title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: The Roadster had a three-year, warranty. Tesla also offered an extended powertrain warranty and a battery replacement warranty.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: In July 2009, Tesla announced that US consumers could finance the Roadster through Bank of America. Financing was available for up to 75% of the total vehicle purchase price.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: Tesla sold Roadsters directly to customers. It sold them online, in 13 showrooms and over the phone in North America and Europe. Tesla does not operate through franchise dealerships but operates company-owned stores. The company said that it took its retail cues from Apple, Starbucks and other non-automotive retailers.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: The company has been shipping cars to European customers since mid-2009. Tesla sold out of its EU special-edition vehicle, which had a 2010 model-year production run of 250 cars. A total of 575 units have been sold in Europe through October 2012.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: Tesla first overseas showroom opened in London in 2009, with right-hand-drive models promised for early 2010. Showrooms in Munich and Monaco were also added in 2009, followed by Zurich and Copenhagen in 2010 and Milan in 2011. Reservations for the 2010 Roadster were available for a €3,000 refundable reservation fee.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: From 2009 to 2014, Hansjoerg von Gemmingen of Karlsruhe, Germany drove his Tesla Roadster , this being the mileage world record for an all-electric vehicle and reached in 2017. He also drove another in an Tesla Model S and voiced his plan to become the first man to travel a million kilometres in an electric vehicle.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: Kevin Yu, the director of Tesla Motors Asia Pacific, said Roadsters in Japan had additional yearly taxes for exceeding the width limit of normal sized cars.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: In 2009, Roadster reservation holders who had already placed deposits up to US$50,000 to lock in their orders were informed that their orders had been unlocked and that they had to re-option their ordered vehicles on the threat of losing their spot on the orders list. Tesla then raised the prices of several options, and a new Tesla Roadster with the same set of features that had previously been standard became US$6,700 more expensive than before. For example, the high performance charger that was previously claimed to be standard on all vehicles was changed to be an optional feature costing US$3,000, and the previously claimed standard forged alloy wheels became a US$2,300 upgrade. One person who pre-ordered a Tesla Roadster complained:


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: The world distance record of for a production electric car on a single charge was set by a Roadster on October 27, 2009, during the Global Green Challenge in outback Australia, in which it averaged a speed of . In March 2010, a Tesla Roadster became the first electric vehicle to win the Monte Carlo Alternative Energy Rally and the first to win any Federation Internationale de l'Automobile-sanctioned championship when a Roadster driven by former Formula One driver Érik Comas beat 96 competitors for range, efficiency and performance in the three-day, nearly challenge.


title: Tesla Roadster (first generation)

text: In December 2017, Elon Musk announced that his personal Tesla Roadster would be launched into space, serving as dummy payload on the maiden flight of the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. The launch on February 6, 2018, was successful; the vehicle was placed into a heliocentric orbit that took it beyond Mars's orbital path around the Sun.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: My Name Is Khan, is a 2010 social drama film directed by Karan Johar and written by Shibani Bathija and lyricist Niranjan Iyengar. It was produced by Hiroo Yash Johar and Gauri Khan under their production companies, Dharma Productions and Red Chillies Entertainment, respectively, in association with Fox Star Studios and Fox Searchlight Pictures, both of which made their Indian film production debuts with the former acting as distributor. The film stars Shah Rukh Khan as Rizwan Khan, an autistic Muslim, and Kajol as Mandira, his Hindu wife with a son from her previous marriage. Set in the United States, the plot revolves around Rizwan, who faces Islamophobic discrimination after the September 11 attacks. This discrimination leads to the murder of his stepson, killed in a racist fight against fellow collegians. His wife, Mandira, Sameer's mother, blames Rizwan, and he consequently sets out on a journey to meet president of the country and absolve himself.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" marked Karan Johar's departure from his usual romantic narratives. With this film, he decided to experiment with the social genre, taking Islamophobia as its subject in order to spread awareness about Islam and cover general misconceptions against the religion, which has been commonly associated with terrorism. Additionally, Johar covered the Asperger syndrome and, with Bathija, did extensive research for the condition. Principal photography began in December 2008, taking place in India and the United States, and finished in October 2009; Ravi K. Chandran took the position as the cinematographer, and the film was subsequently edited by Deepa Bhatia. The film's soundtrack, composed by the trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, met with highly positive reviews from music critics.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" has been studied in scholarly circles for its cinematic portrayal of Asperger syndrome and Islamophobia. The film premiered in the United Arab Emirates on 10 February 2010 and was internationally released on 12 February 2010. Upon release, "My Name Is Khan" received highly positive reviews from both domestic and international critics, with particular praise directed towards Karan's direction and the leads' performances. It grossed worldwide, becoming the second-highest-grossing Indian film of the year, against the production costs of .


title: My Name Is Khan

text: A recipient of several accolades, "My Name Is Khan" led the 56th Filmfare Awards with 10 nominations, including Best Film and Best Music Director (Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy), and won 3 awards – Best Director (Johar), Best Actor (Khan) and Best Actress (Kajol).


