019, DelVecchio was part of the cast of "Game of Clones", a dating show where he was looking for a Megan Fox lookalike.


title: Pauly D

text: In April 2019, DelVecchio appeared on the MTV reality dating series "Double Shot at Love", along with "Jersey Shore" castmate Vinny Guadagnino.


title: Pauly D

text: In 2022, DelVecchio served as the official narrator for the reality party-competition series "All Star Shore" on Paramount+.


title: Pauly D

text: In October 2013, DelVecchio announced that he was the father of a daughter, Amabella Sophia, born in New Jersey. DelVecchio is in a relationship with Nikki Hall since 2020.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Cristóbal Balenciaga Eizaguirre (; 21 January 1895 – 23 March 1972) was a Spanish fashion designer, and the founder of the Balenciaga clothing brand. He had a reputation as a couturier of uncompromising standards and was referred to as "the master of us all" by Christian Dior and as "the only couturier in the truest sense of the word" by Coco Chanel, who continued, "The others are simply fashion designers". On the day of his death, in 1972, "Women's Wear Daily" ran the headline "The King is Dead".


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Since 2011 the purpose-built Museo Balenciaga has exhibited examples of his work in his birth town Getaria. Many of the 1,200 pieces in the collection were supplied by his pupil Hubert de Givenchy and clients such as Grace Kelly.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga was born in Getaria, province of Gipuzkoa, Spanish Basque Country on 21 January 1895. His father was a fisherman who died when Cristobal was a boy, and his mother a seamstress. As a child Balenciaga often spent time with his mother as she worked. At the age of twelve, he began work as the apprentice of a tailor. When he was a teenager, the Marchioness de Casa Torres, the foremost noblewoman in his town, became his customer and patron. She sent him to Madrid, where he was formally trained in tailoring. Balenciaga is notable as one of the few couturiers in fashion history who could not only use his own hands to create, but pattern, cut, and sew the designs which symbolized the height of his artistry.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga was successful during his early career as a designer in Spain. He opened a boutique in San Sebastián in 1919, which expanded to include branches in Madrid and Barcelona. The Spanish royal family and the aristocracy wore his designs, but when the Spanish Civil War forced him to close his stores, Balenciaga moved to Paris. He opened his Paris couture house on Avenue George V in August 1937.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: However, it was not until the post-war years that the full scale of the inventiveness of his highly original designs became evident. In 1951, he totally transformed the silhouette, broadening the shoulders and removing the waist. In 1955, he designed the tunic dress, which later developed into the chemise dress of 1957. In 1959, his work culminated in the Empire line, with high-waisted dresses and coats cut like kimono.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: In 1960 he made the wedding dress for Fabiola de Mora y Aragón when she married King Baudouin I of Belgium. The Queen later donated her wedding dress to the Cristóbal Balenciaga Foundation. He created many designs for socialite Aline Griffith, diplomat Margarita Salaverría Galárraga, and designer Meye Allende de Maier, considering them his muses. He taught fashion design classes, inspiring other designers including Oscar de la Renta, André Courrèges, Emanuel Ungaro, Mila Schön and Hubert de Givenchy. His often spare, sculptural creations were considered masterworks of "haute couture" in the 1950s and 1960s.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga closed his house in 1968 at the age of 74 after working in Paris for 30 years. He decided to retire and closed his fashion houses in Paris, Barcelona and Madrid, one after the other. Balenciaga died on 23 March 1972 in Xàbia, Spain.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Today the Balenciaga fashion house continues under the direction of Demna Gvasalia and under the ownership of the Kering group.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: During the 1950s, designers like Christian Dior, Pierre Balmain, and Coco Chanel emerged, creating pieces very representative to their fashion houses and to their own styles. An important protagonist for this period was Cristobal Balenciaga. This Spanish fashion designer was known as "The King of Fashion" and was one of the great masterminds of the period. Balenciaga was born and raised in Spain, where he worked for the Spanish royalty, but because of the Spanish Civil War he moved to Paris where he became the King of Fashion.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: The most eye-catching designer of this period was Balenciaga because of his structural designs, which had never before been seen in the fashion world. He was a master of tailoring, and he was able to translate his illustrations from paper to real life. His advanced tailoring skills gave him an advantage over designers all over the world, making him a major target for customers. "He reshaped women's silhouette in the 1950s, so that clothes we think as typical of that decade are mostly dilutions of his work." (Irvine, 2013) Compared to some work like the New Look from Christian Dior, which featured full skirts and a tiny waist, Balenciaga changed these to look like the one-seam Yoki coat, or to voluminous looks. These looks caused customers to travel from all over the world for his outfits.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga was gay, although he kept his sexuality private throughout his life. The love of his life and his long time partner was Franco-Polish millionaire Władzio Jaworowski d’Attainville, who had helped set him up and fund him. When d'Attainville died in 1948, Balenciaga was so broken he considered closing the business. His next collection after d'Attainville's death was designed entirely in black to mourn his loss.