title: Seabiscuit

text: The two met again in the Santa Anita Handicap a week later, where Rosemont won by a nose. The defeat was devastating to Smith and Howard and was widely attributed in the press to a jockey error. Pollard, who had not seen Rosemont over his shoulder until too late, was blind in one eye due to an accident during a training ride, a fact he had hidden throughout his career. A week after this defeat Seabiscuit won the San Juan Capistrano Handicap by seven lengths in track record time of 1:48 for the mile event.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Seabiscuit was rapidly becoming a favorite among California racing fans, and his fame spread as he won his next three races. With his successes, Howard decided to ship the horse east for its more prestigious racing circuit.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Seabiscuit's run of victories continued. Between June 26 and August 7, he ran five times, each time in a stakes race, and each time he won under steadily increasing handicap weights (imposts) of up to . For the third time, Seabiscuit faced off against Rosemont again, this time beating him by seven lengths. On September 11, Smith accepted an impost of for the Narragansett Special at Narragansett Park. On race day, the ground was slow and heavy, and unsuited to "the Biscuit", carrying the heaviest burden of his career. Smith wanted to scratch, but Howard overruled him. Never in the running, Seabiscuit finished third. His winning streak was snapped, but the season was not over; Seabiscuit won his next three races (one a dead heat) before finishing the year with a second-place at Pimlico.


title: Seabiscuit

text: In 1937, Seabiscuit won 11 of his 15 races and was the year's leading money winner in the United States. However, War Admiral, having won the Triple Crown that season, was voted the most prestigious honor, the American Horse of the Year Award.


title: Seabiscuit

text: In 1938, as a five-year-old, Seabiscuit's success continued. On February 19, Pollard suffered a terrible fall while racing on Fair Knightess, another of Howard's horses. With half of Pollard's chest caved in by the weight of the fallen horse, Howard had to find a new jockey. After trying three, he settled on George Woolf, an already successful rider and old friend of Pollard's.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Woolf's first race aboard Seabiscuit was the Santa Anita Handicap, "The Hundred Grander" the horse had narrowly lost the previous year. Seabiscuit was drawn on the outside, and at the start was impeded by another horse, Count Atlas, angling out. The two were locked together for the first straight, and by the time Woolf disentangled his horse, they were six lengths off the pace. Seabiscuit worked his way to the lead but lost in a photo finish to the fast-closing Santa Anita Derby winner, Stagehand (owned by Maxwell Howard, not related to Charles), who had been assigned less than Seabiscuit.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Throughout 1937 and 1938, the media speculated about a match race between Seabiscuit and the seemingly invincible War Admiral (sired by Man o' War, Seabiscuit's grandsire). The two horses were scheduled to meet in three stakes races, but one or the other was scratched, usually due to Seabiscuit's dislike of heavy ground. After extensive negotiation, the owners organized a match race for May 1938 at Belmont, but Seabiscuit was scratched.


title: Seabiscuit

text: By June, Pollard had recovered, and on June 23, he agreed to work a young colt named Modern Youth. Spooked by something on the track, the horse broke rapidly through the stables and threw Pollard, shattering his leg and seemingly ending his career.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Howard arranged a match race for Seabiscuit against Ligaroti, a highly regarded horse owned by the Hollywood entertainer Bing Crosby and Howard's son, Lindsay, through Binglin Stable, in an event organized to promote Crosby's resort and Del Mar Racetrack in Del Mar, California. With Woolf aboard, Seabiscuit won that race, despite persistent fouling from Ligaroti's jockey. After three more outings and with only one win, he was scheduled to go head-to-head with War Admiral in the Pimlico Special in November, in Baltimore, Maryland.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Sent to race on the East Coast, on October 16, 1938, Seabiscuit ran second by two lengths in the Laurel Stakes to the filly Jacola, who set a new Laurel Park Racecourse record of 1:37.00 for one mile.


title: Seabiscuit

text: On November 1, 1938, Seabiscuit met War Admiral and jockey Charles Kurtsinger in what was dubbed the "Match of the Century." The event was run over at Pimlico Race Course. From the grandstands to the infield, the track was jammed with fans. Trains were run from all over the country to bring fans to the race, and the estimated 40,000 at the track were joined by 40 million listening on the radio. War Admiral was the favorite (1–4 with most bookmakers) and a nearly unanimous selection of the writers and tipsters, excluding a California contingent.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Head-to-head races favor fast starters, and War Admiral's speed from the gate was well known. Seabiscuit, on the other hand, was a pace stalker, skilled at holding with the pack before pulling ahead with late acceleration. From the scheduled walk-up start, few gave him a chance to lead War Admiral into the first turn. Smith knew these things and trained Seabiscuit to run against this type, using a starting bell and a whip to give the horse a Pavlovian burst of speed from the start.


title: Seabiscuit

text: When the bell rang, Seabiscuit broke in front, led by over a length after 20 seconds, and soon crossed over to the rail position. Halfway down the backstretch, War Admiral started to cut into the lead, gradually pulling level with Seabiscuit, then slightly ahead. Following advice he had received from Pollard, Woolf had eased up on Seabiscuit, allowing his horse to see his rival, then asked for more effort. Two hundred yards from the wire, Seabiscuit pulled away again and continued to extend his lead over the closing stretch, finally winning by four lengths despite War Admiral's running his best time for the distance.


title: Seabiscuit

text: As a result of his races that year, Seabiscuit was named American Horse of the Year for 1938, beating War Admiral by 698 points to 489 in a poll conducted by the "Turf and Sport Digest magazine". Seabiscuit was the number one newsmaker of 1938. The only major prize that eluded him was the Santa Anita Handicap.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Seabiscuit was injured during a race. Woolf, who was riding him, said that he felt the horse stumble. The injury was not life-threatening, although many predicted Seabiscuit would never race again. The diagnosis was a ruptured suspensory ligament in the front left leg. With Seabiscuit out of action, Smith and Howard concentrated on their horse Kayak II, an Argentine stallion. In the spring of 1939, Seabiscuit covered seven of Howard's mares, all of which had healthy foals in spring of 1940. One, Fair Knightess's colt, died as a yearling.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Seabiscuit and a still-convalescing Pollard recovered together at Howard's ranch, with the help of Pollard's new wife Agnes, who had nursed him through his initial recovery. Slowly, both horse and rider learned to walk again (Pollard joked that they "had four good legs between" them). Poverty and his injury had brought Pollard to the edge of alcoholism. A local doctor broke and reset Pollard's leg to aid his recovery, and slowly Pollard regained the confidence to sit on a horse. Wearing a brace to stiffen his atrophied leg, he began to ride Seabiscuit again, first at a walk and later at a trot and canter. Howard was delighted at their improvement, as he longed for Seabiscuit to race again, but was extremely worried about Pollard, as his leg was still fragile.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Over the fall and winter of 1939, Seabiscuit's fitness seemed to improve by the day. By the end of the year, Smith was ready to return the horse to race training, with a collection of stable jockeys in the saddle. By the time of his comeback race, Pollard had cajoled Howard into allowing him the ride. After the horse was scratched due to soft going, the pair finally lined up at the start of the La Jolla Handicap at Santa Anita, on February 9, 1940. Seabiscuit was third, beaten by two lengths. By their third comeback race, Seabiscuit was back to his winning ways, running away from the field in the San Antonio Handicap to beat his erstwhile training partner, Kayak II, by two and a half lengths. Under , Seabiscuit equalled the track record for a mile and 1/16.


title: Seabiscuit

text: One race was left in the season. A week after the San Antonio, Seabiscuit and Kayak II both took the gate for the Santa Anita Handicap and its $121,000 prize. 78,000 paying spectators crammed the racetrack, most backing Seabiscuit. Pollard found his horse blocked almost from the start. Picking his way through the field, Seabiscuit briefly led. As they thundered down the back straight, Seabiscuit became trapped in third place, behind leader Whichcee and Wedding Call on the outside.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Trusting in his horse's acceleration, Pollard steered between the leaders and burst into the lead, taking the firm ground just off the rail. As Seabiscuit showed his old surge, Wedding Call and Whichcee faltered, and Pollard drove his horse on, taking "The Hundred Grander" by a length and a half from the fast-closing Kayak II under jockey Leon Haas. Pandemonium engulfed the course. Neither horse and rider, nor trainer and owner, could get through the crowd of well-wishers to the winner's enclosure for some time.


title: Seabiscuit

text: On April 10, 1940, Seabiscuit's retirement from racing was officially announced. When he was retired to the Ridgewood Ranch near Willits, California, he was horse racing's all-time leading money winner. Put out to stud, Seabiscuit sired 108 foals, including two moderately successful racehorses: Sea Sovereign and Sea Swallow. Over 50,000 visitors went to Ridgewood Ranch to see Seabiscuit in the seven years before his death.


title: Seabiscuit

text: Seabiscuit died of a probable heart attack on May 17, 1947, in Willits, California, six days short of 14 years old, and six months before his grandsire Man o' War. He is buried at Ridgewood Ranch in Mendocino County, California.


title: Seabiscuit

text: In 2009, after an eight-year-long grassroots effort by Maggie Van Ostrand and Chuck Lustick, Seabiscuit was honored by the United States Postal Service with a stamp bearing his likeness. Thousands of signatures were obtained from all over the nation, and the final approval was given by Citizens Stamp Committee member Joan Mondale, wife of former Vice President Walter Mondale.


title: How To with John Wilson

text: How To with John Wilson is an American television comedy docuseries created by filmmaker John Wilson. The series, executive produced by Nathan Fielder, Michael Koman and Clark Reinking, was ordered by HBO. It premiered on October 23, 2020. On December 9, 2020, HBO renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on November 26, 2021. In February 2022, the series was renewed for a third season.


title: How To with John Wilson

text: John Wilson attempts to give advice while dealing with his own personal issues. The 25-minute episodes, framed as tutorials and filmed mainly on the streets of New York City, cover topics from small talk to scaffolding. While each episode initially focuses on its title topic, in the course of his investigation, Wilson meets people and strikes up conversations that lead in unpredictable and diverse directions. For example, the episode "How to Improve Your Memory" ends up featuring a conference on the Mandela effect in Ketchum, Idaho.


