title: Wave function

text: All these wave equations are of enduring importance. The Schrödinger equation and the Pauli equation are under many circumstances excellent approximations of the relativistic variants. They are considerably easier to solve in practical problems than the relativistic counterparts.


title: Wave function

text: The Klein–Gordon equation and the Dirac equation, while being relativistic, do not represent full reconciliation of quantum mechanics and special relativity. The branch of quantum mechanics where these equations are studied the same way as the Schrödinger equation, often called relativistic quantum mechanics, while very successful, has its limitations (see e.g. Lamb shift) and conceptual problems (see e.g. Dirac sea).


title: Wave function

text: Relativity makes it inevitable that the number of particles in a system is not constant. For full reconciliation, quantum field theory is needed.


title: Wave function

text: In this theory, the wave equations and the wave functions have their place, but in a somewhat different guise. The main objects of interest are not the wave functions, but rather operators, so called "field operators" (or just fields where "operator" is understood) on the Hilbert space of states (to be described next section). It turns out that the original relativistic wave equations and their solutions are still needed to build the Hilbert space. Moreover, the "free fields operators", i.e. when interactions are assumed not to exist, turn out to (formally) satisfy the same equation as do the fields (wave functions) in many cases.


title: Wave function

text: Thus the Klein–Gordon equation (spin ) and the Dirac equation (spin ) in this guise remain in the theory. Higher spin analogues include the Proca equation (spin ), Rarita–Schwinger equation (spin ), and, more generally, the Bargmann–Wigner equations. For "massless" free fields two examples are the free field Maxwell equation (spin ) and the free field Einstein equation (spin ) for the field operators.


title: Wave function

text: All of them are essentially a direct consequence of the requirement of Lorentz invariance. Their solutions must transform under Lorentz transformation in a prescribed way, i.e. under a particular representation of the Lorentz group and that together with few other reasonable demands, e.g. the cluster decomposition property,


title: Wave function

text: This applies to free field equations; interactions are not included. If a Lagrangian density (including interactions) is available, then the Lagrangian formalism will yield an equation of motion at the classical level. This equation may be very complex and not amenable to solution. Any solution would refer to a "fixed" number of particles and would not account for the term "interaction" as referred to in these theories, which involves the creation and annihilation of particles and not external potentials as in ordinary "first quantized" quantum theory.


title: Wave function

text: In string theory, the situation remains analogous. For instance, a wave function in momentum space has the role of Fourier expansion coefficient in a general state of a particle (string) with momentum that is not sharply defined.


title: Wave function

text: For now, consider the simple case of a non-relativistic single particle, without spin, in one spatial dimension. More general cases are discussed below.


title: Wave function

text: The state of such a particle is completely described by its wave function, formula_4 where is position and is time. This is a complex-valued function of two real variables and .


title: Wave function

text: For one spinless particle in one dimension, if the wave function is interpreted as a probability amplitude, the square modulus of the wave function, the positive real number


title: Wave function

text: is interpreted as the probability density that the particle is at . The asterisk indicates the complex conjugate. If the particle's position is measured, its location cannot be determined from the wave function, but is described by a probability distribution.


title: Wave function

text: The probability that its position will be in the interval is the integral of the density over this interval:


title: Wave function

text: For a given system, the set of all possible normalizable wave functions (at any given time) forms an abstract mathematical vector space, meaning that it is possible to add together different wave functions, and multiply wave functions by complex numbers (see vector space for details). Technically, because of the normalization condition, wave functions form a projective space rather than an ordinary vector space. This vector space is infinite-dimensional, because there is no finite set of functions which can be added together in various combinations to create every possible function. Also, it is a Hilbert space, because the inner product of two wave functions and can be defined as the complex number (at time )


title: Wave function

text: More details are given below. Although the inner product of two wave functions is a complex number, the inner product of a wave function with itself,