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Rizwan Khan, a Muslim, grew up with his brother, Zakir, and his widowed mother, Razia, in a middle-class family in Borivali, Mumbai. His autism leads to special tutoring from a reclusive scholar and extra attention from his mother, all which leads to a heightened level of jealousy from Zakir, who eventually leaves his family for a life in San Francisco. Despite this, Zakir sponsors Rizwan to come and live with him after their mother's death. Zakir's wife Haseena diagnoses Rizwan as having Asperger syndrome. Rizwan also begins to work for Zakir's. He meets Hindu woman Mandira and her young son Sameer, born from a previous marriage. Despite Zakir's uncertainty, they marry and live in the fictional Banville, adopting Rizwan's surname as theirs. They also live next door to the Garrick family; Sam is close to their young son, Reese.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The Khans' perfect existence gets disrupted following the September 11 attacks. Mark goes to cover the war in Afghanistan but dies there. At the same time, the Khans begins to experience the post 9/11 prejudice, and Reese begins to turn against Sam. Their rivalry causes an eventual fight on a soccer field, where a bunch of older students attack Sam. One of them kicks a soccer ball at Sam, rupturing his spleen and killing him. A grieving Mandira blames Rizwan, stating that Sam died solely because of Rizwan's surname. Consequently, when Rizwan asks what he can do to help, Mandira sarcastically tells him that to be back together, he has to tell the people and President of the United States that his name is Khan and he is not a terrorist.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Rizwan, taking her seriously, thus sets out on a road trip to first meet President George W. Bush and later President-elect Barack Obama. He travels to the fictional Wilhemina, Georgia, and befriends Mama Jenny and her son Joel. While at a mosque in Los Angeles, he overhears violent rhetoric from a doctor, Faisal Rehman who is quoting religious texts, and angrily defies Faisal's statements before walking out to drop a message for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). While waiting in a crowd at UCLA to meet President Bush, he says, "My name is Khan and I am not a terrorist!", repeatedly. He is arrested due to misinterpretation as "I am a terrorist."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Rizwan is interrogated as a terrorist suspect but is released after a media campaign by Indian student reporters Raj, Komal and Bobby Ahuja, who prove his innocence by revealing his attempts to inform the FBI about Faisal. After his release, he returns to the hurricane-hit Wilhemina to help Mama Jenny, Joel, and everyone there, attracting media attention. Reese, seeing Rizwan on TV, finally confesses to Mandira his knowledge of what happened to Sam, and reveals the identity of the boys who killed him. She informs Detective Garcia, who has been assisting her on the case, and the boys, including Reese, are arrested.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Mandira joins Rizwan in Georgia. At the moment she arrives, Rizwan is stabbed by one of Faisal Rehman's followers who accuses him of being a traitor to Islam, and is hospitalized. Rizwan survives and meets Obama, who tells him: "Your name is Khan and you are not a terrorist."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Having worked on a number of romantic dramas and consequently become known for these, Karan Johar desired to experiment with a new genre. He wanted it to be one that would attract critical and commercial success, as well as help prove his ability of making non-romantic films to his audience. Eventually, the idea of making a socially relevant film came to his mind, "because that is what those kinds of people like". He chose to depict Islam as a main topic of discussion — an action that he described as a "conscious decision" — since he felt there is an international unawareness and negative generalization towards the religion. While himself belonging not to the religion, he called himself educated and open-minded enough to understand that misconceptions against Islam exist. As a filmmaker, Johar wanted to communicate with his audience of his message, which is "correcting the world's misconceptions about Islam", in an emotional, yet effective, manner.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In November 2007, "Bollywood Hungama" reported a then-untitled upcoming project by Johar. The filmmaker told the entertainment portal that there would be possibility it would be rather titled "My Name Is Khan" or simply "Khan". In a July 2008 article in his personal blog, Johar confirmed the title as "My Name Is Khan", breaking his tradition of initiating his works' titles with the letter "K". He said, "While deciding upon the title, I just went by my gut and decided on something which brings to fore the spirit of the film and the story that I wanted to tell. Everything was decided in true earnest. The right title of the film was and stays on as "My Name Is Khan"."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Shibani Bathija wrote the story and screenplay while penning the dialogues with Johar's then-regular collaborator Niranjan Iyengar, thus making "My Name Is Khan" Johar's first film he did not write himself, though he still helped her in the research. According to Johar, it gave him "a level of detachment from the proceedings and yet, a lot of attachment" and released "unexplored emotions". In preparation, Bathija and Johar met a lot of people with autism, including those who have Asperger's syndrome; Bathija also read books about their condition, including "An Asperger Marriage" and "Aspergers in Love", non-fictions about the life of a woman with his husband, who suffers from Asperger. Johar suggested to have a Muslim character in the lead and set the film in the September 11 attacks, which Bathija eventually agreed with.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Geographically, the story sets in the San Francisco Bay Area, which came to Bathija's inspirations because of her familiarity with the place while finishing her communication study at the San Francisco State University between 1998 and 2000. Her motivation to use it as the film's backdrop increased in 2007 after seeing many Bollywood films also being shot there. A fictional town, Banville, which she described as "a stereotypically white, upper-class Bay Area suburb", was also added into the story. In an interview to the "East Bay Express", Bathija recounted that while researching for the San Francisco Bay by Google Maps from Mumbai, she spotted Danville, California, which fitted her criteria of a location that resembles a "small, very rich suburban town". Beside that, Bathija also wrote the English-language dialogues, while Niranjan Iyengar wrote the Hindi ones. A number of Arabic phrases, mostly in religious context, were also added.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The film was co-produced by Hiroo Yash Johar of Karan Johar's Dharma Productions and Gauri Khan of Shah Rukh Khan's Red Chillies Entertainment. The partnership was announced in February 2009; on co-producing the film under his own banner, Shah Rukh Khan said he disliked to presell films, especially non-commercial ones, like "My Name Is Khan", and wanted Johar to finish it without taking a loan as well as to collectively own the film. The budget was estimated to have been , according to the financial newspaper "Mint". The production was also handled in part with the American production houses Fox Star Studios and Fox Searchlight Pictures. Fox Star's involvement to distribute the film was announced in August; however, the company's exact paid amount for the rights was disputed, with unconfirmed estimations ranging from to , and its executives refused to disclose the number. In February 2010, the Abu Dhabi-based Image Nation joined to distributed the film, and nine months later, the Hong Kong-based Huaxia Film Distribution followed.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Shanoo Sharma and Robi Reed handled the casting of "My Name Is Khan". The earliest press reports appeared in October 2007, when Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol were reported to be cast in the lead. Karan Johar, however, clarified that while Shah Rukh Khan had accepted the offer, he had not been able to confirm whether Kajol would be in the casting, saying that he had not talked with her yet. During this period, Kareena Kapoor was reported to have offered herself to play opposite Shah Rukh Khan, until May 2008 at the time Kajol confirmed her presence. "My Name Is Khan" became Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol's sixth collaborations, after "Baazigar" (1993), "Karan Arjun" (1995), "Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge" (1995), "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" (1998) and "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..." (2001), the latter two were also directed by Karan Johar.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Before Jimmy Sheirgill, Aamir Bashir was originally chosen to play the role of Zakir, Rizwan's younger brother. When filming began in December 2008, the United States authority refused to give Bashir a visa to travel to that because he did not mention his travel to Iran in the application form; since the Mumbai attacks, the country had been cautious of foreigners. The incident attracted considerable media attention, which led to his exclusion from the casting. Shabana Azmi was initially cast for portraying Rizwan's mother, Razia. However, owing to a delay caused by Shah Rukh Khan's shoulder surgery in January 2009, Azmi opted out; she continued to shoot for Gurinder Chadha-directed comedy-drama, "It's a Wonderful Afterlife" (2010). The role eventually went to Zarina Wahab.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In January 2009, Pakistani actress Sonya Jehan was reported to join the casting to play the supporting role of university professor Hasina Khan. Unlike Jehan's previous films that shows her in revealing clothes, this one has her wearing a hijab, the traditional head-covering for Muslim women. She was particularly drawn to her character and expressed a desire to play similar roles in the future. Child artist Tanay Chheda played the role of young Rizwan. Chheda's performance in the widely-acclaimed drama "Slumdog Millionaire" (2008), his resemblance of Shah Rukh Khan's appearance and his familiarity with Mumbai slums were the basis for Karan Johar to cast him. Instead of putting the footages of then-President Barack Obama, an actor physically similar to him was chosen. Forest Whitaker was the original possibility for the role, but he declined owing to conflicting schedule and disinclination to play Obama who was still in his office. The role eventually went to Christopher B. Duncan, who was cast two months after an audition.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Karan Johar and Bathija researched extensively for Shah Rukh Khan's character in "My Name Is Khan" for two years, and this include their personal study of Asperger's syndrome and contacts with autistic people from various centers in London, New York, Los Angeles and India. When interviewed by Bollywood Hungama, he admitted to have helped her by "just executing her vision". Karan Johar and Bathija met Christopher and Gisela Slater-Walker, who wrote "An Asperger Marriage", and he described the former as having been their significant inspiration for the character. They also had a rendezvous with Chris and Maxine Aston ("Aspergers in Love" writers), whom Karan Johar said to have been the "basis" for Rizwan and Mandira's relationship. Their research also included gathering information related to the condition from YouTube videos.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Shah Rukh Khan did his own research to his role, which Bathija stated to have been written specifically for him. He said that he was nervous but at the same time excited to play the type of role, which he had never done before. Karan Johar described him as being challenged, even considering Rizwan to be Shah Rukh Khan's "most challenging" character. Shah Rukh Khan himself referred to it as "the most interesting part" of his career as an actor, seeing that he could spread awareness about a condition that is rarely suffered from. His film characters are mainly secular; they are not especially focused on their religious background, but the one in "My Name Is Khan" is. Alluding to its autism, he referred to his "My Name Is Khan" character as a "neuro-atypical mind, who could do less and say more".


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Karan Johar sent Shah Rukh Khan to the centers he had previously visited with Bathija; the director wanted the actor to socialize with autistic people, predominantly those with Asperger, and make his own Rizwan based on these interactions. Beside videos, Shah Rukh Khan continued his research with reading books about the syndrome, including the mystery novel "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time". Karan Johar observed that Shah Rukh Khan's research for the character was particularly extensive, admitting that it astonished him: "I was zapped by how much he knew on the subject. And he brought all the knowledge on the sets." While playing his character, the actor maintained expressionless eyes even when he was saying his dialogues, which he found difficult. To get it right, he practiced in bathroom for ten consecutive days.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Los Angeles-based Robin Slater, who had worked in films including "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" (2000), "Memoirs of a Geisha" (2005) and "Dreamgirls" (2006), was appointed to be Shah Rukh Khan's makeup artist by producer Prashant Shah. Slater described his look as "a natural sun-kissed one, very natural. He looks fresh and they all thought he looked much younger." She did his makeup in six steps and six minutes, starting with using a concealer to get rid of the flaws from his face. She then airbrushed the foundation on, put sunburn stipple around his chin, cheekbones, forehead, jaw and nose, and shaded the nose and jawline. After using powder gel to make him as if he wore no makeup, Slater removed airbrush overflow on his eyebrows and eyelashes.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Kajol was given with the role of Mandira, Rizwan's Hindu wife with a son from her previous marriage. She found "My Name Is Khan" to be thematically similar to Karan Johar's previous films, noting "Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham..." for instance. However, she added "there was more masala in them" in comparison to "My Name Is Khan", which she called his deepest one. The complexity of her character, Mandira, made her emotionally engaged to it, and Kajol stated that this experience eventually gave her a life lesson: "It is okay to be imperfect as a human being." She described "My Name Is Khan" as an intense collaboration with her friend, Karan Johar, who asked her to lose weight for characterization.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In an interview to Indo-Asian News Service, Johar said that Kajol had always been the one in his mind while casting for an actress to play Mandira. On her spontaneous nature, he commented, "There is no method to her madness. She is sheer brilliance. Her expressions connect you immediately. She is all real, all woman, all human on screen and I don't think any living actress has the quality that Kajol has." His frequent collaborator, Manish Malhotra, was specifically chosen as her costume designer. As to her role as a San Francisco-based hairstylist, Kajol wore colorful clothes, including jackets and trousers; while her character is at home, she would be given more tracks and sweaters. In one of her scenes, she featured in a red sari, which was not Malhotra's design but was bought from a shop. Johar said that she did not want the fashion to distract the film's messages. Shiraz Siddique handled the rest of the cast's costumes.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Principal photography was commenced by Ravi K. Chandran on 18 December 2008 in Los Angeles. Farah Khan and Sham Kaushal provided the choreography; Sharmishta Roy served as the production designer; Mohammed Kasim and Mansi Dhruv Mehta were the art directors; Sidharth Malhotra and Varun Dhawan, who would later make their film debuts with Johar's next directorial venture "Student of the Year", also presented by Shah Rukh Khan, served as assistant directors. In January 2009, after a one-month schedule, Shah Rukh Khan went on to shoot an action scene in "Dulha Mil Gaya" (2010) but faced an accident that injured his shoulder. He underwent a physical therapy, and in the next month a surgery that made the shooting was delayed until the next month. After filming was continued, he faced severe migraines but only taking pills to relieve these. When the pain worsened he checked up to a doctor; his migraines were proven to have been the result of being in leaning position and raising his eyebrows for hours, which were required for his character. In January 2010, he had another physical therapy.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The Los Angeles schedule began in March 2009. In the next month, the slum scenes were shot in Borivali. The next two days, the film was shot at a mosque in Andheri. Filming then moved to San Francisco in May 2009 for a 40-day schedule. Coinciding with the start of the 2009 swine flu pandemic, it was done secretly to avoid public attention, and finished a month afterwards. In August 2009, the cast and crew moved to Film City for shooting the hurricane scene. For the sets, Josh Maidain designed a dam of , along with churches and small houses. A tank was also made, and approximately 12 thousand liters of water were used for the scene. This schedule, which was the last of the production, began on 1 September and was completed in a month. During the filming, a snake reportedly entered the tank and panicked all the workers. "My Name Is Khan" was edited by Deepa Bhatia, while Dileep Subramaniam and Anuj Mathur were involved in the sound design. The film's final cut runs for 155 minutes.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy composed the soundtrack to "My Name Is Khan", while Iyengar and Javed Akhtar (uncredited) provided the lyrics. The film has six original songs and four additional songs taken from Karan Johar's previous films. All the songs are played in the background; none with lip sync. When Iyengar had written two of the film's songs, Akhtar was approached to write the remaining but rejected the offers, citing his unwillingness to share credits. However, on Johar's persuasion, Akhtar later agreed to write one song though his name appeared not in the film's credits. "My Name Is Khan" features eight singers: Rahat Fateh Ali Khan, Shankar Mahadevan, Richa Sharma, Shreya Ghoshal, Adnan Sami, Shafqat Amanat Ali, Rashid Khan and Suraj Jagan. The album was released on 5 January 2010 by Sony Music. The "Billboard" magazine reported that it sold 150,000 units four days after its launch in India only, and proved to be a commercial success.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The soundtrack of the film received positive reviews from music critics. Joginder Tuteja of Bollywood Hungama wrote "My Name Is Khan" music does not has the romantic nature that is usual in Karan Johar's films, mainly "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai", and gave it a rating of three out of five stars. "Hindustan Times" concluded, "On the whole, every song in the album is above-average. The composers have stuck to the theme of the film and the soundtrack has the potential to rock the charts." Sukanya Verma of "Rediff.com" found the music to have strong Sufi feels, opining that "it's neither fancy nor groundbreaking but warm enough to make us like it". Writing for the "BBC", Jaspreet Pandohar described the soundtrack as a "mellow, spiritually-uplifting musical experience", while "Mid-Day" noted "the six-track album is worth occasional listening, but certainly not the soul-stirrer you were expecting". The "Indo-Asian News Service" included "Sajda" in their listing of 10 greatest Bollywood songs of 2010. The songs have been listed as following.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" debuted in Abu Dhabi, UAE on 10 February 2010. It released globally in cinemas on 12 February 2010. "MNIK" had a two phase release. To begin with, it had a mainstream release in India coupled with a regular Diaspora release in UK, US, Gulf, Australia and various other countries. "After that in the months of April and May, we would be looking at a mainstream theatrical release in countries like Germany, Poland and other parts of North America," detailed Johar.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" was screened as part of 60th Berlin International Film Festival's Official Selection in February 2010, out of competition. The website eBay auctioned the tickets for the film's screening at the Berlin Film Festival for a record price of £1,000 stg (60,000) each. All the tickets were sold out in five seconds.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The first look of "My Name Is Khan" unveiled at a grand ceremony at Mumbai by Johar, Khan and Kajol and was then beamed across 70 countries worldwide on the Star TV Network. Johar was excited and noted, "This is a first in the history of Bollywood – that the promos of a film will play across such a wide platform. And, this has mainly been made possible because of our synergy with Fox Star Studios ... and also the first time a Bollywood company is tying up with a mainstream Hollywood studio. So, there are many firsts to this venture." The trailer of the film was released at the premiere of the Hollywood film, "Avatar" (2009). "My Name Is Khan" marked the first instance of a film using the roadblock advertising technique to market a film, in which the three-minute trailer was aired on all leading television channels simultaneously.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The makers of the film made various brand tie-ups to for the promotion of the film. Dish TV entered into a strategic marketing alliance with Fox Star and spent approximately in a month-long 360-degree integrated marketing campaign which ran across all India to co-promote the brand and the film. Reebok created an entire "MNIK Footwear and Apparel Collection" to promote the film.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: On 1 February 2010, Khan and Kajol became the first Indian film stars to ring the opening bell of the New York stock exchange NASDAQ. They were invited by Fox Searchlight Pictures to do so as part of their promotion for "My Name Is Khan". Khan also appeared on "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" as part of its promotion in the UK, becoming only the second Indian after Shilpa Shetty to do so.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: On 7 August 2009, Johar signed a deal for with Fox Searchlight Pictures, who will market and distribute it in worldwide (Fox Searchlight). It covers all rights except music, which has been secured by Sony Music.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The film was released in India on DVD on 21 April 2010, Blu-ray in India, plus a DVD release worldwide followed on 17 August 2010.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In the United Kingdom, it was 2012's sixth most-watched foreign-language film on television with 210,000 viewers on Channel 4, and the year's second most-watched Asian film (below the Chinese film "Red Cliff").