title: How To with John Wilson

text: "How To with John Wilson" has received critical acclaim. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first season has a score of 100% with an average rating of 8.5/10 based on 21 reviews. The site's critical consensus reads: "Surprising, thoughtful, and superbly strange, "How To with John Wilson"s blend of documentary styles comes together to create a singularly delightful experience." On Metacritic, the first season has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 7 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: How To with John Wilson

text: Daniel Fienberg of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote "How To with John Wilson" is "funny, sad, and, in the end, shockingly profound." Steve Greene of "IndieWire" gave the series a positive review of an A−, saying it has "a hint of darkness and a wealth of empathy."


title: How To with John Wilson

text: The second season received critical acclaim. On Metacritic, the season has a weighted average score of 92 out of 100, based on 4 reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".


title: Manhwa

text: The author or artist of a is called a (). They take on the task of creating a comic that fits a certain format. is read in the same direction as English books, horizontally and from left to right, because Korean is normally written and read horizontally. It can also be written and read vertically from right to left, top to bottom. Webtoons tend to be structured differently in the way they are meant for scrolling where manga is meant to be looked at page by page. , unlike their manga counterpart, is often in color when posted on the internet, but in black & white when in a printed format.


title: Manhwa

text: Linguistically, , "manga" () and () all mean 'comics' in Korean, Japanese and Chinese respectively. According to its Wikipedia article, "manga comes from the Japanese word 漫画, (katakana: ; hiragana: ) which is composed of two kanji 漫 (man) meaning 'whimsical or impromptu' and 画 (ga) meaning 'pictures.' The same term is the root of the Korean word for comics, 'manhwa,' and the Chinese word 'manhua.'" The Korean , the Japanese "manga" and the Chinese phrase are cognates () and their histories and influences intertwine with each other.


title: Manhwa

text: Originally The term "manhua" in Chinese vocabulary was an 18th-century term used in Chinese literati painting. And The term  "manga was" used in japan mean 'comics' in the late 19th century and it became popular. Since then, accordingly  "manhwa", "manga" (漫画) and "manhua" (漫画) are all becameing mean 'comics' in Korean, Japanese and Chinese.


title: Manhwa

text: The current usage of the terms and in English is largely explained by the international success of Japanese manga. Although in a traditional sense, the terms manga// had a similar meaning of comical drawing in a broad way, in English the terms and generally designate the manga-inspired comic strips. Manga influenced from the medium’s beginnings during the Japanese occupation of Korea and continued to exert a powerful influence as the manga industry became a major force within Japanese culture and began to export comics abroad. were not culturally isolated, and the influx of manga into the Korean comics market had a strong effect on the art and content of many artists’ .


title: Manhwa

text: Korea was under Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 and during this time elements of Japanese language and culture were incorporated into Korean society. The term came into popular use in Korea during the 1920s, when it was applied to cartoons. By the mid 1920s, most newspapers were shut down, and political and social cartoons were abandoned, replaced by humorous illustrations and cartoons geared towards children.


title: Manhwa

text: Political cartoon slowly reemerged following the establishment of the Republic of Korea (commonly known as South Korea) in 1948. During the early years of Japanese occupation, newspaper comics featured a great deal of social criticism. Popular artist Kim Yong-hwan started Korea’s first comic magazine, "Manhwa Haengjin", in 1948, but it was quickly shut down because the authorities disapproved of the cover.


title: Manhwa

text: During the Korean war, Manhwa was used with the aim of boosting the morale of the public.The popularity of comics rose during the 1950s and 1960s, creating diversity of styles and subject matter which led to the construction of new genres such as sunjeong (or soonjung), stories containing romance that are aimed at young women (equivalent to the Japanese genre shoujo). Also around this time another more humorous genre, myeongnyang "or happy comics" had become popular in order to counteract gritty ones. Manhwabang (lit. comics room), comics cafés and stores that allowed readers to pay a set rate to sit and read comics were also introduced to the public, creating a positive atmosphere around the comics. In response to the increasing publication of comics, as well as social and political changes within South Korea, the government began to enforce censorship laws and, by the mid-1960s, created a comics distribution monopoly that further censored .


title: Manhwa

text: In the 1990s, the ban on Japanese media was lifted, which helped to influence the present-day art and styles of contemporary Manhwa. Around this time was when Manhwa had come up in North Korea as well. Then in the early 2000s, the majority of Manhwa was transferred to online sources due to economic collapse that South Korea had experienced at the end of the millennium. because of its transfer to online sources, its popularity overseas has risen. This led to the South Korean search portal to launch LINE Webtoon, a platform for distributing online Manhwa.


title: Manhwa

text: The term "Webtoon" (웹툰) is a portmanteau of the Korean words 웹 meaning web and 카툰 meaning cartoon. The term was first coined on August 8, 2000, by Chollian, one of South Korea's oldest and now discontinued internet service engines. Webtoons are the digital form of that first came into popularity in the early 2000s due to their free access and availability on the internet. It was also beneficial to creators because it helped them get around strict South Korean censorship laws. Webtoons encourage amateur writers to publish their own stories for others to read. Since their creation, webtoons have gained popularity around the globe and have even been adopted outside of Korea as another form of comic publication. This is credited to their unique format and pay model.


title: Manhwa

text: In 2014 Webtoon's global website and mobile app were launched, revolutionizing the comic world's way of reading for entertainment. Also, around this time JunKoo Kim, the person that started LINE Webtoon, had reported that Webtoon was used in 60 countries, had 55 million monthly users, and 100 billion annual views. In 2019, Japan Times reported on the growth in the popularity of Webtoons had made digital Manhwa competitive and also was "overshadowing the global presence of Manga" even with it being not as well known to western audiences.


title: Manhwa

text: has reached all over the world now. With websites such as TopToon, a webtoon company from Korea that also has a global service in TopToonPlus, people are able to access a wide variety of comics from their phones. There are also places like WEBTOON that not only allow people to read original comics, but make them as well, opening up this aspect of Korean culture for everyone to take part in.


title: Manhwa

text: But despite that, the relative obscurity of Korean culture in the Western world has caused the word to remain somewhat unknown in the English-speaking countries. English translations of have achieved success by targeting the manga and anime community, to the extent that were marketed as "manga" by the American publisher Tokyopop.


title: Manhwa

text: Sanho Kim was the first artist working in the States. During the 1960s and 1970s, he worked for publishers Charlton Comics, Warren Publishing, Iron Horse Publishing, Skywald Publications, DC Comics, and Marvel Comics.


title: Manhwa

text: According to journalist Paul Gravett, in 1987 Eastern Comics published the first original in the United States.


title: Manhwa

text: Due to the explosion of manga's popularity in the Americas, many of the licensed titles acquired for the American market seek to emulate the popular elements of other successful series. Recently, long-running webtoons serialized via Internet portal sites (e.g. by Daum Media), like Lezhin Comics and personal homepages have become both the creative and popular destination among the younger generation in Korea.


title: Manhwa

text: With manga proving to be both popular and commercially successful in Europe and the United States, a number of publishers imported and translated titles in the hope of reaching the same audience. The readability and left-to-right orientation of contributed to its growing popularity, as did the realism of the characters and the combination of Eastern and Western styles and mythologies.


title: Manhwa

text: Animations based on Korean comics are still relatively rare (though there were several major hits in the late 1980s and early 90s with titles such as "Dooly the Little Dinosaur" and "Fly! Superboard"). However, live-action drama series and movie adaptations of have occurred more frequently in recent years. "Full House" in 2004 and "Goong" ("Palace" or "Princess Hours") in 2006 are prominent examples, as both have been counted as the best dramas of their respective years.


title: Manhwa

text: In 2004, "Blade of the Phantom Master" was adapted into an animated film by a joint Korean-Japanese animation team. Also that year "SamBakZa" produced "There She Is!!" which is about the developing relationship between a rabbit and a cat.


title: Manhwa

text: "The Great Catsby" ran as an onstage musical in 2006. In 2007, the award-winning Korean webtoon was adapted into a live-action drama. The title was also planned to be adapted into a feature film in late 2007.


title: Manhwa

text: "War of Money", a dramatized (adapted version) that aired in 2007, garnered much attention for its soundtrack and actors.


title: Manhwa

text: "Priest", a by Hyung Min-woo that has been translated to English, was adapted into the 2011 American sci-fi action horror film of the same name by Screen Gems. Released in 2011, it was produced by Michael DeLuca, directed by Scott Stewart, and stars Paul Bettany as the title character.