title: Wave function

text: If , then is normalized. If is not normalized, then dividing by its norm gives the normalized function . Two wave functions and are orthogonal if . If they are normalized "and" orthogonal, they are orthonormal. Orthogonality (hence also orthonormality) of wave functions is not a necessary condition wave functions must satisfy, but is instructive to consider since this guarantees linear independence of the functions. In a linear combination of orthogonal wave functions we have,


title: Wave function

text: In the Copenhagen interpretation, the modulus squared of the inner product (a complex number) gives a real number


title: Wave function

text: which, assuming both wave functions are normalized, is interpreted as the probability of the wave function "collapsing" to the new wave function upon measurement of an observable, whose eigenvalues are the possible results of the measurement, with being an eigenvector of the resulting eigenvalue. This is the Born rule, and is one of the fundamental postulates of quantum mechanics.


title: Wave function

text: At a particular instant of time, all values of the wave function are components of a vector. There are uncountably infinitely many of them and integration is used in place of summation. In Bra–ket notation, this vector is written


title: Wave function

text: and is referred to as a "quantum state vector", or simply "quantum state". There are several advantages to understanding wave functions as representing elements of an abstract vector space:


title: Wave function

text: The time parameter is often suppressed, and will be in the following. The coordinate is a continuous index. The are the basis vectors, which are orthonormal so their inner product is a delta function;


title: Wave function

text: Finding the identity operator in a basis allows the abstract state to be expressed explicitly in a basis, and more (the inner product between two state vectors, and other operators for observables, can be expressed in the basis).


title: Wave function

text: a plane wave, which can be used in the description of a particle with momentum exactly , since it is an eigenfunction of the momentum operator. These functions are not normalizable to unity (they aren't square-integrable), so they are not really elements of physical Hilbert space. The set


title: Wave function

text: forms what is called the momentum basis. This "basis" is not a basis in the usual mathematical sense. For one thing, since the functions aren't normalizable, they are instead normalized to a delta function,


title: Wave function

text: For another thing, though they are linearly independent, there are too many of them (they form an uncountable set) for a basis for physical Hilbert space. They can still be used to express all functions in it using Fourier transforms as described next.


title: Wave function

text: Now take the projection of the state onto eigenfunctions of momentum using the last expression in the two equations,


title: Wave function

text: Then utilizing the known expression for suitably normalized eigenstates of momentum in the position representation solutions of the free Schrödinger equation


title: Wave function

text: The position-space and momentum-space wave functions are thus found to be Fourier transforms of each other. The two wave functions contain the same information, and either one alone is sufficient to calculate any property of the particle. As representatives of elements of abstract physical Hilbert space, whose elements are the possible states of the system under consideration, they represent the same state vector, hence "identical physical states", but they are not generally equal when viewed as square-integrable functions.


title: Wave function

text: In practice, the position-space wave function is used much more often than the momentum-space wave function. The potential entering the relevant equation (Schrödinger, Dirac, etc.) determines in which basis the description is easiest. For the harmonic oscillator, and enter symmetrically, so there it doesn't matter which description one uses. The same equation (modulo constants) results. From this follows, with a little bit of afterthought, a factoid: The solutions to the wave equation of the harmonic oscillator are eigenfunctions of the Fourier transform in .


title: Wave function

text: Following are the general forms of the wave function for systems in higher dimensions and more particles, as well as including other degrees of freedom than position coordinates or momentum components.


title: Wave function

text: The position-space wave function of a single particle without spin in three spatial dimensions is similar to the case of one spatial dimension above: formula_27 where is the position vector in three-dimensional space, and is time. As always is a complex-valued function of real variables. As a single vector in Dirac notation


title: Wave function

text: All the previous remarks on inner products, momentum space wave functions, Fourier transforms, and so on extend to higher dimensions.