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" received highly positive reviews upon release, with particular praise directed towards its direction and the leads' performances, and has often been referred to as the director's "magnum opus".


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In a -star review, Taran Adarsh wrote that Shah Rukh Khan's performance was his career's best so far and "no amount of praise can do sufficient justice to his portrayal". Adarsh also praised the decision to cast Kajol, whom he regarded as the one with the strongest chemistry with Shah Rukh Khan, and described her as having given "a powerhouse performance". "Rediff.com"'s Raja Sen said Karan Johar had made "his first grown-up film", and described it as one "that will inspire, make aware, make happy". Sudhish Kamath wrote of the character Rizwan as "the epitome of goodness and surprisingly, the filmmaker tones down his sense of drama several notches, showing great restraint for at least two-thirds of the film".


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Writing for "The Hindu", Bhavishek Shah called the film a landmark to the careers of the director and its lead actors. The critic opined Shah Rukh Khan succeeded in playing his part: "Completely getting under the skin of the character, Shah Rukh has picked up every single nuance of an Asperger's syndrome patient without making it appear labored." Savera R. Someshwar of "Rediff.com" wrote that Kajol delivered a fine performance, taking note of her "laughter, her determination, her "joie de vivre", her grief, her anger — Kajol brings it all to life. And, if I may say so, Kajol, no one runs up a hill dressed in a night suit, wearing floppy slippers, with no make-up on, as well as you do." Pratim D. Gupta of "The Telegraph" wrote that Shah Rukh Khan is outstanding and called his presence to be emotional equilibrium, and was excited to see him collaborating once again with Kajol. Writing for the "Bangalore Mirror", Minty Tejpal saw the film was intended for an international market, noting its story that includes Islamophobia and African-American community.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "BBC"'s Manish Gajjar believed Shah Rukh Khan had shown his versatility as an actor within his emotional performance and considered it to be his best. On Kajol, Gajjar thought she had given an equally commendable performance, especially in the second half where her character, Mandira, is shown as being egocentric after losing her son. Minu Jain of "The New Indian Express" complimented Karan Johar for exploring a genre that is not romance-centric and labelled the film "a road journey through a troubled post 9/11 America towards humanism". Mayank Shekhar of the "Hindustan Times" also praised his move to experiment outside the typically musical Bollywood cinema; Shekhar wrote positively of Bathija's screenplay, which he called compelling enough for praise. Subhash K. Jha referred to the film as "a flawless work, as perfect in content, tone and treatment as any film can get". Anna M. M. Vetticad lauded "My Name Is Khan" story, claiming that it had been able to made her cry.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Anupama Chopra said Shah Rukh Khan's character Rizwan as the greatest part of the film. Sukanya Venkatraghavan of "Filmfare" asserted, "To say "MNIK" is a warm-the-cockles film about a man with Asperger syndrome who overcomes all odds and triumphs would be to pigeonhole it. The movie has a larger picture-one of humanity, tolerance, redemption and above all love." Kaveree Bamzai of "India Today" said the film deserves to be watched not for its message but Shah Rukh Khan. Alike views were shared by Rajeev Masand, who encouraged people to watch it for the cast; Masand further stated that the message of religious tolerance is significant but not unique. "Mid-Day" Sarita Tanwar argued, "In a near-perfect film, the only over-the-top part is Rizwan's return to a flood-hit small town to save the African-American family. It's stands out because everything else is so understated." A scathing opinion was expressed by Ajit Duara of "Open" magazine, who labelled it "an expensive and empty vessel", attributing it to "the naivete of its treatment and the hack job that Karan Johar does with all the actors in this huge production".