title: Manhwa

text: In 2020, "Tower of God", "The God of High School", and "Noblesse" received Japanese adaptations via Crunchyroll. Later that year "Sweet Home" was adapted to a live-action series by Netflix. It’s been announced that "Solo Leveling" and "Why Raeliana Ended Up at the Duke's Mansion" are both receiving anime adaptations.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange (Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria; born 7 December 2003) is the heir apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, which consists of the constituent countries of Aruba, Curaçao, the Netherlands, and Sint Maarten.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Catharina-Amalia is the eldest child of King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. She became heir apparent to the Dutch throne when her father ascended the throne on 30 April 2013.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Princess Catharina-Amalia Beatrix Carmen Victoria was born at 17:01 CET on 7 December 2003 in the HMC Bronovo in The Hague, the first child of the then Prince Willem-Alexander (now king) and Princess Máxima. Upon the public announcement of her birth, 101 salute shots were fired at four places in the Kingdom of the Netherlands: Den Helder and The Hague in the Netherlands, Willemstad in Curacao, and Oranjestad in Aruba.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: On 12 June 2004, Catharina-Amalia was baptised by the Rev. Carel ter Linden in the Great Church in The Hague. Her godparents are her uncle Prince Constantijn, Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden, the (then) vice-president of the Council of State of the Netherlands Herman Tjeenk Willink, friend of her mother Samantha Deane, her uncle Martín Zorreguieta, and friend of her father Marc ter Haar.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Catharina-Amalia's maternal grandparents, Jorge Zorreguieta and María del Carmen Cerruti Carricart, were prohibited from attending her parents' wedding in 2002 due to Zorreguieta's involvement in the regime of General Jorge Rafael Videla, but were present at her baptism, which was a private rather than a state affair.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Princess Catharina-Amalia has two younger sisters: Princess Alexia (born in 2005) and Princess Ariane (born in 2007). She lives with her parents and one of her sisters in Huis ten Bosch palace in The Hague.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: In December 2007, Catharina-Amalia started attended Bloemcamp Primary School, a public primary school in Wassenaar. After graduated from primary school, she attended the Christelijk Gymnasium Sorghvliet in The Hague, where her aunt Princess Laurentien attended. She participated in the student council and attended both the Model United Nations of the International School of The Hague and The Hague International Model United Nations conferences. She graduated in 2021 with distinction. Upon graduation, she announced that she would take a gap year and refused to accept her right to €1.6m a year in income for the time period, adding that it would make her "uncomfortable as long as I do not do anything for it in return". The Princess spent her gap year in an internship at the Orange Fund and volunteered at other organisations. Since 5 September 2022 Catharina-Amalia is studying at the University of Amsterdam for a BSc degree in Politics, Psychology, Law and Economics (PPLE). She was placed under heightened security and moved out of her student flat after a threat was identified.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Her birthdays are traditionally celebrated with a concert at the Kloosterkerk in The Hague, which is attended by ambassadors and members of the royal household and the Council of State of the Netherlands.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: She speaks Dutch, English, and Spanish. Additionally, she took classes in the Mandarin Chinese language.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: On her seventh birthday, a Douglas C-47 Skytrain once owned by her great-grandfather, Prince Bernhard of Lippe-Biesterfeld, was named after Catharina-Amalia by Peter Hartman. The princess herself was prevented from attending the naming ceremony owing to school obligations.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Catharina-Amalia's paternal grandmother, Queen Beatrix, abdicated on 30April 2013 and her father ascended the throne. Catharina-Amalia, as the new heir apparent, assumed the title of Princess of Orange, becoming the first to do so in her own right. On 8 December 2021, Princess Catharina-Amalia assumed her seat in the Advisory Division of the Council of State when she reached the age of majority at 18 the day before.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: In 2020, a new regiment of the Royal Netherlands Army, the Regiment Huzaren Prinses Catharina-Amalia, was named for Catharina-Amalia.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: On 17 June 2022, together with her parents, she was among the royal guests invited to the celebrations of the 18th birthday of Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway. This was Catharina-Amalia's first public engagement outside of The Netherlands and the first occasion to which she was allowed to wear a tiara.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: On 20 September 2022, together with her parents, she attended Prinsjesdag, where the King addressed a joint session of the States General of the Netherlands to outline government policy for the upcoming parliamentary session.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: In January 2023, Catharina-Amalia will go on a tour of the Dutch Caribbean with her parents. They will visit Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Bonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba. It will be her first official royal tour.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Like her sisters, Catharina-Amalia was born a Princess of the Netherlands and a Princess of Orange-Nassau. As heir apparent she is also the Princess of Orange. This title is substantive and used without her name.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: Through her paternal grandfather, a member of the House of Amsberg, Catharina-Amalia is descended from families of the lower German nobility, and through her paternal grandmother, from several German royal families such as the House of Lippe, Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the House of Orange-Nassau, Waldeck and Pyrmont, and the House of Hohenzollern. She is descended from the first King of the Netherlands, William I of the Netherlands, who was also a ruler in Luxembourg and several German states, and all subsequent Dutch monarchs.


title: Catharina-Amalia, Princess of Orange

text: On her mother's side, Catharina-Amalia is descended from wealthy Spanish Argentines and Italian Argentines, with some Basque ancestry.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Michael Clayton is a 2007 American legal thriller film written and directed by Tony Gilroy in his feature directorial debut and starring George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, Tilda Swinton, and Sydney Pollack. Clooney plays lawyer Michael Clayton, who discovers a coverup over the effects of toxic agrochemicals.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Released on October 5, 2007, the film grossed $93 million worldwide. It was praised for its direction, performances, and screenplay; Swinton's performance was particularly lauded. "Michael Clayton" was nominated for seven Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Original Screenplay, Best Actor for Clooney, Best Supporting Actor for Wilkinson, and Best Supporting Actress for Swinton, which she won.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Michael Clayton is a "fixer" for a prestigious New York City law firm, using his connections and knowledge of legal loopholes for clients' benefit. One night, Michael leaves a poker game to attend to a client who has been involved in a hit-and-run crash.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Four days earlier, a loan shark gives Michael a week to raise $75,000 after a failed investment in a restaurant he made with his brother Timmy. He asks his boss, Marty Bach, for a loan to cover the expenses; Marty insinuates that the firm will be finished if Michael does not get Arthur Edens, one of the firm's leading attorneys, under control. Arthur has a manic episode in the middle of a deposition in Milwaukee. The deposition involves a multi-billion-dollar six-year class action lawsuit against U-North, an agricultural products conglomerate Arthur's firm is representing. Michael arrives in Milwaukee and bails Arthur out of jail after learning he is no longer taking his medication, but Arthur escapes from their hotel room during the night and returns to New York.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Karen Crowder, U-North's general counsel, discovers that Arthur has a confidential U-North memo proving the company knew its weed killer was carcinogenic, which led to 468 deaths. She brings this to the attention of U-North CEO Don Jeffries, whose signature is on the memo. Don puts her in contact with two hitmen; she has them follow Arthur and bug his apartment and phone.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Michael finds Arthur on a Manhattan street and confronts him about calls he made to Anna Kaiserson, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. Arthur realizes his calls are being monitored. He calls his own voicemail at the firm and says he will go public with the memo. Karen authorizes the hitmen to take "drastic measures". They break into Arthur's apartment, kill him, and make it look like suicide.


title: Michael Clayton

text: After learning of Arthur's death, Michael becomes suspicious when he discovers that U-North was planning a settlement just a few days before, and that Arthur had booked a flight to New York for Anna. He finds Anna and learns that no one knew of her conversations with Arthur, yet Michael's firm knew of Arthur's conversations with the U-North plaintiffs. With help from his brother Gene, a police officer, he breaks into Arthur's sealed apartment. He finds champagne and two glasses in the refrigerator, a copy of a fantasy novel beloved by Michael's son Henry, with several pages highlighted and annotated by Arthur, and a receipt from a photocopy shop.


title: Michael Clayton

text: The hitmen, who have been trailing Michael, call the police as he enters the apartment. He is caught and arrested for trespassing, but Gene bails him out. Using the receipt, Michael discovers that Arthur ordered 2,000 copies of the confidential U-North memo. The hitmen also obtain a copy, which they give Karen. Believing Michael is blackmailing the firm, Marty offers him a renewed contract and the $80,000 he had requested on the condition he sign a non-disclosure agreement. Michael realizes that Marty and Barry Grissom, another attorney at the firm, know about U-North's cover-up. After paying Timmy's debt, he goes to play poker.


title: Michael Clayton

text: The hitmen rig Michael's car with a bomb while Michael plays poker. Driving past a field, he sees some horses and leaves his car to approach them. While he is in the field, the bomb detonates. Michael escapes into the woods. At a U-North board meeting, Karen proposes that the board approve a new settlement in the lawsuit. Michael confronts her in the foyer and goads her into offering him $10 million for his silence. Karen reluctantly agrees; Michael reveals that he is wearing a wire, with Gene and other NYPD detectives listening. As Karen and Don are arrested, Michael gets into a cab and rides away.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Principal photography took place from January 30 to April 7, 2006. The film premiered on August 31, 2007, at the Venice Film Festival. It was shown at the American Films Festival of Deauville on September 2, 2007, and at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 7. It opened in the United Kingdom on September 28, and at the Dubai Film Festival in December. It opened in limited release in the United States on October 5, 2007, and in wide release in the US on October 12. It grossed $10.3 million in the opening week. It was rereleased on January 25, 2008. It has grossed $49 million in North America and $92.9 million worldwide.


title: Michael Clayton

text: The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 19, 2008. The DVD contains deleted scenes and a commentary by writer/director Tony Gilroy. On March 11, 2008, the movie was also released on HD DVD.


title: Michael Clayton

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91% based on 205 reviews, with an average rating of 7.60/10. The website's critical consensus reads: ""Michael Clayton" is one of the most sharply scripted films of 2007, with an engrossing premise and faultless acting. Director Tony Gilroy succeeds not only in capturing the audience's attention, but holding it until the credits roll." Metacritic assigned the film a weighted average score of 82 out of 100, based on 36 critics indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a B on an A+ to F scale.


title: Michael Clayton

text: Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" gave it an A, saying that it was "better than good, it just about restores your faith". Roger Ebert gave it a full four stars and Richard Roeper named it the best film of the year. It was also Richard Schickel's top film of 2007, and he called it "a morally alert, persuasively realistic and increasingly suspenseful melodrama, impeccably acted and handsomely staged by Tony Gilroy". "Time" wrote, ""Michael Clayton" is not an exercise in high-tension energy; you'll never confuse its eponymous protagonist with Jason Bourne. But it does have enough of a melodramatic pulse to keep you engaged in its story and, better than that, it is full of plausible characters who are capable of surprising—and surpassing—your expectations". Stanley Kauffmann of "The New Republic" wrote that "Gilroy's film is distinguished beyond its components by its purpose, its compassion, its interest—increasingly manifest—in the soul".


title: Michael Clayton

text: "Original Motion Picture Soundtrack: Michael Clayton" was composed by James Newton Howard and released on September 25, 2007, on the Varèse Sarabande label. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Score.


title: Paraffin wax

text: Paraffin wax (or petroleum wax) is a soft colorless solid derived from petroleum, coal, or oil shale that consists of a mixture of hydrocarbon molecules containing between 20 and 40 carbon atoms. It is solid at room temperature and begins to melt above approximately , and its boiling point is above . Common applications for paraffin wax include lubrication, electrical insulation, and candles; dyed paraffin wax can be made into crayons. It is distinct from kerosene and other petroleum products that are sometimes called paraffin.


title: Paraffin wax

text: Un-dyed, unscented paraffin candles are odorless and bluish-white. Paraffin wax was first created by Carl Reichenbach in Germany in 1830 and marked a major advancement in candlemaking technology, as it burned more cleanly and reliably than tallow candles and was cheaper to produce.