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: On 24 March 2011, San Francisco's M. H. de Young Museum celebrated the opening of "Balenciaga and Spain", a 120-piece fashion retrospective of his career. "You can't even measure it", said Rodarte designer Laura Mulleavy, of Balenciaga's influence. The $2,500-a-ticket fund-raiser for the museum drew 350 guests, including Marissa Mayer, Jamie Tisch, Gwyneth Paltrow, Orlando Bloom, Balthazar Getty, Maggie Rizer, Connie Nielsen, Maria Bello and Mia Wasikowska.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: On 7 June 2011, the Balenciaga Museum was inaugurated in his hometown of Getaria by Queen Sofía and with the presence of Hubert de Givenchy, who is honorific president of the Balenciaga Foundation. The museum has a collection of more than 1,200 pieces designed by Balenciaga, some of them donations by disciples, like Givenchy, or clients, like Queen Fabiola of Belgium and the heirs of Grace Kelly.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: His most famous clients were Mona von Bismarck, Grace Kelly, Ava Gardner, Audrey Hepburn and Jackie Kennedy.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga retired from the high fashion world in 1968. First, he decided to retire from active life in May 1968 and, a few months later, on July 1, the newspapers broke the news of his headquarters in Paris and his studios in Madrid closing. The closing down of his business was by surprise, like a bombshell; not even his employees knew.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga justified the closing with his habitual clinical brevity: “High fashion is mortally wounded”. On one hand, the intense imposing burden of the French taxes blew through the largest part of the profits and, on the other, the Americans stopped buying French high fashion, largely because of General De Gaulle’s Anti-American politics. The Americans had succeeded in signifying close to 70 percent of the Balenciaga clientele.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Balenciaga returned to Spain. He ended his days living in his Altea house, where he enjoyed painting, talking, and eating in the company of some of his Spanish assistants.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: As an exception, four years after his retirement, he accepted the job of designing a gown, Carmen Martínez-Bordiú’s wedding dress, the daughter of one of his most important clients, Carmen Franco Polo, and hence, the granddaughter of dictator Francisco Franco. The wedding was celebrated on March 8th, 1972, Martínez-Bordiu’s dress being Balenciaga’s last work.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: That same month of March 1972, Balenciaga was going to go on a few vacations to Jávea’s National Parador of Tourism, in Alicante. He was not sick, nor known of any serious ailment, but unexpectedly on March 23rd, he suffered a heart attack, followed by heart failure. Balenciaga was 77 years old at the time of his death. He was buried in Getaria, his birthplace.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: The closing of Balenciaga’s high fashion house in 1968 did not signify the extinction of “Balenciaga’s brand”. The brand was inactive until 1986 when Jacques Konckier of Jacques Bogart bought the Balenciaga company.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: Although separate from the big name of its creator, Balenciaga has actively kept up in the fashion world since then as far as relevance. The reason behind his relevance still today is “his sense of proportion and measurement, and his vision and interpretation of the female body have anointed him as one of the more influential designers of all time". Balenciaga comprises products of high fashion, ready-to-wear, perfumery, jewels, and other accessories. The Balenciaga business has mainly kept active in the perfumery and accessories spectrum. In the news, the Balenciaga bags are some of the more desired by fashion victims. Other objects of desire from the Balenciaga business are their shoes, for their great originality in design. In the historic collections of the Museum of Textile and Clothing in Barcelona, Balenciaga’s hats and headdresses stand out, for their great variety of shapes.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: In the studio of Cristóbal Balenciaga, many couturiers formed, some of which would reach international fame and would get to have their own business. Among these include Paco Rabanne, André Courreges, Emanuel Ungaro, Hubert de Givenchy, or Óscar de la Renta.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: His work has been an object of numerous museum study expositions, starting with an anthology exposition that the New York Metropolitan Museum provided in 1973 (The World of Balenciaga), which exhibited for six months, with 180 models on display. Balenciaga’s garments accompanied the paintings of Goya, Velázquez, El Greco, Zuloaga, Miró or Picasso, in which they had inspired the designs of the Basque couturier. It was the first time that an art museum of the ranking of the New York Metropolitan Museum added dresses to the category of works of art. In Spain, a namesake exposition was also celebrated, The World of Balenciaga, which was installed in the noble living rooms of the Palace of Library and National Museums in Madrid.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: In his birthplace, a foundation was established with the objective of creating a museum dedicated to his big name. After numerous problems and the avoided judicial process about alleged inconsistencies in its management, The Balenciaga Museum finally opened in Getaria on June 10, 2011. The museum has 1200 pieces, although only one part displays simultaneously. The works are displayed on invisible mannequins.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: The city, San Sebastián, also pays homage with a promenade, that is situated in the neighborhood of Igueldo, where Balenciaga had a house.