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In a review to "Ananda Bazar Patrika", Indroneil Sarkar disliked the film for its heavy subject and commented that the flood scene of the second half should have been edited out in entirety. Vinod Mirani of "Box Office India" criticized the film as "an average film, lavishly made", and remarked, "As a director, Karan has treated the subject too leisurely, and consequently the pace slows down and the film drags at time. He's trying to say too many things." Ajay Brahmatraj of "Dainik Bhaskar", while commending Karan Johar for this time picking a complex subject, found the story not well written. "Man's World" Maithili Rao wrote, "It works only in the first half. Post interval there's too much drama, in particular the flood scene. They were trying to make a hero of an ordinary man. That spoilt the effect of the first half." Deepa Gahlot of "The Afternoon Despatch & Courier" dismissed the film as being not one "that will evoke an instant reaction", concluding: "After a while, instead of feeling sympathetic, you are put off."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" received highly positive from overseas publications, most of which echoed the same sentiments as of domestic critics.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In spite of being critical of the film's flood subplot and topics not fully explored, such as the Iraq War, "Sight & Sound" Naman Ramachandran wrote Shah Rukh Khan carried out the film despite its flaws. Itrath Syed of "The Georgia Straight" called "My Name Is Khan" "a multilayered, politically nuanced, and emotionally demanding film". Syed noted there are "places where Johar leans too heavily on melodrama. Yet he does reveal an American experience in which fear and suspicion are commonplace, and to which people of color have simply adjusted." Mark Jenkins of "NPR" wrote the film "transplants Bollywood's audacious style and brazen sentimentality to Hollywood's America". Jenkins, however, was ambivalent of Shah Rukh Khan, whose characterization of Asperger syndrome the critic found to be dubious.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" opened very well in most places across the world, and set many records in the process. However, the performance of the film could not sustain beyond the first or second week in some places, including India and USA. The film's performance in India was quite good but still is generally regarded as "below expectations" due to the high price, while the overseas performance of the film has been record breaking. By 4 April 2010, the worldwide gross revenue for "My Name Is Khan" from the box office was US$36,145,870. Domestically in India, "My Name Is Khan" generated a net of and a gross of . The film's final worldwide gross was , including () overseas.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In India, the film opened with a massive (US$6,356,688), which was the third-highest weekend net for a Bollywood film, behind "3 Idiots" and "Ghajini". It recorded the third-highest first day business across India, behind "3 Idiots" and "Ghajini" at the time of release. The film broke the record of "Race" for the biggest opening weekend in the first quarter of the year. The film was reported to have done very well in multiplexes, but comparatively on the lower side in single screens. The film managed to net in its first week.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In rankings based on distributor share, My Name Is Khan comes in fifth behind "Dabangg", "Raajneeti", "Golmaal 3" and "Housefull"; in a way bearing out Sajid Khan's boast that "Housefull" will surpass MNIK in India. The film managed to retain the No. 1 spot at the Indian box office for two consecutive weeks, and remained in the top five for six consecutive weeks. At the end of its theatrical run, the film earned in India.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The film faced considerable falls in collections after its first week. The drops in collections became evident from the fact that 63% of the film's net collections came from the first week, as compared to 54% for "Race", 56% for "Ghajini", 49% for "Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi" and 39% for "3 Idiots". In spite of this, the film managed to retain the No. 1 position at the box office for two consecutive weeks. It was in the top 5 list of the Indian box office for six consecutive weeks. Though the mid-week collections saw a drop of 60% from the opening weekend, it held up well against other major releases and secured the highest first quarter collections, a record previously held by "Race". Thus, the film is a financial success owing to its record-breaking overseas collections and healthy domestic collections.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" grossed US$23.5 million in the overseas markets. The film grossed the biggest opening day overseas, taking an estimated , beating the overseas opening day collections of "3 Idiots". The film also grossed the biggest opening weekend overseas, taking an estimated , again beating the overseas opening weekend collections of "3 Idiots" which grossed . In its first week, it grossed . As of August 2010, the film has grossed $4,018,771 in the United States and $37,001,087 elsewhere for a worldwide total of $41,019,858.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In the UK, it made £123,000 on its opening day, which was more than the combined total of "3 Idiots" in its first two days (£121,000). By the end of the second week, "MNIK" became only the third Bollywood film to cross the £2 million mark in the UK, after "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" and "Veer-Zaara", according to the exchange rates prevailing at their respective times of release. The film grossed a total of () in the United Kingdom, making it the highest-grossing foreign-language film of 2010 in the UK.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" debuted in USA in 120 theatres, breaking the record set by "3 Idiots" which debuted in 119 theatres. The film broke the record for an opening weekend in the US, earning US$1,994,027. The film debuted at No. 13 at the American box office. By the end of the first week, the film grossed US$2,552,283, second only to "3 Idiots" which had a Christmas holiday week. By the fourth week, the film earned US$3,868,891 (193,820,016), breaking Shah Rukh Khan's previous record set by "Om Shanti Om". On the 51st day of screening in the US, "My Name Is Khan" broke the US$4 million barrier, and became only the second Bollywood film ever to cross this mark, after "3 Idiots".


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In Australia, the film earned A$39,000 (1610,000) on its opening day, and was ranked No. 11 in the market. By the first weekend, the film earned US$437,687, defeating the previous record set by 3 Idiots (US$350,000). In New Zealand and Fiji, the film earned NZ$13,627 on its opening day, and earned NZ$144,831 (US$100,698) in its first week. By the end of its theatrical run, the film earned NZ$232,586.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In the Middle East, the response to the film has been described as "huge" and it earned approximately US$300,000 on its opening day. In Egypt it earned . By the end of its theatrical run, the film grossed US$517,018.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" also opened well in Sri Lanka, Pakistan and the Far East. The film is the highest-grossing film in Pakistan, breaking the records set by "Avatar", "3 Idiots" and "Wanted". By its third week, "MNIK" became the highest-grossing Bollywood film in the Middle East, earning US$3.3 million. In South Africa, the film earned US$85,214 (39.28 lakh) in its opening weekend. In Malaysia, it earned RM 105,527 (US$31,106) in its opening weekend, and by the second weekend, the film had earned RM 410,864 (US$120,452). In Nigeria, the film earned an "impressive" ₦2,310,137 (US$15,362) in its opening weekend. In Ghana, the film earned GH₵10,599 (US$7,443) by the second weekend. In Indonesia, the film grew from 6 to 14 screens and saw a jump of 300 percent in week three. The film has also grossed $425,825 in 7 weeks at the Bahrain box office. The film has also grossed an impressive $55,073 in Poland in its opening weekend. The film grossed $270,698 in South Africa. In South Korea, the film grossed $2,618,866. The film also made $58,683 in Lebanon. "My Name is Khan" released in Hong Kong on 5 January 2012 and collected US$107,197.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: "My Name Is Khan" created several records, both in India and around the world. In India, the film smashed the record for a Bollywood release in the month of February, breaking the previous two-year record held by "Jodhaa Akbar" (2008). The film also broke the record for a Bollywood release in the first quarter of the year, breaking the previous two-year record held by "Race" (2008).


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Overseas, it became the highest-grossing Indian film in overseas markets at the time, and the first Indian film to gross over overseas. In the UK, the film broke the four-year record of "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (2006), and became the highest-grossing Bollywood film in the UK. In the Middle East, it is also the highest-grossing Bollywood film.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In 2017, Khan was honoured at the San Francisco Film festival for his role in the film, seven years after the release of "MNIK".


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The soundtrack is composed by the musical trio Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy, who previously teamed up with Johar for his previous films "Kal Ho Naa Ho" (2003) and "Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna" (2006). The lyrics are penned by Niranjan Iyengar. The audio rights of the film were purchased by Sony Music Entertainment, which had also previously released music for all of Johar's past releases, which gained global musical success. The album was released on 1 January 2010. The musical soundtrack consists of 6 original songs and 4 bonus tracks that are taken from Johar's previous successful films featuring Khan. The soundtrack includes one instrumental called "Khan Theme", composed by Indrajit Sharma and the strings for the song are performed by the Bombay Film Orchestra. The songs such as "Noor-e-Khuda" blend western bar blues and techno sounds with Indian classical styles such as Sufi and Hindustani. The song "Allah hi Rahem" sung by Ustad Rashid Khan is another example of Sufi thematic song. The soundtrack is thus representative of the "indie fusion genre". Unlike all of Johar's other films, none of the songs plays in lip-sync format, instead playing in the background.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Although Iyengar is alone credited for writing the lyrics for the songs, he penned the only two Sufi songs in the film, "Sajda" and "Allah Hi Rahem". Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy's previous collaborator Javed Akhtar was approached to write the lyrics for the remaining three songs. Earlier, it was reported that Akhtar refused to write lyrics because he did not want to share credits with another lyricist. Later, Johar confirmed that Akhtar penned the remaining songs, but did not want to be credited as lyricist when the soundtrack released. Akhtar confirmed this and said, "I don't like to share the credits. I would have got the publicity but the other person, who has done a fine job, wouldn't have. I have read the songs penned by Niranjan and I think he has done a great job."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Upon release, the album received positive reviews from music critics. Gianysh Toolsee of "Planet Bollywood" stated that the soundtrack was "very much about transcending the boundaries set by Bollywood by venturing into an emotional state through Sufism and spirituality." and gave the album 8/10. Joginder Tuteja of "Bollywood Hungama" gave the album a three out of five stars, suggesting that Johar along with musicians Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy and lyricist Niranjan Iyengar "have brought not a partial but a substantial difference to the way music in [Johar's] films is being looked at." "Hindustan Times" rated the album 3.5 out of 5 and stated "Every song in the album is above average. The composers have stuck to the theme of the film and the soundtrack has the potential to rock the charts." Sukanya Verma of "Rediff" gave the album 3 out of 5 stating, "As for the soundtrack, it's neither fancy nor groundbreaking but warm enough to make us like it." Glamsham rated the album 4/5 with a statement "Karan has crafted a beautiful film, while SRK has authored a marketing strategy that will be hard for even Aamir Khan to beat!" The "BBC" review stated, "With four bonus songs taken from the director's box office successes that have featured Shah Rukh and Kajol together (plus a theatrical trailer for "My Name Is Khan"), there are plenty of extras goodies for hardcore Bollywood fans. But placed side by side, Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy's latest soundtrack may not seem as memorable as past collaborations."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Khan has stated that due to his last name and religion, he (like Rizwan Khan) is frequently subject to excess security checks at airports. On 14 August 2009, Khan arrived in the United States to promote "My Name Is Khan" and to participate in South Asian-related events around the country (including Indian Independence Day). Upon arriving at Newark Airport in New Jersey, he was pulled aside by immigration officers after his name popped up on their computers, questioned for over an hour (Khan claims it was at least two hours) about the nature of his visit, and was later released. According to the "Times Online", "In Delhi, Timothy J. Roemer, the American Ambassador to India, said that the embassy was trying to 'ascertain the facts of the case.' He added: 'Shah Rukh Khan, the actor and global icon, is a welcome guest in the United States.'"