title: Paraffin wax

text: In chemistry, "paraffin" is used synonymously with "alkane", indicating hydrocarbons with the general formula CH. The name is derived from Latin "parum" ("very little") + "affinis", meaning "lacking affinity" or "lacking reactivity", referring to paraffin's unreactive nature.


title: Paraffin wax

text: Paraffin wax is mostly found as a white, odorless, tasteless, waxy solid, with a typical melting point between about , and a density of around 900 kg/m. It is insoluble in water, but soluble in ether, benzene, and certain esters. Paraffin is unaffected by most common chemical reagents but burns readily. Its heat of combustion is 42 MJ/kg.


title: Paraffin wax

text: Paraffin wax is an excellent electrical insulator, with a resistivity of between 10 and 10 ohm metre. This is better than nearly all other materials except some plastics (notably Teflon). It is an effective neutron moderator and was used in James Chadwick's 1932 experiments to identify the neutron.


title: Paraffin wax

text: Paraffin wax is an excellent material for storing heat, with a specific heat capacity of 2.14–2.9 J g K (joules per gram kelvin) and a heat of fusion of 200–220 J g. Paraffin wax phase-change cooling coupled with retractable radiators was used to cool the electronics of the Lunar Roving Vehicle during the crewed missions to the Moon in the early 1970s. Wax expands considerably when it melts and this allows its use in wax element thermostats for industrial, domestic and, particularly, automobile purposes.


title: Paraffin wax

text: Paraffin wax was first created in 1830 by German chemist Karl von Reichenbach when he attempted to develop a method to efficiently separate and refine waxy substances naturally occurring in petroleum. Paraffin represented a major advance in the candlemaking industry, because it burned cleanly and was cheaper to manufacture than other candle fuels. Paraffin wax initially suffered from a low melting point. This was remedied by adding stearic acid. The production of paraffin wax enjoyed a boom in the early 20th century due to the growth of the oil and meatpacking industries, which created paraffin and stearic acid as byproducts.


title: Paraffin wax

text: The feedstock for paraffin is slack wax, which is a mixture of oil and wax, a byproduct from the refining of lubricating oil.


title: Paraffin wax

text: The first step in making paraffin wax is to remove the oil (de-oiling or de-waxing) from the slack wax. The oil is separated by crystallization. Most commonly, the slack wax is heated, mixed with one or more solvents such as a ketone and then cooled. As it cools, wax crystallizes out of the solution, leaving only oil. This mixture is filtered into two streams: solid (wax plus some solvent) and liquid (oil and solvent). After the solvent is recovered by distillation, the resulting products are called "product wax" (or "press wax") and "foots oil". The lower the percentage of oil in the wax, the more refined it is considered (semi-refined versus fully refined). The product wax may be further processed to remove colors and odors. The wax may finally be blended together to give certain desired properties such as melt point and penetration. Paraffin wax is sold in either liquid or solid form.


title: Paraffin wax

text: In industrial applications, it is often useful to modify the crystal properties of the paraffin wax, typically by adding branching to the existing carbon backbone chain. The modification is usually done with additives, such as EVA copolymers, microcrystalline wax, or forms of polyethylene. The branched properties result in a modified paraffin with a higher viscosity, smaller crystalline structure, and modified functional properties. Pure paraffin wax is rarely used for carving original models for casting metal and other materials in the lost wax process, as it is relatively brittle at room temperature and presents the risks of chipping and breakage when worked. Soft and pliable waxes, like beeswax, may be preferred for such sculpture, but "investment casting waxes," often paraffin-based, are expressly formulated for the purpose.


title: Paraffin wax

text: In a histology or pathology laboratory, paraffin wax is used to impregnate tissue prior to sectioning thin samples. Water is removed from the tissue through ascending strengths of alcohol (75% to absolute), and the tissue is cleared in an organic solvent such as xylene. The tissue is then placed in paraffin wax for several hours, then set in a mold with wax to cool and solidify. Sections are then cut on a microtome.


title: Paraffin wax

text: People can be exposed to paraffin in the workplace by breathing it in, skin contact, and eye contact. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has set a recommended exposure limit (REL) for paraffin wax fume exposure of 2 mg/m over an 8-hour workday.


title: Disembowelment

text: Disembowelment or evisceration is the removal of some or all of the organs of the gastrointestinal tract (the bowels, or viscera), usually through a horizontal incision made across the abdominal area. Disembowelment may result from an accident but has also been used as a method of torture and execution. In such practices, disembowelment may be accompanied by other forms of torture, or the removal of other vital organs.


title: Disembowelment

text: If a living creature is disemboweled, it is invariably fatal without major medical intervention. Historically, disembowelment has been used as a severe form of capital punishment. If the intestinal tract alone is removed, death follows after several hours of gruesome pain. The victim will often be fully conscious while the torture is performed if the vital organs aren't damaged, and will be able to see their intestine being removed, but will eventually lose consciousness due to blood loss. However, in some forms of intentional disembowelment, decapitation or the removal of the heart and lungs would hasten the victim's death.


title: Disembowelment

text: Various accounts have asserted that during the Vietnam War, members of the Viet Cong sometimes made calculated use of disembowelment as a means of psychological warfare, to coerce and intimidate rural peasants. Peer De Silva, former head of the Saigon department of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), wrote that from as early as 1963, Viet Cong units were using disembowelment and other methods of mutilation as psychological warfare. The extent, however, to which this punishment was perpetrated may be impossible to gauge and while detailed accounts survive regarding how civilians were disemboweled by Viet Cong, the use of this torture appears to have been quite arbitrary and there is no record that such actions were sanctioned by the North Vietnamese government in Hanoi. Disembowelment and other methods of intimidation and torture were intended to frighten civilian peasants at a local level into cooperating with the Viet Cong or discourage them from cooperating with the South Vietnamese Army or its allies.


title: Disembowelment

text: In early 1941, during the Bucharest pogrom in which 125 Jewish civilians were killed, multiple cases of torture including disembowelment were recorded.


title: Disembowelment

text: On 10 July 1584, Balthasar Gérard shot and killed William of Orange, who had advocated for Dutch independence from the King of Spain. The assassin was interrogated and condemned to death almost immediately. On 14 July, after suffering various tortures during each of the five days since the assassination, Gérard was disemboweled and dismembered while still alive, after which his heart was torn out and then he was beheaded by his Dutch executioners.


title: Disembowelment

text: Christian tradition states that Erasmus of Formiae, also known as Saint Elmo, was finally executed by disembowelment in about A.D. 303, after he had suffered extreme forms of torture during the persecutions of Emperor Diocletian and Maximian.


title: Disembowelment

text: In England, the punishment of being "hanged, drawn and quartered" was typically used for men convicted of high treason. This referred to the practice of dragging a man by a hurdle (similar to a fence) through the streets, removing him from the hurdle and (1) hanging him from the neck (but removing him before death), (2) drawing (i.e. disembowelling) him slowly on a wooden block by slitting open his abdomen, removing his entrails and his other organs (which were frequently thrown on a fire), and then decapitating him and (3) quartering, i.e. dividing the body into four pieces. The man's head and quarters would often be parboiled and displayed as a warning to others. As part of the disembowelment, the man was also typically emasculated and his genitals and entrails would be burned.


title: Disembowelment

text: William Harrington, Hugh le Despenser the Younger and William Parry are examples of men who were hanged, drawn and quartered- tortured on the rack, hanged until not quite dead, subjected to emasculation, disembowelment and then chopped into quarters.


title: Disembowelment

text: From the 15th century, ordinances are retained that threaten with a terrible punishment those who stripped off the bark of a standing tree in the common woods. A typical wording is found in the 1401 ordinance from Oberursel:


title: Disembowelment

text: Jacob Grimm observes that no case of the punishment being carried out has been found in records from that period (15th century), but 300 to 500 years earlier, the Western Slavic tribes like the Wends are said to have revenged themselves upon Christians by binding the guts to an erect pole and driving them around until the person was fully eviscerated. In the 13th century, members of the now extinct Baltic ethnic group of Old Prussians in one of the battles against the Teutonic Knights, are said to have captured one such knight in 1248 and made him undergo this punishment.


title: Disembowelment

text: Nezahualcoyotl, a 15th-century Acolhuan ruler of Texcoco, a member of the Aztec Triple Alliance (now Mexico), promulgated a law code that was partially preserved. Those who had engaged in the passive role of homosexual anal intercourse had their intestines pulled out, then their bodies were filled with ash, and finally, were burnt. The active or penetrating partner was simply suffocated in a heap of ash.


title: Disembowelment

text: In Japan, disembowelment played a central part as a method of execution or the ritualized suicide of a samurai. In killing themselves by this method, they were deemed to be free from the dishonor resulting from their crimes. The most common form of disembowelment was referred to in Japanese as "seppuku" (or, colloquially, "hara-kiri"), literally "stomach cutting," involving two cuts across the abdomen, sometimes followed by pulling out one's own viscera.


title: Disembowelment

text: The act of decapitation by a second ("kaishaku-nin") was added to this ritual suicide in later times in order to shorten the suffering of the samurai or leader, an attempt at rendering the ritual more humane. Even later the knife was just a simple formality and the swordsman would decapitate before the subject could reach for it. The commission of a crime or dishonorable act was only one of many reasons for the performance of seppuku; others included the atonement of cowardice, as a means of apology, or following the loss of a battle or the surrender of a castle.


title: Disembowelment

text: The Japanese tradition of "seppuku" is a well known example of highly ritualized suicide, within a wider cultural world of norms and symbolism. However, reported examples of suicides exist, in which a person performed disembowelment on himself or herself, without any ambient culture of approved, or expected, suicide.


title: Disembowelment

text: The Spartan king Cleomenes I is reported, in a fit of madness, to have slit his stomach open, and ripped his own bowels out.