title: Cristóbal Balenciaga

text: The Balenciaga Museum, open to the public in Getaria, has a collection of 1200 pieces. The Museum of Textile and Clothing of Disseny Hub Barcelona has an extensive collection of Balenciaga dresses and accessories (especially hats). The Madrid Garment Museum also has a fashion collection that includes Balenciaga dresses. Within these exhibitions and pieces, people can find, like seen in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, "sculptural silhouettes that the forms of architecture drink from, in the geometric lines of their patterns and also in the set with the volumes that allowed to go without saying as far as unthinkable in 1958, with his babydoll model: inspired in children clothing, the dress left in flotation without pressure to the figure and with total freedom of movement to the user".


title: Skechers

text: Skechers USA, Inc. is an American multinational footwear company. Headquartered in Manhattan Beach, California, it was founded in 1992 and is now the third largest footwear brand in the United States.


title: Skechers

text: Skechers was founded in 1992 by Robert Greenberg, who had previously founded LA Gear in 1983 (he stepped down as CEO of that company the same year he founded Skechers). Greenberg sought to focus on men's street shoes; Skechers' early products were utility-style boots popular in grunge fashion. The company quickly expanded to include women and children, with casual and athleisure styles, and went public in 1999. In 2011, Skechers launched its performance line for athletes and signed Meb Keflezighi as a spokesman.


title: Skechers

text: Skechers is the third largest footwear brand in the United States. In January 2019, the company started an expansion of its corporate headquarters to double its office, design and showroom space in the South Bay.


title: Skechers

text: In 2012, Skechers agreed to settle a class action lawsuit for $40 million based on a U.S. Federal Trade Commission complaint that it had misled customers with its Shape-Ups ads. In 2019, Nike filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Skechers because, according to Nike, Skechers had infringed on the design of their VaporMax and Air Max 270 sneakers.


title: Skechers

text: In 2021, French prosecutors launched an investigation into whether Skechers and other brands had concealed or profited from forced Uyghur labor. Skechers has found no evidence of forced labor taking place.


title: Skechers

text: The company designs, develops and markets a range of lifestyle and performance footwear, apparel and accessories for adults and children; brands include Skechers Sport, Uno, D'Lites, the charity line Bobs, Our Planet Matters, Mark Nason, Skechers Work, Go Walk, Go Run, and Go Golf. Since 2020, select shoes have utilized Goodyear rubber.


title: Skechers

text: Skechers has promoted its products with celebrities including musicians Ava Max and Willie Nelson; television personalities Martha Stewart, Brooke Burke, and Amanda Kloots; baseball player Clayton Kershaw and boxer Sugar Ray Leonard; footballers Jamie Redknapp and Michael Ballack; and American football players Tony Romo, Howie Long, and Cris Carter. Skechers Performance has featured distance runner Meb Keflezighi and professional golfers Brooke Henderson and Matt Fitzpatrick.


title: Skechers

text: On March 1, 2019, Skechers launched a print and digital comparative advertising campaign titled "Just Blew It" to highlight the Zion Williamson failed shoe incident with rival Nike.