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Khan said he was told that it was because "they said my name was common to some name that popped up on the computer." The officials asked if he could provide names of people to vouch for him. Khan noted that he "had all the documents; they were asking me where I was going to be staying. I gave the name of FOX people with whom I had finalised a deal a few days ago as contacts." However, because they wanted to check his luggage which the airline had lost, Khan said that he "was taken to a room where many people were awaiting a secondary check on visa, most were South Asians. In fact many officers were reluctantly vouching for me, some people were asking for autographs and a Pakistani fan even said he knew who I was. But the officers said it was procedure and kept taking numbers from me."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: While he was not allowed to use his own phone, Khan was permitted one phone call. He was thus released after officials from the Indian Consulate intervened. Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel stated that the event will be further explored with U.S. officials. According to the BBC, "Elmer Camacho, a spokesman for the US Bureau of Customs and Border Protection, said the questioning was part of the agency's routine process to screen foreign travellers." When asked if he would demand an apology, Khan replied that he would not.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: The director of "My Name Is Khan", Karan Johar, was asked during an August 2009 interview with "Mid-Day" if the event was a publicity stunt for the film. Johar denied that it was and responded: "It's upsetting because I got a text message this morning asking me if it was a publicity plug for my movie. (Sarcastically) I mean, if I had that much power over the Homeland Security, why would I allow Shah Rukh to go through something like this? ... What's really shocking is the fact that when I was writing the film, I never thought that what happened to the protagonist of the film would happen to Shah Rukh." During a January 2010 interview, Khan referred to the implication that the event was a publicity stunt for the film as "lowdown and cheap." Christopher B. Duncan, who portrays President Obama in "My Name Is Khan", also commented on the incident stating: "I was very disappointed with what SRK experienced at the airport. We're living in times where the levels of fear can sometimes spill over into paranoia. Here's a man who is an international superstar, being detained for an excessive amount of time at an airport in the United States. It had to be very upsetting for him. Imagine Oprah (Winfrey) being detained at an airport in India for a long time, during a kind of interrogation."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In addition, the incident sparked debate and commentary among Indian politicians, actors, and others. It also led to demonstrations in India. California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger later invited Khan to have dinner with him "in a bid to diffuse what has become a slight diplomatic row."


title: My Name Is Khan

text: In another event, on 5 February 2010, while promoting "My Name Is Khan" on the British talk show "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross", Khan claimed that female security staff at Heathrow Airport in London had printed a naked image of him taken using the newly installed body scanner that he was asked to go through. He said that he autographed it for them, though it is not clear if his comments were intended as a joke. In relation to Khan's comments, "The Economic Times" has raised concerns over the new body scanners and the possibilities of it being abused to distribute naked pictures of celebrities. His comments have restarted the debate in Britain over whether the new scanners violate individual privacy.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: After Shah Rukh Khan (who owns the Kolkata Knight Riders cricket team) criticized the fact that members of the Pakistani Cricket Team were not bought by the clubs competing in the 2010 Indian Premier League (IPL), he was condemned by Shiv Sena, a Hindu nationalist political party. There were consequent protests and demonstrations against him and demands that cinemas in India refuse to screen "My Name Is Khan". Khan responded by stating, "What did I say that was wrong? All I said was that I wanted people to come to my country." Khan continued by stating that: "I have no idea what I am supposed to apologize for ... If I am in the wrong I would like to apologize but someone needs to explain to me what is wrong." He also stated that he does "not want any confrontation. I am trying to explain myself on every platform ... I have not said anything that is anti-national." Khan said that he was willing to meet with Bal Thackeray to discuss the issue.


title: My Name Is Khan

text: Initially, Shiv Sena rescinded its demand to block release of "My Name Is Khan" after it was announced that Khan would be allowed to release it "in as many theatres" as he would like. However, on 17 February 2010, when cinemas opened for advanced bookings, individuals disguised as "cinegoers" began to attack cinemas and booking centers. Director Karan Johar and distributors met with police to ask for additional security. In response, Chief Minister of Maharashtra Ashok Chavan threatened to withdraw security cover for party leader Uddhav Thackeray. Later, some security was withdrawn and the Maharashtra government has "called in five battalions of the State Reserve Police Force to protect 63 cinemas in the city that will screen the film directed by Karan Johar from this Friday." There were multiple arrests and leave of all police officials were cancelled. The distributor, Fox Star, stated that the film would still be released on its scheduled opening date, 12 February. It opened to full cinema houses across India.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) is an aminopolycarboxylic acid with the formula [CHN(CHCOH)]. This white, water-soluble solid is widely used to bind to iron (Fe/Fe) and calcium ions (Ca), forming water-soluble complexes even at neutral pH. It is thus used to dissolve Fe- and Ca-containing scale as well as to deliver iron ions under conditions where its oxides are insoluble. EDTA is available as several salts, notably disodium EDTA, sodium calcium edetate, and tetrasodium EDTA, but these all function similarly.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In industry, EDTA is mainly used to sequester (bind or confine) metal ions in aqueous solution. In the textile industry, it prevents metal ion impurities from modifying colours of dyed products. In the pulp and paper industry, EDTA inhibits the ability of metal ions, especially Mn, from catalysing the disproportionation of hydrogen peroxide, which is used in chlorine-free bleaching. In a similar manner, EDTA is added to some food as a preservative or stabiliser to prevent catalytic oxidative decolouration, which is catalysed by metal ions.In soft drinks containing ascorbic acid and sodium benzoate, EDTA mitigates formation of benzene (a carcinogen).


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The reduction of water hardness in laundry applications and the dissolution of scale in boilers both rely on EDTA and related complexants to bind Ca, Mg, as well as other metal ions. Once bound to EDTA, these metal complexes are less likely to form precipitates or to interfere with the action of the soaps and detergents. For similar reasons, cleaning solutions often contain EDTA. In a similar manner EDTA is used in the cement industry for the determination of free lime and free magnesia in cement and clinkers.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The solubilisation of Fe ions at or below near neutral pH can be accomplished using EDTA. This property is useful in agriculture including hydroponics. However, given the pH dependence of ligand formation, EDTA is not helpful for improving iron solubility in above neutral soils. Otherwise, at near-neutral pH and above, iron(III) forms insoluble salts, which are less bioavailable to susceptible plant species.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Aqueous [Fe(EDTA)] is used for removing ("scrubbing") hydrogen sulfide from gas streams. This conversion is achieved by oxidising the hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur, which is non-volatile:


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In this application, the iron(III) centre is reduced to its iron(II) derivative, which can then be reoxidised by air. In similar manner, nitrogen oxides are removed from gas streams using [Fe(EDTA)].


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The oxidising properties of [Fe(EDTA)] are also exploited in photography, where it is used to solubilise silver particles.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA was used in separation of the lanthanide metals by ion-exchange chromatography. Perfected by F. H. Spedding "et al". in 1954, the method relies on the steady increase in stability constant of the lanthanide EDTA complexes with atomic number. Using sulfonated polystyrene beads and Cu as a retaining ion, EDTA causes the lanthanides to migrate down the column of resin while separating into bands of pure lanthanides. The lanthanides elute in order of decreasing atomic number. Due to the expense of this method, relative to countercurrent solvent extraction, ion exchange is now used only to obtain the highest purities of lanthanides (typically greater than 99.99%).


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Sodium calcium edetate, an EDTA derivative, is used to bind metal ions in the practice of chelation therapy, such as for treating mercury and lead poisoning. It is used in a similar manner to remove excess iron from the body. This therapy is used to treat the complication of repeated blood transfusions, as would be applied to treat thalassaemia.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Dentists and endodontists use EDTA solutions to remove inorganic debris (smear layer) and lubricate the root canals in endodontics. This procedure helps prepare root canals for obturation. Furthermore, EDTA solutions with the addition of a surfactant loosen up calcifications inside a root canal and allow instrumentation (canal shaping) and facilitate apical advancement of a file in a tight or calcified root canal towards the apex.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: It serves as a preservative (usually to enhance the action of another preservative such as benzalkonium chloride or thiomersal) in ocular preparations and eyedrops.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In evaluating kidney function, the chromium(III) complex [Cr(EDTA)] (as radioactive chromium-51 (Cr)) is administered intravenously and its filtration into the urine is monitored. This method is useful for evaluating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) in nuclear medicine.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA is used extensively in the analysis of blood. It is an anticoagulant for blood samples for CBC/FBCs, where the EDTA chelates the calcium present in the blood specimen, arresting the coagulation process and preserving blood cell morphology. Tubes containing EDTA are marked with lavender (purple) or pink tops. EDTA is also in tan top tubes for lead testing and can be used in royal blue top tubes for trace metal testing.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA is a slime dispersant, and has been found to be highly effective in reducing bacterial growth during implantation of intraocular lenses (IOLs).


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Some alternative practitioners believe EDTA acts as an antioxidant, preventing free radicals from injuring blood vessel walls, therefore reducing atherosclerosis. These ideas are unsupported by scientific studies, and seem to contradict some currently accepted principles. The U.S. FDA has not approved it for the treatment of atherosclerosis.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In shampoos, cleaners, and other personal care products, EDTA salts are used as a sequestering agent to improve their stability in air.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In the laboratory, EDTA is widely used for scavenging metal ions: In biochemistry and molecular biology, ion depletion is commonly used to deactivate metal-dependent enzymes, either as an assay for their reactivity or to suppress damage to DNA, proteins, and polysaccharides. EDTA also acts as a selective inhibitor against dNTP hydrolyzing enzymes (Taq polymerase, dUTPase, MutT), liver arginase and horseradish peroxidase independently of metal ion chelation. These findings urge the rethinking of the utilisation of EDTA as a biochemically inactive metal ion scavenger in enzymatic experiments. In analytical chemistry, EDTA is used in complexometric titrations and analysis of water hardness or as a masking agent to sequester metal ions that would interfere with the analyses.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA finds many specialised uses in the biomedical labs, such as in veterinary ophthalmology as an anticollagenase to prevent the worsening of corneal ulcers in animals. In tissue culture EDTA is used as a chelating agent that binds to calcium and prevents joining of cadherins between cells, preventing clumping of cells grown in liquid suspension, or detaching adherent cells for passaging. In histopathology, EDTA can be used as a decalcifying agent making it possible to cut sections using a microtome once the tissue sample is demineralised.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA is also known to inhibit a range of metallopeptidases, the method of inhibition occurs via the chelation of the metal ion required for catalytic activity. EDTA can also be used to test for bioavailability of heavy metals in sediments. However, it may "influence" the bioavailability of metals in solution, which may pose concerns regarding its effects in the environment, especially given its widespread uses and applications.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA exhibits low acute toxicity with (rat) of 2.0 g/kg to 2.2 g/kg. It has been found to be both cytotoxic and weakly genotoxic in laboratory animals. Oral exposures have been noted to cause reproductive and developmental effects. The same study also found that both dermal exposure to EDTA in most cosmetic formulations and inhalation exposure to EDTA in aerosolised cosmetic formulations would produce exposure levels below those seen to be toxic in oral dosing studies.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The compound was first described in 1935 by Ferdinand Münz, who prepared the compound from ethylenediamine and chloroacetic acid. Today, EDTA is mainly synthesised from ethylenediamine (1,2-diaminoethane), formaldehyde, and sodium cyanide. This route yields the tetrasodium EDTA, which is converted in a subsequent step into the acid forms:


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: This process is used to produce about 80,000 tonnes of EDTA each year. Impurities cogenerated by this route include glycine and nitrilotriacetic acid; they arise from reactions of the ammonia coproduct.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: To describe EDTA and its various protonated forms, chemists distinguish between EDTA, the conjugate base that is the ligand, and HEDTA, the precursor to that ligand. At very low pH (very acidic conditions) the fully protonated HEDTA form predominates, whereas at very high pH or very basic condition, the fully deprotonated EDTA form is prevalent. In this article, the term EDTA is used to mean HEDTA, whereas in its complexes EDTA stands for the tetraanion ligand.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In coordination chemistry, EDTA is a member of the aminopolycarboxylic acid family of ligands. EDTA usually binds to a metal cation through its two amines and four carboxylates, i.e., it is It a hexadentate ("six-toothed") chelating agent. Many of the resulting coordination compounds adopt octahedral geometry. Although of little consequence for its applications, these octahedral complexes are chiral. The cobalt(III) anion [Co(EDTA)] has been resolved into enantiomers. Many complexes of EDTA adopt more complex structures due to either the formation of an additional bond to water, "i.e." seven-coordinate complexes, or the displacement of one carboxylate arm by water. The iron(III) complex of EDTA is seven-coordinate. Early work on the development of EDTA was undertaken by Gerold Schwarzenbach in the 1940s. EDTA forms especially strong complexes with Mn(II), Cu(II), Fe(III), Pb(II) and Co(III).


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Several features of EDTA's complexes are relevant to its applications. First, because of its high denticity, this ligand has a high affinity for metal cations:


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Written in this way, the equilibrium quotient shows that metal ions compete with protons for binding to EDTA. Because metal ions are extensively enveloped by EDTA, their catalytic properties are often suppressed. Finally, since complexes of EDTA are anionic, they tend to be highly soluble in water. For this reason, EDTA is able to dissolve deposits of metal oxides and carbonates.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The p"K" values of free EDTA are 0, 1.5, 2, 2.66 (deprotonation of the four carboxyl groups) and 6.16, 10.24 (deprotonation of the two amino groups).


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA is in such widespread use that questions have been raised whether it is a persistent organic pollutant. While EDTA serves many positive functions in different industrial, pharmaceutical and other avenues, the longevity of EDTA can pose serious issues in the environment. The degradation of EDTA is slow. It mainly occurs abiotically in the presence of sunlight.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The most important process for the elimination of EDTA from surface waters is direct photolysis at wavelengths below 400 nm. Depending on the light conditions, the photolysis half-lives of iron(III) EDTA in surface waters can range as low as 11.3 minutes up to more than 100 hours. Degradation of FeEDTA, but not EDTA itself, produces iron complexes of the triacetate (ED3A), diacetate (EDDA), and monoacetate (EDMA) – 92% of EDDA and EDMA biodegrades in 20 hours while ED3A displays significantly higher resistance. Many environmentally-abundant EDTA species (such as Mg and Ca) are more persistent.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In many industrial wastewater treatment plants, EDTA elimination can be achieved at about 80% using microorganisms. Resulting byproducts are ED3A and iminodiacetic acid (IDA) – suggesting that both the backbone and acetyl groups were attacked. Some microorganisms have even been discovered to form nitrates out of EDTA, but they function optimally at moderately alkaline conditions of pH 9.0–9.5.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Several bacterial strains isolated from sewage treatment plants efficiently degrade EDTA. Specific strains include "Agrobacterium radiobacter" ATCC 55002 and the sub-branches of Pseudomonadota like BNC1, BNC2, and strain DSM 9103. The three strains share similar properties of aerobic respiration and are classified as gram-negative bacteria. Unlike photolysis, the chelated species is not exclusive to iron(III) in order to be degraded. Rather, each strain uniquely consumes varying metal–EDTA complexes through several enzymatic pathways. Agrobacterium radiobacter only degrades Fe(III) EDTA while BNC1 and DSM 9103 are not capable of degrading iron(III) EDTA and are more suited for calcium, barium, magnesium and manganese(II) complexes. EDTA complexes require dissociation before degradation.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Interest in environmental safety has raised concerns about biodegradability of aminopolycarboxylates such as EDTA. These concerns incentivize the investigation of alternative aminopolycarboxylates. Candidate chelating agents include nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), iminodisuccinic acid (IDS), polyaspartic acid, "S,S"-ethylenediamine-"N","N"′-disuccinic acid (EDDS), methylglycinediacetic acid (MGDA), and -Glutamic acid "N","N"-diacetic acid, tetrasodium salt (GLDA).


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Commercially used since 1998, iminodisuccinic acid (IDS) biodegrades by about 80% after only 7 days. IDS binds to calcium exceptionally well and forms stable compounds with other heavy metal ions. In addition to having a lower toxicity after chelation, IDS is degraded by "Agrobacterium tumefaciens" (BY6), which can be harvested on a large scale. The enzymes involved, IDS epimerase and C−N lyase, do not require any cofactors.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Polyaspartic acid, like IDS, binds to calcium and other heavy metal ions. It has many practical applications including corrosion inhibitors, wastewater additives, and agricultural polymers. A Polyaspartic acid-based laundry detergent was the first laundry detergent in the world to receive the EU flower ecolabel. Calcium binding ability of polyaspartic acid has been exploited for targeting of drug-loaded nanocarriers to bone. Preparation of hydrogels based on polyaspartic acid, in a variety of physical forms ranging from fiber to particle, can potentially enable facile separation of the chelated ions from a solution. Therefore, despite being weaker than EDTA, polyaspartic acid can still be regarded as a viable alternative due to these features as well as biocompatibility, and biodegradability.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: A structural isomer of EDTA, ethylenediamine-"N","N"′-disuccinic acid (EDDS) is readily biodegradable at high rate in its "S","S" form.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: Trisodium dicarboxymethyl alaninate, also known as methylglycinediacetic acid (MGDA), has a high rate of biodegradation at over 68%, but unlike many other chelating agents can degrade without the assistance of adapted bacteria. Additionally, unlike EDDS or IDS, MGDA can withstand higher temperatures while maintaining a high stability as well as the entire pH range. MGDA has been shown to be an effective chelating agent, with a capacity for mobilization comparable with that of nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA), with application to water for industrial use and for the removal of calcium oxalate from urine from patients with kidney stones.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: The most sensitive method of detecting and measuring EDTA in biological samples is selected reaction monitoring capillary electrophoresis mass spectrometry (SRM-CE/MS), which has a detection limit of 7.3 ng/mL in human plasma and a quantitation limit of 15 ng/mL. This method works with sample volumes as small as 7–8 nL.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: EDTA has also been measured in non-alcoholic beverages using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) at a level of 2.0 μg/mL.


title: Ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid

text: In the movie Blade (1998), EDTA is used as a weapon to kill vampires, exploding when in contact with vampire blood.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: Julia Sawalha (born 9 September 1968) is an English actress who played Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous". She also portrayed Lynda Day, editor of the "Junior Gazette", in "Press Gang", Lydia Bennet in the 1995 television miniseries of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice," and voiced Ginger in "Chicken Run" and Georgina and Kid in "Sheeep." Additionally, she played Dorcas Lane in the BBC's costume drama "Lark Rise to Candleford", Carla Borrego in "Jonathan Creek", and Jan Ward in the 2014 BBC One mystery "Remember Me".


title: Julia Sawalha

text: Sawalha was born in Wandsworth, London on 9 September 1968, and is the daughter of Roberta Lane and actor Nadim Sawalha. Her father was born in Madaba, Jordan. She was named after her paternal grandmother, a businesswoman who had received an award from Queen Noor for enterprise. She is of Jordanian, English, and French Huguenot ancestry.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: Sawalha was educated at the Theatre Arts School, a fee-paying independent school which is part of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, based at the time in Clapham in south London, which she left at the age of fifteen.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: Sawalha made her debut in the 1982 BBC miniseries "Fame Is the Spur", and in 1988 played a small role in "Inspector Morse" on the episode "Last Seen Wearing". She first gained attention for her starring role in the Bafta award-winning ITV teenage comedy-drama "Press Gang", which ran from 1989 to 1993.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: In 1992 she appeared in episode "Parade" (S2 E4) of "Bottom" as Veronica Head, a beautiful young barmaid at the Lamb and Flag, whom Richie tries to woo by boasting of his false adventures in the Falklands.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: From 1991 to 1994, she starred in the ITV family comedy "Second Thoughts" and continued with her character, Hannah (Lynda Bellingham's daughter), in the British Comedy Award-winning "Faith in the Future" (1995–1998). In 1994, she played Mercy (Merry) Pecksniff in the BBC production of "Martin Chuzzlewit".