title: Disembowelment

text: Roman statesman Cato the Younger committed suicide in Utica, after his side lost to Caesar, by plunging a knife in his own gut, in the dead of night. According to Plutarch, Cato's son heard the commotion from a nearby room, and called a doctor who stitched the wound close; after his son and the doctor left, Cato tore the stitching open with his hand and died. On account of his tragic, highly symbolic suicide, Cato is often termed "Uticensis" ("of Utica"), in order to differentiate him from his homonymous ancestor, Cato "the Elder" or "the Censor".


title: Disembowelment

text: In 1593, a suicide occurred in Wimpfen. A young, pregnant woman, who had become a widow a few weeks before, was lying in her bed. She took a large knife, opened her belly in a cross, and threw out the fetus, her own intestines, and dug out her spleen and flung that out as well. She lived for 10 hours after the act, and when the priests sought to bring her a final consolation and blessing, she said it would all be in vain, because she was a daughter of the devil, and was beyond any sort of redemption. Then, she died, was put in a sack, and was thrown in the river. She was affluent, so it was clear that poverty had not driven her to this act.


title: Disembowelment

text: In 1617, a merchant in the municipality Grossglockau slit up his abdomen so that the intestines fell out; he then pulled out his stomach and threw it on the bed. The chronicler notes he lived long enough to regret his action.


title: Disembowelment

text: When a portion of the intestinal tract is forcefully pulled from or expelled from the body through the anus, it is referred to as "transanal evisceration". Following the first report of transanal evisceration by Brodie in 1827, more than 70 cases have been reported to date, the majority occurring spontaneously in elderly individuals. Straining, chronic constipation, and rectal ulcerations predispose to spontaneous perforation in elderly individuals. Cases of transanal evisceration of children whilst sitting over uncovered swimming pool drains have been reported; notable cases include Valerie Lakey (1993) and Abigail Taylor (2007). In Taylor's case, the suction dislodged and damaged her liver and pancreas; several meters of her small intestine were forcefully pulled through her anus. In both these cases, the victims were left with short bowel syndrome and required feeding by total parenteral nutrition. After multiple operations, Taylor later died from transplant-related cancer.


title: Disembowelment

text: A person, usually a child, can suffer a similar injury if a heavy weight is applied directly over the abdomen. Large intestine (Rectosigmoid) rupture with transanal evisceration has been reported from blunt abdominal trauma and suction injuries. A direct blow or impingement of intestine between the vertebrae and anterior abdominal wall results in sudden increase in the intra-abdominal or intraluminal pressure of the intestine and rupture. The downward pressure forces a portion of the intestine to burst from the anus.


title: Disembowelment

text: The process of embalming sometimes includes removing the internal organs. Mummification, especially as practised by the ancient Egyptians, entailed the removal of the internal organs prior to the preservation of the remainder of the body. The organs removed were embalmed, stored in canopic jars and then placed in the tomb with the body.


title: Disembowelment

text: James Cook, on his second voyage, noted an embalming custom on some of the Pacific islands his crew visited, a custom utilizing transanal evisceration:


title: Black Butler

text: A twenty-four episode anime television series adaption, produced by A-1 Pictures, aired from October 2008 to March 2009. A second twelve episode season aired from July to September 2010; this season features two new main characters and has an anime-original storyline which does not feature manga content. A third season, titled "Black Butler: Book of Circus", was broadcast between July and September 2014. A two-part theatrical original video animation (OVA), titled "Black Butler: Book of Murder", screened in Japanese theaters in October and November 2014. A live-action film adaptation was released in Japan in January 2014. An , titled "", premiered in Japan in January 2017.


title: Black Butler

text: In North America, the series has been licensed by Yen Press. It was published in "Yen Plus" from August 2009 to July 2010. The anime series was licensed by Funimation. Funimation lost the rights to the first two seasons, and they were later acquired by Aniplex of America.


title: Black Butler

text: In Victorian-era London lives a twelve-year-old earl named Ciel Phantomhive, who has acquired this position after the events of his tenth birthday on December 14, 1885, when the Phantomhive manor was attacked by unidentified perpetrators and set ablaze. Ciel, amidst the chaos, discovers his parents, Vincent and Rachel Phantomhive, to be dead along with the family dog, Sebastian. The same night, he is kidnapped by the attackers and then sold into slavery, where he ends up in the hands of a sadistic, demon-worshipping cult. Ciel then endures endless physical, mental and sexual abuse at the hands of his captors. Ciel was also heat-branded with a mark referred to as the "mark of the beast".


title: Black Butler

text: One night, during a sacrificial ceremony to summon a demon, instead of forming a contract with the cult members, the demon states that he was summoned by Ciel, therefore, he only agrees to form a contract with him, killing all the cultist members in the process. To show a contract was formed, the demon places a contract symbol referred to as the Faustian contract symbol on Ciel's right eye, giving it a purple hue, and his iris and pupil now showcase the symbol of the covenant. After the formation of the contract, the demon reveals that he will consume Ciel's soul as payment for helping him achieve his goal; revenge on those who brought down the House of Phantomhive.


title: Black Butler

text: Afterwards, Ciel names the demon Sebastian Michaelis, after his deceased pet dog. The duo then return to society as Ciel takes over his now late father's previous position as the queen's watchdog, a very high-profile individual who is tasked with investigating cases that Queen Victoria herself deems especially important or threatening to England and the crown.


title: Black Butler

text: Written and illustrated by Yana Toboso, "Black Butler" has been serialized in Square Enix's "shōnen" manga magazine "Monthly GFantasy" since September 16, 2006. Square Enix has collected its chapters into individual "tankōbon" volumes. The first volume was released on February 27, 2007. As of July 27, 2022, thirty-two volumes have been released.


title: Black Butler

text: Yen Press licensed the series for an English language release and serialized the manga in "Yen Plus" August 2009 issue for the magazine's first anniversary. The publisher released the first volume on January 26, 2010. As of August 24, 2021, thirty volumes have been released.


title: Black Butler

text: The series has been licensed in France by Kana; in Germany by Carlsen Comics; in Italy by Panini Comics; in Poland by Waneko; in Finland by Punainen jättiläinen; and in Spain by Norma Editorial.


title: Black Butler

text: On August 10, 2007, a drama CD was released by Frontier Works. It featured many of the characters appearing in volumes one and two. A second drama CD was released on November 26, 2008, under the Aniplex label.


title: Black Butler

text: In July 2008, it was announced that an anime adaption of "Black Butler", directed by Toshiya Shinohara and produced by A-1 Pictures. It premiered in October 2008 and broadcast on MBS as well as the TBS. On January 1, 2009, a limited edition DVD containing the first episode was released by Aniplex. The next three episodes were released on another DVD on February 25, 2009. On an event on June 14, 2009, it was announced that the anime would be returning for a second series. Japanese voice actor Junichi Suwabe confirmed this news on his official blog later that day. The second series, "Black Butler II", premiered in July and follows a butler, Claude Faustus, and his master, Alois Trancy, as well as Sebastian and Ciel. Both new characters were designed by Toboso. Aniplex later released the complete Blu-ray and DVD on May 7, 2014.


title: Black Butler

text: On March 29, 2010, North American anime distributor Funimation announced on their online FuniCon 3.0 panel that they had licensed "Black Butler". At Anime Expo 2010, Funimation also announced that they would stream the simulcast series, "Black Butler II". Funimation announced on their Facebook page that they had fully licensed the second season. Funimation released "Black Butler" Combo Pack Blu-ray/DVD first and second season on April 3, 2012. The series made its North American television debut on February 8, 2011, on the Funimation Channel. Funimation lost the rights to the series' first season in 2017, and the rights to the second season in 2018. The first season is currently licensed by Aniplex of America and it was released on a Blu-ray Disc box set on January 29, 2019. In November 2019, Funimation re-licensed the first two seasons for its streaming service.


title: Black Butler

text: On January 16, 2014, it was announced that a third "Black Butler" anime series had been green-lit. Titled "Black Butler: Book of Circus", the series was a close adaptation of the manga, unlike the previous seasons, adapting the "Noah's Ark Circus" arc. The series was directed by Noriyuki Abe at A-1 Pictures, with Hiroyuki Yoshino in charge of scripts, along with Ichiro Okuchi and Yuka Miyata as scriptwriters. The main cast from the previous anime series returned, along with new cast members, and the series aired from July 10, 2014, to September 12, 2014. In addition, a two-part original video animation (OVA) titled the "Book of Murder", an adaptation of the "Phantomhive Manor Murders" arc, was screened in Japanese theatres on October 25, and November 15, 2014. The OVAs featured returning staff from the previous season.


title: Black Butler

text: On August 7, 2014, Funimation announced that they have licensed "Black Butler: Book of Circus", and have streamed it on their simulcast. Funimation released the series on Blu-ray and DVD on April 19, 2016. Additionally, Funimation has licensed the two-part OVA "Black Butler: Book of Murder" and released it on May 17, 2016.


title: Black Butler

text: , a musical adaptation of the manga, had run at the Sunshine Theater in Ikebukuro between May 28, 2009, and June 7, 2009. Yuya Matsushita portrayed Sebastian Michaelis, Shougo Sakamoto played Ciel Phantomhive and Uehara Takuya as Grell Sutcliff.


title: Black Butler

text: , the second musical adaptation of the manga, ran at Akasaka Act Theater (1300 seats) in Akasaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka, between May 3 and May 23, 2010. Yuya Matsushita reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, Yukito Nishii played Ciel Phantomhive, and Uehara Takuya reprised his role as Grell Sutcliff. The other two main characters, Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries, were portrayed by Taisuke Saeki and Shinya Matsumoto, respectively. The musical was written by Mari Okada, directed by Sakurako Fukuyama, with music composed by Taku Iwasaki, and lyrics by Yukinojo Mori. A second run of "The Most Beautiful Death in the World" was announced in December 2012. It ran between May 17 and June 9, 2013, in the Akasaka ACT Theater (Akasaka, Tokyo) again, and the Umeda Arts Theater in Osaka. It was announced in February 2013 that Yuya Matsushita, Uehara Takuya, and Shuhei Izumi would reprise their roles as Sebastian Michaelis, Grell Sutcliff, and the Undertaker, respectively. The rest of the roles were re-cast, with Taketo Tanaka replacing Yukito Nishii as Ciel Phantomhive, and Shinji Rachi and Masataka Nakagauchi replacing Taisuke Saeki and Matsumoto Shinya in the roles of Eric Slingby and Alan Humphries.