title: Skechers

text: On February 3, 2021, Skechers launched a commercial campaign titled "To the Max" featuring Tony Romo to put into the Super Bowl. The brand returned to the game on February 13, 2022, with two commercials: "On the Road" and "Legalize" featuring Willie Nelson.


title: Skechers

text: In 2022, the brand expanded into pickleball, signing several athletes and sponsoring the first nationally televised pickleball tournament in the U.S.


title: Skechers

text: Skechers launched its Skechers Foundation in 2010. Skechers and the Friendship Foundation host an annual walk in Manhattan Beach to raise money for a nonprofit that helps connect special-needs students with their peers.


title: Skechers

text: Skechers has donated more than 16 million pairs of new shoes to children in need worldwide through its Bobs charity program. The shoes support Head Start programs, education foundations, homeless shelters, disaster relief and 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations. The brand has also raised over $9 million to help Petco Love, Woodgreen Pets Charity, and other animal welfare groups.


title: Skechers

text: Skechers has developed—with MoonScoop Group and animator/co-producer John Massé—an animated series, "Zevo-3", and several direct-to-DVD features produced by SD Entertainment:


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The seventh generation of the BMW 3 Series range consists of the BMW G20 (sedan version) and BMW G21 (wagon version, marketed as 'Touring') compact executive cars. The G20/G21 has been in production since mid-October 2018 with a facelift in July 2022 and is often collectively referred to as the G20.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The M340i, one of the first models in the range became available for sale in the spring of 2019, with the 330e plug-in hybrid model scheduled for launch in 2020. The 3 Series Gran Turismo fastback body style was discontinued for the G20 generation.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: For the G20 generation, BMW has begun production in Mexico for various world markets including the US, replacing the Rosslyn plant in South Africa where the previous F30 generation vehicles were assembled.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: At the end of November 2015, a final design proposal for the successor of the F30 3 Series by Alexey Kezha out of 3 total, was chosen by BMW management, as reported by "Auto Bild" in October 2015. The new 3 Series, internally called the G20, was unveiled at the 2018 Paris Motor Show on October 2, 2018, and was available for sale in March 2019.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The G20 3 Series is based on the Cluster Architecture (CLAR) platform and features increased use of high-strength steel and aluminium. The G20 has a MacPherson strut front suspension and multi-link rear suspension, with a hydraulic damping system to better absorb impacts.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The G20 has a flat and covered underbody, resulting in a reduced drag coefficient from 0.26 to 0.23 for the 320d. Compared to its predecessor, the G20 is lighter, longer, and wider. The car retains a 50:50 weight distribution and has a 50% increase in body rigidity. Boot capacity is identical to the F30, at .