title: Julia Sawalha

text: From 1992 to 2012, Sawalha played strait-laced daughter Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in the BBC sitcom "Absolutely Fabulous" alongside Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: She appeared in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" as Lydia Bennet, with Jennifer Ehle and Colin Firth.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: From 2000 to 2001, she voiced Georgina and provided Kid's vocal effects in the obscure HIT Entertainment/Grand Slamm Children's Films TV series, Sheeep.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: In 2000, she appeared as Janet, the Australian barmaid in the first series of the British sitcom "Time Gentlemen Please". She also played the much put-upon PA to "Zak" in Argos TV adverts during 2002–2004, along with Richard E. Grant.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: She joined actor Ioan Gruffudd in the TV adaptations of C. S. Forester's "Horatio Hornblower" novels, as the captain's wife Maria. The following year, she became Alan Davies's co-star in "Jonathan Creek" after Caroline Quentin left, appearing in a Christmas Special ("Satan's Chimney"). She returned for a series between 2003 and 2004.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: In 2006, she participated in the third series of the genealogy documentary series "Who Do You Think You Are?" tracing her family's roots, which are Jordanian Bedouin on her father's side, and French Huguenot on her mother's. She also appeared in the pilot of BBC 1's "A Taste of my Life" presented by Nigel Slater.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: After a two-year break, she was back on screen in May 2007, competing in the BBC dog training celebrity reality show "The Underdog Show."She then returned to acting in two successive BBC costume dramas: as Jessie Brown in 2007 series "Cranford", followed by "Lark Rise to Candleford" from 2008 through 2011.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: She provided the voice acting for Sister Hannah (a.k.a. "Hammer"), a main character in the 2008 Xbox 360 video game "Fable II".


title: Julia Sawalha

text: In Autumn 2014, Julia played the part of Jan Ward in BBC One's thriller miniseries "Remember Me", featuring Michael Palin.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: On 9 May 2015 she read the account of a member of the Women's Land Army at "" in Horse Guards Parade, London, which was broadcast live on BBC1.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: In 2016, she appeared in an episode of "Midsomer Murders" and reprised her role as Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon in "".


title: Julia Sawalha

text: In July 2020, she made a statement revealing Aardman Animations intended to recast her character in the upcoming sequel to "Chicken Run", stating that she is now considered to sound too old, and commented "I have officially been plucked, stuffed & roasted". The decision was met with widespread criticism with some finding the decision ageist. She even released video clips online of her voicing the character again to prove her voice still sounded the same.