title: Black Butler

text: A third musical was performed in September 2014. Most of the cast reprised their roles from the re-run of "The Most Beautiful Death in the World" although Fukuzaki Nayuta replaced Taketo Tanaka as Ciel Phantomhive and Yuka Terasaki replaced Saki Matsuda as Mey-Rin. Akane Liv was introduced as Madam Red, Yuusuke Hirose as Charles Phipps, Oota Motohiro as Charles Grey and Araki Hirofumi as Lau. A re-run of the third "Black Butler" musical ""Lycoris that Blazes the Earth"" was scheduled to perform in November–December 2015. It started in Osaka on November 7 then travel to Miyagi, Tokyo and Fukuoka. The new run of the third musical was the first oversea tour in China (Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen) in December 2015. Yuta Furukawa replaced Matsushita as Sebastian Michaelis. Meanwhile, most of the cast from the third musical reprised their roles.


title: Black Butler

text: A fourth "Black Butler" musical, based on the Noah's Ark Circus arc of the manga, ran between November–December 2016. Yuta Furukawa reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, with Reo Uchikawa replacing Nayuta Fukuzaki as Ciel. Miura Ryosuke was introduced as Joker, Tano Asami as Beast and Tamaki Yuki as Snake, among others. Notably, Izumi Shuuhei reprised his role as the Undertaker again, making him the only original cast member still performing.


title: Black Butler

text: A fifth "Black Butler" musical, Tango on the Campania, which was based on the Luxury Liner arc in the manga, ran between December 2017 to February 2018. Yuta Furukawa reprised his role as Sebastian Michaelis, with Reo Uchikawa also reprising his role as Ciel Phantomhive. Mikata Ryosuke was introduced as Ronald Knox, Okazaki Momoko as Elizabeth Midford, and others. Other actors from previous performers also reprised their roles, such as Uehara Takuya as Grell Sutcliff, Izumi Shuuhei as the Undertaker, and Sasaki Yoshihide as Viscount Druitt.


title: Black Butler

text: A video game for Nintendo DS, called "Kuroshitsuji Phantom & Ghost" was developed by Square Enix and was released on March 19, 2009. The game is sold in two versions, a limited first-press edition with a higher price and numerous extra goods, and a regular edition.


title: Black Butler

text: On February 27, 2009, the was released. The book was released on March 27, 2009. An official comics anthology was also released on that date.


title: Black Butler

text: It was announced on January 18, 2013, that the manga would be made into a live-action film starring Ayame Goriki as Genpou Shiori, Hiro Mizushima as Sebastian Michaelis. Filming began in April 2013 and the film was released on January 18, 2014.


title: Black Butler

text: On October 10, 2015, it was announced an animated film for the series has been green-lit, and the original anime cast returned to reprise their roles. On February 17, 2016, the film "Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic", was confirmed to be an animated adaptation of the arc from the original manga. It was released in Japan on January 21, 2017. On April 1, 2017, Funimation announced that they have licensed the animated film and would screen it in a limited theatrical release in North America later in the year. "Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic", premiered in Japan on January 21, 2017, and in North America on the selected dates of June 12 and 14, 2017.


title: Black Butler

text: As of January 2021, the "Black Butler" manga had over 30 million copies in circulation worldwide. As of July 2022, the manga had over 32 million copies in circulation. Individual volumes have appeared in Oricon's weekly chart of best-selling manga, taking several high spots. In addition to the volumes, the comics anthology "Rainbow Butler" ranked seventeenth during the week of March 31 to April 6 2009, selling 41,083 copies after ranking thirty-third the previous week. The fourth and fifth volumes ranked thirty-third and thirty-ninth of the top-selling manga in Japan during 2008, selling 529,210 copies and 468,550 copies respectively. The sixth volume ranked thirteenth of the top-selling manga in Japan during the first half of 2009, selling 619,501 copies. The series itself was ranked tenth of the top-selling manga series in Japan during 2009, selling a total of 1,603,197 estimated copies.


title: Black Butler

text: The Japanese music distributor Recochoku has created an annual survey of which anime characters that people would like to marry. Sebastian Michaelis ranked ninth in the category "The Character I Want to Be My Groom".


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector graphics is a form of computer graphics in which visual images are created directly from geometric shapes defined on a Cartesian plane, such as points, lines, curves and polygons. The associated mechanisms may include vector display and printing "hardware", vector "data models" and file formats, as well as the "software" based on these data models (especially graphic design software, computer-aided design, and geographic information systems). Vector graphics is an alternative to raster or bitmap graphics, with each having advantages and disadvantages in specific situations.


title: Vector graphics

text: While vector hardware has largely disappeared in favor of raster-based monitors and printers, vector data and software continues to be widely used, especially when a high degree of geometric precision is required, and when complex information can be decomposed into simple geometric primitives. Thus, it is the preferred model for domains such as engineering, architecture, surveying, 3D rendering, and typography, but is entirely inappropriate for applications such as photography and remote sensing, where raster is more effective and efficient. Some application domains, such as geographic information systems (GIS) and graphic design, use both vector and raster graphics at times, depending on purpose.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector graphics are based on the mathematics of analytic or coordinate geometry, and is not related to other mathematical uses of the term vector. This can lead to some confusion in disciplines in which both meanings are used.


title: Vector graphics

text: The logical data model of vector graphics is based on the mathematics of coordinate geometry, in which shapes are defined as a set of points in a two- or three-dimensional cartesian coordinate system, as "p" = ("x, y") or "p" = ("x, y, z"). Because almost all shapes consist of an infinite number of points, the vector model defines a limited set of geometric primitives that can be specified using a finite sample of salient points called vertices. For example, a square can be unambiguously defined by the locations of three of its four corners, from which the software can interpolate the connecting boundary lines and the interior space. Because it is a regular shape, a square could also be defined by the location of one corner, a size (width=height), and a rotation angle.


title: Vector graphics

text: In many vector datasets, each shape can be combined with a set of properties. The most common are visual characteristics, such as color, line weight, or dash pattern. In systems in which shapes represent real-world features, such as GIS and BIM, a variety of attributes of each represented feature can be stored, such as name, age, size, and so on.


title: Vector graphics

text: In some Vector data, especially in GIS, information about topological relationships between objects may be represented in the data model, such as tracking the connections between road segments in a transport network.


title: Vector graphics

text: If a dataset stored in one vector file format is converted to another file format that supports all the primitive objects used in that particular image, then the conversion can be lossless.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector-based devices, such as the vector CRT and the pen plotter, directly control a drawing mechanism to produce geometric shapes. Since vector display devices can define a line by dealing with just two points (that is, the coordinates of each end of the line), the device can reduce the total amount of data it must deal with by organizing the image in terms of pairs of points.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector graphic displays were first used in 1958 by the US SAGE air defense system. Vector graphics systems were retired from the U.S. en route air traffic control in 1999. Vector graphics were also used on the TX-2 at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory by computer graphics pioneer Ivan Sutherland to run his program Sketchpad in 1963.


title: Vector graphics

text: Subsequent vector graphics systems, most of which iterated through dynamically modifiable stored lists of drawing instructions, include the IBM 2250, Imlac PDS-1, and DEC GT40. There was a video game console that used vector graphics called Vectrex as well as various arcade games like "Asteroids", "Space Wars," Tempest and many cinematronics titles such as "Rip-Off", and "Tail Gunner" using vector monitors. Storage scope displays, such as the Tektronix 4014, could display vector images but not modify them without first erasing the display. However, these were never as widely used as the raster-based scanning displays used for television, and had largely disappeared by the mid-1980s except for specialized applications.


title: Vector graphics

text: Plotters used in technical drawing still draw vectors directly to paper by moving a pen as directed through the two-dimensional space of the paper. However, as with monitors, these have largely been replaced by the Wide-format printer that prints a raster image (which may be rendered from vector data).


title: Vector graphics

text: Because this model is useful in a variety of application domains, many different software programs have been created for drawing, manipulating, and visualizing vector graphics. While these are all based on the same basic vector data model, they can interpret and structure shapes very differently, using very different file formats.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector graphics are commonly found today in the SVG, WMF, EPS, PDF, CDR or AI types of graphic file formats, and are intrinsically different from the more common raster graphics file formats such as JPEG, PNG, APNG, GIF, WebP, BMP and MPEG4.


title: Vector graphics

text: The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standard for vector graphics is Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG). The standard is complex and has been relatively slow to be established at least in part owing to commercial interests. Many web browsers now have some support for rendering SVG data but full implementations of the standard are still comparatively rare.


title: Vector graphics

text: In recent years, SVG has become a significant format that is completely independent of the resolution of the rendering device, typically a printer or display monitor. SVG files are essentially printable text that describes both straight and curved paths, as well as other attributes. Wikipedia prefers SVG for images such as simple maps, line illustrations, coats of arms, and flags, which generally are not like photographs or other continuous-tone images. Rendering SVG requires conversion to a raster format at a resolution appropriate for the current task. SVG is also a format for animated graphics.


title: Vector graphics

text: There is also a version of SVG for mobile phones. In particular, the specific format for mobile phones is called SVGT (SVG Tiny version). These images can count links and also exploit anti-aliasing. They can also be displayed as wallpaper.


title: Vector graphics

text: CAD software uses its own vector data formats, usually proprietary formats created by the software vendors, such as Autodesk's DWG and public exchange formats such as DXF. Hundreds of distinct vector file formats have been created for GIS data over its history, including proprietary formats like the Esri file geodatabase, proprietary but public formats like the Shapefile and the original KML, open source formats like GeoJSON, and formats created by standards bodies like Simple Features and GML from the Open Geospatial Consortium.