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The windshield uses double-glazed acoustic glass and the A-pillars have increased insulation. The handbrake is now electronically operated and no longer uses a manual lever. Engine coasting is also now available in both Eco Pro and Comfort modes, and both petrol and diesel models receive engine particulate filters.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The 320d, 320i, 330d, 330i and M340i are available in both rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive (xDrive) variants. BMW India stated that it would begin deliveries of the M340i X Drive in January 2023.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The long-wheelbase variant (G28) in China was launched in April 2019 as a single trim, the 325Li, which uses the same 2.0 liter turbocharged engine making 184 hp and of torque as the global 320i and is mated to a 8-speed automatic transmission as the only drivetrain offered. Later, a less expensive variant, called the 320Li, was introduced. This variant uses the same engine as the global 318i, producing 154 hp and of torque and is mated with a 8-speed automatic transmission. The wheelbase was extended by . The right hand drive LWB variant in India, the 330Li, is scheduled for release by 2021 to replace the 3 GT. The 330Li uses a 2.0 liter turbocharged engine making 258 hp. This version was subsequently released in selected Southeast Asian markets like Thailand and Malaysia, complementing the existing standard-wheelbase variants already sold there.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: Standard equipment includes full LED headlights and tail-lights, automatic climate control, automatic headlights and rain-sensing wipers, 40:20:40 split folding rear seats, and driver assistance systems including lane departure warning and collision warning with braking intervention.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: All models (except when fitted with the plug-in hybrid drivetrain) feature iDrive 6.0 with an 8.8-inch display and a hybrid instrument cluster called "Live Cockpit Plus" as standard. The system can be upgraded to iDrive 7.0 with a 10.25-inch display and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster called "Live Cockpit Professional" with plug-in hybrid models receiving it as standard equipment. iDrive 7.0 has over-the-air updates for the navigational maps and operating system, and features a voice-controlled digital assistant that can be activated by saying "Hey BMW". The assistant can control in-car functions and is integrated with Microsoft Office 365 and Skype for Business. From mid-2020 the Live Cockpit Plus system was upgraded to the same iDrive 7.0 system as in the Live Cockpit Professional, with the instrument cluster reverted to the traditional analog gauges style and the 8.8-inch display remained the same as the iDrive 6.0-based system. The engine start stop system uses the navigation system to prevent unnecessary engine shutdowns.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: Optional equipment includes the BMW LaserLight, a BMW display key, self-righting wheel center caps, and a Welcome Light Carpet. A Digital Key system enables a smartphone to lock or unlock the vehicle using near-field communication, and will start the engine when placed in the wireless charging tray. The optional parking assistant system displays a three-dimensional 360 degree view of the car and its surroundings, which can also be remotely viewed in the BMW ConnectedDrive app.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: 318–330 models with the M Sport package and M340 models can be fitted with M Performance Parts. This includes a splitter, lip spoiler, tailpipes, sport brakes, darker taillights and more carbon fibre parts.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: Only 318d and selected 320d models are available with a 6-speed manual transmission, though in some markets the 318i is also available with it.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: BMW had controversially implemented a yearly fee for access to Apple CarPlay, a feature built into the car, and for which BMW pays no yearly fee or other ongoing expense. As of December 2019 it is reported that this fee will no longer be charged as BMW has backtracked on this decision.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: In March 2019 at the Geneva Motor Show the 330e iPerformance model was introduced, sharing its engine with the 320i and a electric motor, it has a maximum electric range of . It has a 12 kWh battery (9.6 kWh usable) along with a newly developed system called "XtraBoost" allowing a temporary power increase from the electric motor of up to .


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The updated model has new front and rear bumpers, new headlights and a slightly tweaked grille. The headlights have a new "inverted L shape" DRL signature (that is now standard on all models) and the top Laserlight option is replaced by new adaptive LED units with matrix high beam functionality. The grille maintains its overall proportions while the bumper gets new designs for both the base version and the M Sport package. Both feature new side air curtains, while the latter has a larger central intake (although part of it serves for design purposes only) and more aggressive styling. Tail lights carry the same design as the 2019 model, but are complemented by newly designed bumpers. The base version features body coloured graphics, while the M Sport has a large, gloss-black element that incorporates a faux diffuser and two vertically arranged reflectors.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The interior gets a significant update, with the dashboard being shaped by a new dual curved display that comes as standard and features iDrive with BMW Operating System 8.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The ZF 8-speed automatic transmission is also fitted as standard, replacing the 6-speed manual entirely, and a new gear selector lever is also present.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: The M3 model was released 2021. All-wheel drive (xDrive) is optional on the G80 M3, marking it the first time that a M3 has not exclusively used a rear-wheel drive layout. A manual transmission is only available on rear-wheel drive models.


title: BMW 3 Series (G20)

text: BMW announced the launch of the first-ever M3 Touring in June 2022. Codenamed G81, it will be available along the sedan G80, the coupé M4 G82 and convertible M4 G83.


title: Tram

text: A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are called tramways or simply trams/streetcars. Many recently built tramways use the contemporary term light rail. The vehicles are called streetcars or trolleys (not to be confused with trolleybus) in North America and trams or tramcars elsewhere. The first two terms are often used interchangeably in the United States, with "trolley" being the preferred term in the eastern US and "streetcar" in the western US. "Streetcar" or "tramway" are preferred in Canada. In parts of the United States, internally powered buses made to resemble a streetcar are often referred to as "trolleys". To avoid further confusion with trolley buses, the American Public Transportation Association (APTA) refers to them as "trolley-replica buses". In the United States, the term "tram" has sometimes been used for rubber-tired trackless trains, which are unrelated to other kinds of trams.