title: Julia Sawalha

text: On 1 January 2004, tabloid newspapers reported that she had married Alan Davies, her co-star in the television series "Jonathan Creek". Both she and Davies, who avoided discussing their private lives in public, denied this, and took legal action against the reports.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Rockefeller Center is a large complex consisting of 19 commercial buildings covering between 48th Street and 51st Street in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The 14 original Art Deco buildings, commissioned by the Rockefeller family, span the area between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, split by a large sunken square and a private street called Rockefeller Plaza. Later additions include 75 Rockefeller Plaza across 51st Street at the north end of Rockefeller Plaza, and four International Style buildings on the west side of Sixth Avenue.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: In 1928, the site's then-owner, Columbia University, leased the land to John D. Rockefeller Jr., who was the main person behind the complex's construction. Originally envisioned as the site for a new Metropolitan Opera building, the current Rockefeller Center came about after the Met could not afford to move to the proposed new building. Various plans were discussed before the current one was approved in 1932. Construction of Rockefeller Center started in 1931, and the first buildings opened in 1933. The core of the complex was completed by 1939. Described as one of the greatest projects of the Great Depression era, Rockefeller Center was declared a New York City landmark in 1985 and a National Historic Landmark in 1987.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The original center has several sections. Radio City, along Sixth Avenue and centered on 30 Rockefeller Plaza, includes Radio City Music Hall and was built for RCA's radio-related enterprises such as NBC. The International Complex along Fifth Avenue was built to house foreign-based tenants. The remainder of the original complex originally hosted printed media as well as Eastern Air Lines. While 600 Fifth Avenue is at the southeast corner of the complex, it was built by private interests in the 1950s and was only acquired by the center in 1963. The complex is noted for the large quantities of art present in almost all of its buildings, its expansive underground concourse, and its ice-skating rink. The complex is also famous for its annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The first private owner of the site was physician David Hosack, who purchased twenty acres of rural land from New York City in 1801 and opened the country's first botanical garden, the Elgin Botanic Garden, on the site. The gardens operated until 1811, and by 1823 the property was under the ownership of Columbia University. Columbia moved its main campus north to Morningside Heights by the turn of the century.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: In 1926, the Metropolitan Opera started looking for locations for a new opera house to replace the existing building at 39th Street and Broadway. By 1928, Benjamin Wistar Morris and designer Joseph Urban were hired to come up with blueprints for the house. However, the new building was too expensive for the Met to fund by itself, and John D. Rockefeller Jr. eventually gave his support to the project (John D. Rockefeller Sr., his father, was not involved). Rockefeller hired Todd, Robertson and Todd as design consultants to determine its viability. John R. Todd then put forth a plan for the Met. Columbia leased the plot to Rockefeller for 87 years at a cost of $3 million per year, excluding some properties on Fifth Avenue and a strip on Sixth Avenue. The initial cost of acquiring the space, razing some of the existing buildings, and constructing new buildings was estimated at $250 million.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Rockefeller hired Corbett, Harrison & MacMurray; Hood, Godley & Fouilhoux; and Reinhard & Hofmeister, to design the buildings. They worked under the umbrella of "Associated Architects" so none of the buildings could be attributed to any specific firm. The principal builder and "managing agent" was John R. Todd, one of the co-founders of Todd, Robertson and Todd. The principal architect and leader of the Associated Architects was Raymond Hood, a student of the Art Deco architectural movement. The other architects included Harvey Wiley Corbett and Wallace Harrison. L. Andrew Reinhard and Henry Hofmeister had been hired by John Todd as the "rental architects", who designed the floor plans for the complex. The Metropolitan Square Corporation (the precursor to Rockefeller Center Inc.) was formed in December 1928 to oversee construction.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: After the stock market crash of 1929, the Metropolitan Opera could not afford to move anymore. After the opera plans were canceled on December 6, 1929, Rockefeller quickly negotiated with Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and its subsidiaries, National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and Radio-Keith-Orpheum (RKO), to build a mass media entertainment complex on the site. By May 1930, RCA and its affiliates had agreed to develop the site. Todd released a new plan "G-3" in January 1930, followed by an "H plan" that March. Another plan, announced in March 1931, received mostly negative feedback from the public. The design of the complex was affected greatly by the 1916 Zoning Resolution, which required setbacks to all high street-side exterior walls of New York City buildings in order to increase sunlight for city streets. The plan also included rooftop gardens and a recessed central plaza. The International Complex, announced in 1931, replaced an earlier plan for an oval retail building; its name was derived by the British, French, and Italian tenants who eventually occupied it.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: During early planning, the development was often referred to as "Radio City", "Rockefeller City", or "Metropolitan Square" (after the Metropolitan Square Corporation). Ivy Lee, the Rockefeller family's publicity adviser, suggested changing the name to "Rockefeller Center". John Rockefeller Jr. initially did not want the Rockefeller family name associated with the commercial project, but was persuaded on the grounds that the name would attract far more tenants. The name was formally changed in December 1931. Over time, the appellation of "Radio City" devolved from describing the entire complex to just the complex's western section, and by 1937, only the Radio City Music Hall contained the "Radio City" name.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: For the project, 228 buildings on the site were razed and some 4,000 tenants relocated. Demolition of the properties began in 1930. All of the buildings' leases had been bought by August 1931, though there were some tenants on the western and southeastern edges of the plot who refused to leave their property, and Rockefeller Center was built around these buildings. Excavation of the Sixth Avenue side of the complex began in July 1931, and construction on the first buildings, the Music Hall and Center Theatre, began later that year. of Indiana Limestone were ordered for the project in December 1931, the largest such order at the time.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The RKO Building was the first structure to be completed, in September 1932, followed by the Music Hall in December 1932 and the British Empire Building in April 1933. The RCA Building's opening was delayed from May 1 to mid-May because of a controversy over "Man at the Crossroads", a painting in the building's lobby, which was later covered up and removed. A new street through the complex, Rockefeller Plaza, was constructed in stages between 1933 and 1937. The complex's famed Christmas tree in the center of the plaza was erected for the first time in December 1933, and the complex's Prometheus statue was constructed in May 1934. By July 1934, the complex had leased 80% of the available space in the six buildings that were already opened.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Work on two more internationally themed retail buildings and a larger, 38-story, "International Building", started in September 1934. One of the two small buildings was already rented to Italian interests. The final small building would have been rented by Germany, but Rockefeller ruled this out in 1934 after noticing National Socialist extremism from the country's government. The empty office site was downsized and became the "International Building North", rented by various international tenants. In April 1935, developers opened the International Building and its wings.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The underground pedestrian mall and ramp system between 48th and 51st streets was finished in early May. In 1936, an ice skating rink replaced the unprofitable retail space on the lower plaza, below ground level.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The 36-story Time & Life Building, named for anchor tenant Time Inc., was completed in November 1936, replacing an empty plot on the southern block that had been used for vehicle parking. Eleven buildings had been completed by 1937 at a total cost of over $100 million. A building for Associated Press on the northern block's empty lot, which had been reserved for the Metropolitan Opera house, was topped out by June 1938 and occupied by December of that year. The presence of Associated Press and Time Inc. expanded Rockefeller Center's scope from strictly a radio-communications complex to a hub of both radio and print media. The Guild, a newsreel theater, opened in 1938 along the curve of the truck ramp below the Associated Press Building. After Nelson Rockefeller became president of Rockefeller Center in 1938, he fired John Todd as the complex's manager and appointed Hugh Robertson in his place. The Rockefeller family started occupying the 56th floor of the RCA Building, though the offices would later expand to the 54th and 55th floors as well.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: A proposed 16-story building in the center of the southernmost block was leased to Eastern Air Lines in June 1940. Excavation started in October 1938, and the building was topped out by April 1939. At the same time, Rockefeller Center Inc. wanted to develop the western half of the southern plot, which was partially occupied by the Center Theatre. The United States Rubber Company agreed to occupy the plot. and excavation of the U.S. Rubber Company Building site commenced in May 1939. John Rockefeller installed the building's ceremonial final rivet on November 1, 1939, marking the completion of the original complex. However, although the final rivet had been driven, the Eastern Air Lines Building was not completed until October 1940.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The construction of the project employed between 40,000 and 60,000 people. The complex was the largest private building project ever undertaken in contemporary times. Architectural historian Carol Herselle Krinsky describes the center as "the only large private permanent construction project planned and executed between the start of the Depression and the end of the Second World War". According to writer Daniel Okrent, Rockefeller Center was so extensive that it was said that "you could do anything you wanted except sleep (no hotels), pray (no churches), or not pay rent to [John Rockefeller Jr.]". By fall 1939, the complex had 26,000 tenants and 125,000 daily visitors. That year, 1.3 million people went on a guided tour of Rockefeller Center or visited the RCA Building's observation deck, while 6 million people visited the underground shopping mall, and 7 million saw a performance at Rockefeller Center.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Even before the U.S. officially entered World War II in 1941, Rockefeller Center was affected by the war. The Dutch government had been slated to take up one-fifth of the space at 10 Rockefeller Plaza, but could not do so because of World War II. Seven of the complex's eight travel agencies had to move elsewhere because of the war, and William Rhodes Davis, a tenant who shipped oil to Nazi Germany and fascist Italy, was denied a lease renewal in 1941. After the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, Rockefeller Center Inc. terminated all lease agreements with German, Italian, and Japanese tenants because their respective countries comprised the Axis powers, whom the United States were fighting against. Art on Palazzo d'Italia was taken down because they were seen as being fascist, and the Rainbow Room was closed to the public from 1943 to 1950. Instructions for blackouts and sandbags for extinguishing fires were placed throughout the complex. During the war, the RCA Building's Room 3603 became the primary location of the U.S. operations of British Intelligence's British Security Co-ordination, organized by William Stephenson. It also served as the office of Allen Dulles, who would later head the Central Intelligence Agency.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Rockefeller Center only became profitable after the last building in the original complex was completed. The complex had incurred $26 million in debt by 1935, which had increased to $39 million by 1940. However, the complex was already 87% rented by 1940, and by the next year, Rockefeller Center was nearly fully rented, making a profit for the first time in its history. By 1944, the complex's existing rentable area totaled , with 99.7% of the space being leased. Because the complex was almost completely rented, Rockefeller Center's managers kept waiting lists of potential tenants, and as a result of the waiting lists, the complex's office space became more desirable to these tenants. Two years later, there were 400 companies who wanted to rent space in Rockefeller Center, and the complex's managers determined that they would need to add of space in order to house all the prospective tenants. Rockefeller Center was also popular among visitors: for instance, the lines to enter one of the Music Hall's five daily shows stretched from Sixth Avenue and 50th Street to Fifth Avenue and 52nd Street, a distance of four blocks.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: In light of the abundance of possible renters, John Rockefeller Jr. transferred his ownership of the complex to his sons. The father collected the $57.5 million loan that Rockefeller Center Inc. owed him, then distributed it to his sons in the form of a tax break. Rockefeller Center eventually became the family's "single largest repository" of wealth. In 1950, Rockefeller Center Inc. paid the last installment of the $65 million mortgage owed to the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. Three years later, the complex was making $5 million per year in profit, excluding the tax breaks.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Rockefeller Center Inc. had started working on plans to expand the complex during World War II, even though the outbreak of the war had stopped almost all civilian construction projects. In 1943, the complex's managers bought land and buildings on three street corners near the complex. Rockefeller Center unveiled plans for expansion to the southwest and north in 1944.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Esso (now Exxon) was one of the tenants who wanted to expand, and the company signaled that it would build its own office tower if Rockefeller Center's managers did not construct a building for them. They were given land at the north end of Rockefeller Plaza. In February 1947, the under-construction Esso Building, at the north end of the existing property, became part of Rockefeller Center after ownership of the building was transferred from the Haswin Corporation to Rockefeller Center, Inc. The building was topped out the next month. Hugh Robertson stepped down as manager the next year, and he was replaced by Gustav Eyssell.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Some tenants, such as the Sinclair Oil Corporation, indicated that they wanted to leave the complex after their leases expired in 1962–1963 because the original complex's buildings did not have air conditioning, while newer office buildings did. As Columbia University still owned the land underneath the complex, they were tasked with installing air conditioning in the buildings. The new building would add emphasis to any north–south views of the center, since the existing complex's building only formed west–east axes. Another problem befell Rockefeller Center's key tenants, NBC and RCA, who were approached by other developers with the promise of more leasable space, a commodity that was scarce in the fully leased complex. These problems were pushed aside temporarily by the onset of the Korean War in 1950. By 1951, Columbia had acquiesced to reimbursing Rockefeller Center, Inc., for AC installation, while NBC and RCA were given permission to use the Center Theatre for extra broadcasting space.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: In 1949, in the face of a shrinking congregation, the St. Nicholas Church leased the church building to the Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company, who then leased three contiguous plots from Rockefeller Center for a proposed 28-story building. The congregation was dispersed to other churches, and the old church building at Fifth Avenue and 48th Street was subsequently demolished. Construction commenced on 600 Fifth Avenue in 1950, and the tower was completed by 1952. The building was named after the Sinclair Oil Company, who leased eight floors. As a result of Sinclair's relocation to 600 Fifth Avenue, as well as Esso's relocation to 75 Rockefeller Plaza, NBC and RCA could expand into the space that Sinclair and Esso formerly occupied in the original complex, and they moved out of the Center Theatre shortly after the Sinclair Oil Company moved into its own tower. In mid-1953, Columbia bought all of the land along Sixth Avenue that had been owned by the Underel Corporation at a cost of $5.5 million. Rockefeller Center leased the land back from Columbia until 1973 for $200,000 a year. This allowed Columbia to install air conditioning, passing the costs on to the remaining tenants in return for lease extensions.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: The small Center Theatre was deemed redundant to the Radio City Music Hall, and in its final years, had been used as an NBC and RCA broadcasting space. After NBC and RCA expanded into the floor area formerly occupied by Sinclair, the U.S. Rubber Company indicated that it wanted to expand its office building into the space that was taken up by the underused theater. In October 1953, it was announced that the theater would be demolished. It was demolished in 1954.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Time-Life also wanted to expand, as its existing space in 1 Rockefeller Plaza was also becoming insufficient. In August 1953, Rockefeller Center, Inc., bought a tract of land on the west side of Sixth Avenue between 50th and 51st streets. In 1956, two years after the demolition of the Center Theatre, officials announced the construction of a new tower, the Time-Life Building, on that plot. The , $7 million building would include connections to the existing passageway system and to Roxy's Theater directly to its west. Time Inc. and Rockefeller Center formed a joint venture, Rock-Time Inc., which would share the tower's rent income between Time Inc. and Rockefeller Center. Construction on the Time-Life Building's steelwork started in April 1958, and the structure topped out in November of that year. The building officially opened in December 1959.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Around 1960, Rockefeller Center, Uris Buildings Corporation, and Webb and Knapp formed another joint venture, Rock-Uris Corp. Originally, the venture wanted to construct a hotel to the west of 75 Rockefeller Center, but ultimately, a glass-and-concrete 43-story office building was built on the site. In 1961, the building was named after Sperry Corporation, who leased eight floors in the future building. The hotel, New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center, was built two blocks north in 1963.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: 600 Fifth Avenue was sold to Rockefeller Center's managers in 1963, thus officially becoming part of Rockefeller Center. The same year, officials from Esso (later renamed Exxon) proposed a new building for the complex because the company had outgrown the space in the buildings it already occupied. Rockefeller Center's managers hired the architectural firm Harrison & Abramovitz to design three new towers on the west side of Sixth Avenue, with one tower on each block between 47th and 50th streets. The Exxon Building, at 1251 Avenue of the Americas between 49th and 50th streets, was formally announced in August 1967. Three months later, officials also announced plans for a tower housing McGraw-Hill, located one block south at 1221 Avenue of the Americas. Plans for a tower anchored by Celanese, to be located at 1211 Avenue of the Americas between 47th and 48th streets, would not be revealed until 1970. The Exxon Building opened in 1971, followed by the McGraw-Hill Building in 1973 and the Celanese Building in 1974. By the time all three of the new buildings were opened, Rockefeller Center contained 7% of Manhattan's of leasable office space.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: 600 Fifth Avenue and 75 Rockefeller Plaza received renovations in the early 1970s. Unlike in the rest of the complex, where different components were renovated one at a time to avoid disturbing tenants, the two structures were renovated all at once because their space was largely vacant. Rockefeller Center Inc. renewed their lease on the complex in 1973.


title: Rockefeller Center

text: Through the 1960s, the Music Hall was successful regardless of the status of the city's economic, business, or entertainment sectors as a whole. However, by the early 1970s, the proliferation of closed-captioned foreign movies had reduced attendance at the Music Hall. The first round of staff and performer firings began in 1972. By January 1978, the Music Hall was in debt, and the hall's annual attendance had declined to 1.5 million visitors, down from 5 million in 1968. Officials stated that it could not remain open after April. A grassroots campaign formed the Showpeople's Committee to Save Radio City Music Hall. After several weeks of lobbying, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) designated the theater as an interior city landmark in March, followed by a National Register of Historic Places listing in May. The hall was set to close on April 12, but five days before the planned closing date, the Empire State Development Corporation voted to create a nonprofit subsidiary to lease the Music Hall.