title: Vector graphics

text: Modern displays and printers are raster devices; vector formats have to be converted to a raster format (bitmaps – pixel arrays) before they can be rendered (displayed or printed). The size of the bitmap/raster-format file generated by the conversion will depend on the resolution required, but the size of the vector file generating the bitmap/raster file will always remain the same. Thus, it is easy to convert from a vector file to a range of bitmap/raster file formats but it is much more difficult to go in the opposite direction, especially if subsequent editing of the vector picture is required. It might be an advantage to save an image created from a vector source file as a bitmap/raster format, because different systems have different (and incompatible) vector formats, and some might not support vector graphics at all. However, once a file is converted from the vector format, it is likely to be bigger, and it loses the advantage of scalability without loss of resolution. It will also no longer be possible to edit individual parts of the image as discrete objects. The file size of a vector graphic image depends on the number of graphic elements it contains; it is a list of descriptions.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector art is ideal for printing since the art is made from a series of mathematical curves; it will print very crisply even when resized. For instance, one can print a vector logo on a small sheet of copy paper, and then enlarge the same vector logo to billboard size and keep the same crisp quality. A low-resolution raster graphic would blur or pixelate excessively if it were enlarged from business card size to billboard size. (The precise resolution of a raster graphic necessary for high-quality results depends on the viewing distance; e.g., a billboard may still appear to be of high quality even at low resolution if the viewing distance is great enough.)


title: Vector graphics

text: If we regard typographic characters as images, then the same considerations that we have made for graphics apply even to the composition of written text for printing (typesetting). Older character sets were stored as bitmaps. Therefore, to achieve maximum print quality they had to be used at a given resolution only; these font formats are said to be non-scalable. High-quality typography is nowadays based on character drawings (fonts) which are typically stored as vector graphics, and as such are scalable to any size. Examples of these vector formats for characters are Postscript fonts and TrueType fonts.


title: Vector graphics

text: For example, consider a circle of radius "r". The main pieces of information a program needs in order to draw this circle are


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector formats are not always appropriate in graphics work and also have numerous disadvantages. For example, devices such as cameras and scanners produce essentially continuous-tone raster graphics that are impractical to convert into vectors, and so for this type of work, an image editor will operate on the pixels rather than on drawing objects defined by mathematical expressions. Comprehensive graphics tools will combine images from vector and raster sources, and may provide editing tools for both, since some parts of an image could come from a camera source, and others could have been drawn using vector tools.


title: Vector graphics

text: Some authors have criticized the term "vector graphics" as being confusing. In particular, "vector graphics" does not simply refer to graphics described by Euclidean vectors. Some authors have proposed to use "object-oriented graphics" instead. However this term can also be confusing as it can be read as any kind of graphics implemented using object-oriented programming.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector graphics editors typically allow translation, rotation, mirroring, stretching, skewing, affine transformations, changing of z-order (loosely, what's in front of what) and combination of primitives into more complex objects. More sophisticated transformations include set operations on closed shapes (union, difference, intersection, etc.). In SVG, the composition operations are based on alpha composition.


title: Vector graphics

text: Vector graphics are ideal for simple or composite drawings that need to be device-independent, or do not need to achieve photo-realism. For example, the PostScript and PDF page description languages use a vector graphics model.


title: Acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney

text: The acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney was announced on December 14, 2017, and was completed on March 20, 2019. Among other key assets, the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by the Walt Disney Company included the 20th Century Fox film and television studios, U.S. cable/satellite channels such as FX, Fox Networks Group, a 73% stake in National Geographic Partners, Indian television broadcaster Star India, and a 30% stake in Hulu. Immediately preceding the acquisition, 21st Century Fox spun off the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Channel, Fox Business, Fox Sports 1 and 2, Fox Deportes, and the Big Ten Network as well as the 67%-owned Credible Labs into the newly formed Fox Corporation. Other 21st Century Fox assets such as the Fox Sports Networks and Sky were divested and sold off to third parties such as Comcast, Sinclair Broadcast Group and Yankee Global Enterprises.


text: On November 6, 2017, CNBC reported The Walt Disney Company was negotiating a deal with Rupert Murdoch to acquire 21st Century Fox's filmed entertainment, cable entertainment, and direct broadcast satellite divisions, including 20th Century Fox, FX Networks, and National Geographic Partners. The deal would reportedly exclude the Fox Broadcasting Company, 20th Century Fox's studio lot, Fox Television Stations, Fox News Group, and Fox Sports, which would be spun off into a new independent company run by the Murdoch family. According to Disney's CEO Bob Iger, the idea of purchasing Fox's assets came after Disney acquired majority control of the streaming company BAMTech with anticipation to develop its own streaming service (which would eventually be called Disney+, launched in November 2019). Disney was less interested in Fox's production capacities and more keen to acquire Fox's own film and television libraries to help expand the streaming service's library.


text: The deal would also include film rights to certain franchises owned by 20th Century Fox, such as "X-Men", "Deadpool", and "Fantastic Four", the distribution rights to "Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope" (which were not owned by Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm respectively when Disney acquired the two companies). Talks had stalled for the day without a deal being finalized, but it was reported on November 10 that the prospected deal had yet to be fully abandoned.


text: On November 16, it was reported that Comcast (parent company of NBCUniversal, Xfinity, and Comcast Spectacor), Verizon Communications, and Sony (parent company of Sony Pictures, Sony Music, and Sony Interactive Entertainment) had also joined Disney in a bidding war for 21st Century Fox. During a recent shareholders meeting, 21st Century Fox Co-Chairman Lachlan Murdoch said Fox was not in the category of "sub-scale" companies that were "finding it difficult to leverage their positions in new and emerging video platforms", but was instead a company that had "the required scale to continue to both execute on our aggressive growth strategy and deliver significant increased returns to shareholders".


text: Because Disney owns the American Broadcasting Company (ABC), Comcast owns the National Broadcasting Company (NBC), and 21st Century Fox owned the Fox Broadcasting Company, a full acquisition of Fox by Disney or Comcast would have been illegal under the Federal Communications Commission (FCC)'s rules prohibiting a merger between any of two of the four major broadcast networks.


text: On November 28, while mentioning a rumor that the rumored negotiations between Disney and Fox were progressing at a rapid pace, Mike Fleming Jr. of "Deadline Hollywood" commented, "given how Disney made the Marvel and Lucasfilm deals under the cone of silence, if this happens we'll probably only know it when it's announced. It is certainly being talked about today."


text: Rumors of a nearing deal continued on December 5, with additional reports suggesting the FSN regional sports networks would be included in the sale (assets that would likely be aligned with Disney's ESPN division).


text: On December 11, Comcast announced it was dropping its bid on the Fox assets. On December 14, Disney and Fox confirmed a $52.4 billion deal to merge the two companies, pending approval from the United States Department of Justice Antitrust Division.


text: In February, CNBC reported that, despite the Disney–Fox deal, Comcast might take action to outbid Disney's $52.4 billion offer, if the AT&T–Time Warner merger went through. Despite this, Fox President Peter Rice stated he was content with the Disney offer and that the Fox assets were "a great fit for Disney."


text: Early in March, the non-profit group Protect Democracy Project Inc. filed a lawsuit against the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) on the hopes to seek any records of communications between the two groups over Disney's pending acquisition of Fox. The lawsuit also sought "any related antitrust enforcement efforts by the DOJ, to find out whether the president or his administration is improperly interfering with the independence of the DOJ out of favoritism for a political ally." Donald Trump congratulated Murdoch for the Disney–Fox deal while attacking AT&T's acquisition of Time Warner, particularly over the ownership of CNN, which he frequently criticized due to alleged bias.


text: On April 12, 2018, Rice revealed the acquisition was expected to close by summer 2019. Beginning in March 2018, a strategic reorganization of the Disney conglomerate saw the creation of two business segments, Disney Parks, Experiences and Products and Walt Disney Direct-to-Consumer & International. Parks & Consumer Products was primarily a merger of Parks & Resorts and Consumer Products & Interactive Media, while Direct-to-Consumer & International took over for Disney International and global sales, distribution, and streaming units from Disney–ABC Television Group, Studio Entertainment, and Disney Digital Network. Given that Iger described it as "strategically positioning our businesses for the future", "The New York Times" considered the reorganization done in expectation of the 21st Century Fox purchase.


text: On May 7, 2018, it was reported that Comcast spoke to investment banks about topping Disney's offer to acquire Fox. Shortly afterwards, Bob Iger stated he was willing to drop Sky plc from the deal to ensure the Fox acquisition.


text: Several Fox investors said they would be open to terminate the company's agreement with Disney if Comcast followed through on its plan to launch a rival all-cash bid for $60 billion. Murdoch's family trust controlled 39% of Fox due to shares it held with special voting rights. However, under the company's by-law, those special rights did not apply to a vote on the Disney/Fox deal when the Murdoch trust only controlled 17% of the vote, making it easier for other shareholders to defeat him, which was expected as early as next month. Later that month, it was confirmed that Lachlan Murdoch, rather than James Murdoch, would take charge of the New Fox company.


text: The following week, Comcast publicly announced it was looking into making an all-cash counter-offer for the Fox assets that Disney proposed to acquire. Shortly after, it was reported that Disney was looking into making its own all-cash counter-offer for Fox assets if Comcast went through with their offer.


text: The next day, Disney and Fox announced they had set their shareholder vote meetings for July 10, although both said Fox's meeting could be postponed if Comcast came through with their offer.


text: On June 12, AT&T was given approval by District Judge Richard J. Leon to acquire Time Warner, easing concerns Comcast had regarding whether government regulators would block their bid for Fox. Consequently, the next day, Comcast mounted a bid of $65 billion for the 21st Century Fox assets that were set to be acquired by Disney.


text: On June 18, it was reported that Disney will add to its already existing $52 billion claim to contest Comcast's proposed counter-offer for the Fox assets.


text: On June 20, Disney and Fox announced they had amended their previous merger agreement, upping Disney's offer to $71.3 billion (a 10% premium over Comcast's $65 billion offer), while also offering shareholders the option of receiving cash instead of stock. On June 21, Murdoch said in response to Disney's higher offer: "We are extremely proud of the businesses we have built at 21st Century Fox, and firmly believe that this combination with Disney will unlock even more value for shareholders as the new Disney continues to set the pace at a dynamic time for our industry." That still does not prevent other companies from making a bid, as the deal was needed to be voted on by shareholders.