title: Tram

text: Tram vehicles are usually lighter and shorter than main line and rapid transit trains. Today, most trams use electrical power, usually fed by a pantograph sliding on an overhead line; older systems may use a trolley pole or a bow collector. In some cases, a contact shoe on a third rail is used. If necessary, they may have dual power systems—electricity in city streets and diesel in more rural environments. Occasionally, trams also carry freight. Trams are now commonly included in the wider term "light rail", which also includes grade-separated systems. Some trams, known as tram-trains, may have segments that run on mainline railway tracks, similar to interurban systems. The differences between these modes of rail transport are often indistinct and a given system may combine multiple features.


title: Tram

text: Ultra Light Rail ULR trains are trams are a developing light weight rail type, around <5T/axle (empty), for use in smaller cities and towns to replace main bus routes e.g. Coventry Very Light Rail, ULR Partners future-light-rail or lower use branch train lines. They may be normal trams, rail motor sized and/or smaller modular units capable of platooning. They offer all the advantages of traditional trams but their lower weight, prefabricated beam type tracks offer the possibility of avoiding costly services diversions, lightweight OHL Over Head Lines and/or onboard power options e.g. hydrogen, biomethane, battery, may mean reduced/eliminated OHL. Thus installation costs may be lower than traditional trains and trams.


title: Tram

text: One of the advantages over earlier forms of transit was the low rolling resistance of metal wheels on steel rails, allowing the trams to haul a greater load for a given effort. Another factor which contributed to the rise of trams was the high total cost of ownership of horses. Electric trams largely replaced animal power in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Improvements in other vehicles such as buses led to decline of trams in the mid 20th century. However, trams have seen resurgence in recent years. In 2014, the Aubagne tramway in Southern France became the first tram system in the world not to charge fares.


title: Tram

text: The history of trams, streetcars or trolley systems, began in the early nineteenth century. It can be divided into several distinct periods defined by the principal means of power used.


title: Tram

text: The world's first passenger train or tram was the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, in Wales, UK. The Mumbles Railway Act was passed by the British Parliament in 1804, and horse-drawn service started in 1807. The service closed in 1827, but was restarted in 1860, again using horses. It was worked by steam from 1877, and then, from 1929, by very large (106-seater) electric tramcars, until closure in 1960. The Swansea and Mumbles Railway was something of a one-off however, and no street tramway would appear in Britain until 1860 when one was built in Birkenhead by the American George Francis Train.


title: Tram

text: Street railways developed in America before Europe, largely due to the poor paving of the streets in American cities which made them unsuitable for horsebuses, which were then common on the well-paved streets of European cities. Running the horsecars on rails allowed for a much smoother ride. There are records of a street railway running in Baltimore as early as 1828, however the first authenticated streetcar in America, was the New York and Harlem Railroad developed by the Irish coach builder John Stephenson, in New York City which began service in the year 1832. The New York and Harlem Railroad's Fourth Avenue Line ran along the Bowery and Fourth Avenue in New York City. It was followed in 1835 by the New Orleans and Carrollton Railroad in New Orleans, Louisiana, which still operates as the St. Charles Streetcar Line. Other American cities did not follow until the 1850s, after which the "animal railway" became an increasingly common feature in the larger towns.


title: Tram

text: The first permanent tram line in continental Europe was opened in Paris in 1855 by Alphonse Loubat who had previously worked on American streetcar lines. The tram was developed in numerous cities of Europe (some of the most extensive systems were found in Berlin, Budapest, Birmingham, Saint Petersburg, Lisbon, London, Manchester, Paris, Kyiv).


title: Tram

text: The first tram in South America opened in 1858 in Santiago, Chile. The first trams in Australia opened in 1860 in Sydney. Africa's first tram service started in Alexandria on 8 January 1863. The first trams in Asia opened in 1869 in Batavia (now Jakarta), Netherlands East Indies (now Indonesia).


title: Tram

text: Problems with horsecars included the fact that any given animal could only work so many hours on a given day, had to be housed, groomed, fed and cared for day in and day out, and produced prodigious amounts of manure, which the streetcar company was charged with storing and then disposing of. Since a typical horse pulled a streetcar for about a dozen miles a day and worked for four or five hours, many systems needed ten or more horses in stable for each horsecar. In 1905 the British newspaper "Newcastle Daily Chronicle" reported that, "A large number of London's discarded horse tramcars have been sent to Lincolnshire where they are used as sleeping rooms for potato pickers".