text: Iger explained the reasoning behind the bid: "Direct-to-consumer distribution has actually become an even more compelling proposition in the six months since we announced the deal. There has just been not only a tremendous amount of development in that space, but clearly the consumer is voting—loudly."


text: On June 27, the United States Department of Justice gave antitrust approval to Disney under the condition of selling Fox's 22 regional sports channels within 90 days of closing, to which the company has agreed. The next day, Disney and Fox boards scheduled July 27, 2018 as the day shareholders vote on Fox's properties being sold to Disney.


text: On July 9, a Fox shareholder filed a lawsuit to stop the acquisition from Disney citing the absence of financial projections for Hulu. On the same day, CNBC reported Comcast was looking for companies that could take over Fox's Regional Sports Networks. The shareholder claimed that would've made Comcast's antitrust problems regarding the takeover of Fox assets easier as Comcast was preparing to make a new all cash counter-offer before July 27, 2018.


text: On July 12, the Department of Justice filed a notice of appeal with the D.C. Circuit to reverse the District Court's approval for AT&T acquisition of Time Warner (later becoming WarnerMedia). Analysts said the chances of the DOJ win are small, but would be the "final nail in the coffin for Comcast's Fox chase. This is a clear gift to Disney." On the next day, CEO of AT&T Randall L. Stephenson gave an interview with CNBC, about Comcast's bid for Fox: "It probably can't help it. You're in a situation where two entities are bidding for an asset, and this kind of action can obviously influence the outcome of those actions."


text: On July 13, Disney received the support of the Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, the two most prominent proxy adviser firms in the world. Fox shareholders were recommended by the advisers as means to provide for Disney's future.


text: On July 16, CNBC reported Comcast was unlikely to continue its bidding war with Disney to acquire Fox. Instead, Comcast is likely to continue pursuing 61% stake of Sky.


text: On July 19, Comcast officially announced it was dropping its bid on the Fox assets in order to focus on its bid for Sky. The CEO of Comcast, Brian L. Roberts, said "I'd like to congratulate Bob Iger and the team at Disney and commend the Murdoch family and Fox for creating such a desirable and respected company."


text: On July 25, 2018, TCI Fund Management, the second largest shareholder of 21st Century Fox, indicated it voted to approve the Disney–Fox deal. On July 27, Disney and Fox shareholders approved the merger between the two companies.


text: There were reports on August 9 that Viacom CEO Bob Bakish wanted to license its television ad targeting tech to the entire industry, starting with Fox. On August 12, the Competition Commission of India approved the Disney–Fox deal.


text: On September 17, the European Commission scheduled a merger review for October 19, which was later postponed to November 6.


text: On October 5, Disney announced the commencement of exchange offers and consent solicitations for 21st Century Fox.


text: On October 10, it was reported that the new, post-merger organizational structure of "New Fox" would be implemented by January 1, 2019, ahead of the closure of the Disney sale (which is still expected to occur during the first half of 2019).


text: On October 15, Disney offered a list of concessions to the European Commission, which extended the review deadline to November 6. The European Commission on November 6, 2018 cleared the sale, pursuant to the divestment of certain factual television networks in Europe owned by the Disney/Hearst joint venture A&E Networks, including Blaze, Crime & Investigation, History, H2, and Lifetime. Disney will continue to be a 50 percent owner of A&E everywhere outside of the European Economic Area.


text: On November 19, China's regulators approved the Disney–Fox deal, without any conditions. After obtaining approval from Chinese regulators, Disney said it still needed to obtain regulatory approval from several other regulators, though the approvals from the United States, European Union, and China were considered the most important hurdles to clear.


text: On December 3, Brazil's Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) said the deal would concentrate the market of cable sports channels. CADE recommended remedial measures.


text: By December 14, the merger was subjected to regulation in Mexico, where Disney/Fox would account for 27.8% of content distribution across all genres. Disney would own 73% of all sports channels in Mexico. On January 31, Mexico's Federal Commission of Economic Competition (COFECE) approved the Disney–Fox deal after Disney agreed to sell its stake in Walt Disney Studios Sony Pictures Releasing de México, a Mexican film distributor, to Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group.


text: On January 7, 2019, the registration statement for "New Fox", under the name Fox Corporation, was filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.


text: On January 11, it was reported that the deal is expected to close by either February or March 2019. However, on January 30, in a SEC filing by Disney, it was reported that the deal is expected to close by June 2019.


text: Bob Iger met with Brazil's antitrust regulator CADE on February 12, 2019 to discuss the Disney–Fox deal. However, a decision on the deal still could not be reached. However, on February 20, Bloomberg said CADE will make its ruling on the Disney–Fox deal on February 27, 2019. On February 21, Bloomberg reported Disney will divest Fox Sports in Brazil and Mexico to get approval in these countries. The two countries are among the last major hurdles for the Disney–Fox deal. On February 27, Brazil's antitrust agency CADE approved the merger with conditions requiring Disney to divest Fox Sports Brazil among other measures. The regulator said it coordinated with regulators in Mexico and Chile in evaluating the transaction. Brazil's approval clears one of the final hurdles, allowing the deal to be completed in March.


text: On March 4, The Walt Disney Company tweaked Robert Iger's compensation package he would receive upon closing the Disney–Fox deal, removing $13.5 million in potential salary and incentive awards available for the chief executive after the company closes its acquisition of 21st Century Fox Inc. assets.


text: Mexico's telecom regulator, Federal Telecommunications Institute (IFT), approved the deal on March 11, 2019 under the condition that Disney and Fox agree to sell Fox Sports in the country within six months. They also had to keep the National Geographic brand separate from its A&E channels. This cleared the last major holdout on the deal. On March 12, 2019, Disney announced it was set to close the Fox deal on March 19 of the same year.


text: Fox Corporation officially became a standalone, publicly traded company, separate from 21st Century Fox, on March 19, 2019 making Fox Corporation the owner of the assets that were not acquired by Disney. The announcement also included appointment of the board of directors. Also on March 19, 21st Century Fox officially completed distribution of new Fox shares ahead of the completion of the Disney deal. The deal was officially completed on the night of March 19, 2019. Under the terms of the acquisition, Disney will phase out Fox brand usage by 2024.


text: Disney announced on October 8, 2018, 21st Century Fox's top television executives would join the company, including Peter Rice, Gary Knell, John Landgraf, and Dana Walden. Rice will serve as Chairman of Walt Disney Television and Co-Chair of Disney Media Networks, succeeding Ben Sherwood while Walden is to be named Chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment. Disney announced on March 5, 2019, Craig Hunegs would lead the combined television operations at Disney Television Studios once the Disney–Fox deal closed. Hunegs would be president of the subsidiary, with oversight of all operations, including ABC Studios, ABC Signature, 20th Century Fox Television and Fox 21 Television Studios. He would report to Dana Walden, chairman of Fox Television Group who would be chairman of Disney Television Studios and ABC Entertainment.


text: On October 18, 2018, Disney announced a new organizational structure for the Walt Disney Studios and the individual unit heads who would join the company except for Fox's filmed entertainment CEO Stacey Snider, including Emma Watts, Fox 2000 President of Production Elizabeth Gabler, Fox Searchlight Pictures Chairmen Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula. Watts who currently serves as Vice Chairman and President of production at 20th Century Fox will continue in that post. All Fox film production units would report to Walt Disney Studios Chairman Alan Horn except for Fox Family and 20th Century Fox Animation reporting to Watts and Horn. By March 22, 2019, Fox Family only reports to Watts while Fox Animation reporting only to Horn.


text: On December 13, 2018, Disney announced a new organizational structure for its international operations and the individuals who would join the company, including Jan Koeoppen and Uday Shankar. Shankar who currently serves as Chairman and President Fox Networks Group Asia and Star India will lead Disney's Asian operations and will become the new Chairman of Disney India.


text: It was reported on March 21, 2019 that Disney would shut down the Fox 2000 Pictures studio in 2020, following the release of "The Woman in the Window". On the same day, it was reported that up to 4,000 people would lose their jobs as Disney commenced layoffs following the merger. The top executives given two to six months notice of being laid off include 20th Century Fox film president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson, president of worldwide marketing Pamela Levine, co-president of marketing Kevin Campbell, chief content officer Tony Sella, international distribution president Andrew Cripps, executive vice president of corporate communications Dan Berger, executive vice president of legal affairs and executive vice president of Fox Stage productions Bob Cohen and executive vice president of publicity Heather Phillips, 20th Television president Greg Meidel and Fox Consumer Products boss Jim Fielding. The layoffs from Fox's Film Division continued from March, May, June, July and more recently in August 2019. As of July 31, 2019, the layoff totaled 250 with the lay off of several dozen employees in the production and visual effects departments with key Fox executives in this group were executive VP of feature production Fred Baron, executive VP of physical production Dana Belcastro, executive VP of post-production Fred Chandler and visual effects John Kilkenny.


text: Debmar-Mercury announced on April 3 that it would end its national ad sales partnership with 20th Television, and that they would transfer their national ad sales for their first-run and off-network shows by the company to CBS Television Distribution Media Sales. Disney's ESPN unit acquired on April 10 a package of rights to the Big 12 Conference in college athletics that had previously been held by Fox. On April 15, 2019, Hulu acquired AT&T's 9.5% stake in Hulu for $1.43 billion, with Disney and NBCUniversal co-owning the share.


text: Disney announced on April 24, 2019 that it had canceled a number of upcoming Fox films such as "Mouse Guard", "News of the World" (whose rights were then picked up by Universal Pictures), and an adaptation of Angie Thomas' "On the Come Up" (whose rights were then moved to Paramount Players), and that some projects, such as "The King's Man", "Fear Street", and Steven Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story", were still in production. On May 7, Disney announced a revised release schedule for several Disney and Fox films. Among the changes, several films ("Artemis Fowl", "Ad Astra", "Spies in Disguise", "The New Mutants", and "Call of the Wild"), were moved to later release dates. All the Fox Marvel films previously scheduled for release after 2019 were removed from the schedule. "" was rescheduled from 2020 to a 2021 Christmas release, after which "Avatar" sequels will be released every other Christmas holiday release, alternating with "Star Wars" sequels through 2027.