title: Tram

text: Horsecars were largely replaced by electric-powered trams following the improvement of an overhead trolley system on trams for collecting electricity from overhead wires by Frank J. Sprague. His spring-loaded trolley pole used a wheel to travel along the wire. In late 1887 and early 1888, using his trolley system, Sprague installed the first successful large electric street railway system in Richmond, Virginia. Within a year, the economy of electric power had replaced more costly horsecars in many cities. By 1889, 110 electric railways incorporating Sprague's equipment had been begun or planned on several continents.


title: Tram

text: Horses continued to be used for light shunting well into the 20th century, and many large metropolitan lines lasted into the early 20th century. New York City had a regular horsecar service on the Bleecker Street Line until its closure in 1917. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, had its Sarah Street line drawn by horses until 1923. The last regular mule-drawn cars in the US ran in Sulphur Rock, Arkansas, until 1926 and were commemorated by a U.S. postage stamp issued in 1983. The last mule tram service in Mexico City ended in 1932, and a mule tram in Celaya, Mexico, survived until 1954. The last horse-drawn tram to be withdrawn from public service in the UK took passengers from Fintona railway station to Fintona Junction one mile away on the main Omagh to Enniskillen railway in Northern Ireland. The tram made its last journey on 30 September 1957 when the Omagh to Enniskillen line closed. The "van" now lies at the Ulster Transport Museum.


title: Tram

text: Horse-drawn trams still operate on the 1876-built Douglas Bay Horse Tramway in the Isle of Man, and at the 1894-built horse tram at Victor Harbor in South Australia. New horse-drawn systems have been established at the Hokkaidō Museum in Japan and also in Disneyland. A horse tram route in Polish gmina Mrozy, first built in 1902, was reopened in 2012.


title: Tram

text: The first mechanical trams were powered by steam. Generally, there were two types of steam tram. The first and most common had a small steam locomotive (called a tram engine in the UK) at the head of a line of one or more carriages, similar to a small train. Systems with such steam trams included Christchurch, New Zealand; Sydney, Australia; other city systems in New South Wales; Munich, Germany (from August 1883 on), British India (from 1885) and the Dublin & Blessington Steam Tramway (from 1888) in Ireland. Steam tramways also were used on the suburban tramway lines around Milan and Padua; the last "Gamba de Legn" ("Peg-Leg") tramway ran on the Milan-Magenta-Castano Primo route in late 1957.


title: Tram

text: The other style of steam tram had the steam engine in the body of the tram, referred to as a tram engine (UK) or steam dummy (US). The most notable system to adopt such trams was in Paris. French-designed steam trams also operated in Rockhampton, in the Australian state of Queensland between 1909 and 1939. Stockholm, Sweden, had a steam tram line at the island of Södermalm between 1887 and 1901.


title: Tram

text: Tram engines usually had modifications to make them suitable for street running in residential areas. The wheels, and other moving parts of the machinery, were usually enclosed for safety reasons and to make the engines quieter. Measures were often taken to prevent the engines from emitting visible smoke or steam. Usually the engines used coke rather than coal as fuel to avoid emitting smoke; condensers or superheating were used to avoid emitting visible steam. A major drawback of this style of tram was the limited space for the engine, so that these trams were usually underpowered. Steam tram engines faded out around the 1890s to 1900s, being replaced by electric trams.


title: Tram

text: Another motive system for trams was the cable car, which was pulled along a fixed track by a moving steel cable. The power to move the cable was normally provided at a "powerhouse" site a distance away from the actual vehicle. The London and Blackwall Railway, which opened for passengers in east London, England, in 1840 used such a system.


title: Tram

text: The first practical cable car line was tested in San Francisco, in 1873. Part of its success is attributed to the development of an effective and reliable cable grip mechanism, to grab and release the moving cable without damage. The second city to operate cable trams was Dunedin, from 1881 to 1957.


title: Tram

text: The most extensive cable system in the US was built in Chicago, having been built in stages between 1859 and 1892. New York City developed multiple cable car lines, that operated from 1883 to 1909. Los Angeles also had several cable car lines, including the Second Street Cable Railroad, which operated from 1885 to 1889, and the Temple Street Cable Railway, which operated from 1886 to 1898.