title: Wave function

text: For a particle with spin, ignoring the position degrees of freedom, the wave function is a function of spin only (time is a parameter);


title: Wave function

text: where is the spin projection quantum number along the axis. (The axis is an arbitrary choice; other axes can be used instead if the wave function is transformed appropriately, see below.) The parameter, unlike and , is a "discrete variable". For example, for a spin-1/2 particle, can only be or , and not any other value. (In general, for spin , can be ). Inserting each quantum number gives a complex valued function of space and time, there are of them. These can be arranged into a column vector


title: Wave function

text: The entire vector is a solution of the Schrödinger equation (with a suitable Hamiltonian), which unfolds to a coupled system of ordinary differential equations with solutions . The term "spin function" instead of "wave function" is used by some authors. This contrasts the solutions to position space wave functions, the position coordinates being continuous degrees of freedom, because then the Schrödinger equation does take the form of a wave equation.


title: Wave function

text: More generally, for a particle in 3d with any spin, the wave function can be written in "position–spin space" as:


title: Wave function

text: in which the spin dependence is placed in indexing the entries, and the wave function is a complex vector-valued function of space and time only.


title: Wave function

text: All values of the wave function, not only for discrete but continuous variables also, collect into a single vector


title: Wave function

text: For a single particle, the tensor product of its position state vector and spin state vector gives the composite position-spin state vector


title: Wave function

text: The tensor product factorization is only possible if the orbital and spin angular momenta of the particle are separable in the Hamiltonian operator underlying the system's dynamics (in other words, the Hamiltonian can be split into the sum of orbital and spin terms). The time dependence can be placed in either factor, and time evolution of each can be studied separately. The factorization is not possible for those interactions where an external field or any space-dependent quantity couples to the spin; examples include a particle in a magnetic field, and spin–orbit coupling.


title: Wave function

text: The preceding discussion is not limited to spin as a discrete variable, the total angular momentum "J" may also be used. Other discrete degrees of freedom, like isospin, can expressed similarly to the case of spin above.


title: Wave function

text: If there are many particles, in general there is only one wave function, not a separate wave function for each particle. The fact that "one" wave function describes "many" particles is what makes quantum entanglement and the EPR paradox possible. The position-space wave function for particles is written:


title: Wave function

text: where is the position of the -th particle in three-dimensional space, and is time. Altogether, this is a complex-valued function of real variables.


title: Wave function

text: In quantum mechanics there is a fundamental distinction between "identical particles" and "distinguishable" particles. For example, any two electrons are identical and fundamentally indistinguishable from each other; the laws of physics make it impossible to "stamp an identification number" on a certain electron to keep track of it. This translates to a requirement on the wave function for a system of identical particles:


title: Wave function

text: where the sign occurs if the particles are "all bosons" and sign if they are "all fermions". In other words, the wave function is either totally symmetric in the positions of bosons, or totally antisymmetric in the positions of fermions. The physical interchange of particles corresponds to mathematically switching arguments in the wave function. The antisymmetry feature of fermionic wave functions leads to the Pauli principle. Generally, bosonic and fermionic symmetry requirements are the manifestation of particle statistics and are present in other quantum state formalisms.


title: Wave function

text: For "distinguishable" particles (no two being identical, i.e. no two having the same set of quantum numbers), there is no requirement for the wave function to be either symmetric or antisymmetric.


title: Wave function

text: For a collection of particles, some identical with coordinates and others distinguishable (not identical with each other, and not identical to the aforementioned identical particles), the wave function is symmetric or antisymmetric in the identical particle coordinates only:


title: Wave function

text: For identical particles, symmetry requirements apply to both position and spin arguments of the wave function so it has the overall correct symmetry.


title: Wave function

text: The formulae for the inner products are integrals over all coordinates or momenta and sums over all spin quantum numbers. For the general case of particles with spin in 3-d,


title: Wave function

text: this is altogether three-dimensional volume integrals and sums over the spins. The differential volume elements are also written "" or "".


title: Wave function

text: The multidimensional Fourier transforms of the position or position–spin space wave functions yields momentum or momentum–spin space wave functions.


title: Wave function

text: For the general case of particles with spin in 3d, if is interpreted as a probability amplitude, the probability density is


title: Wave function

text: and the probability that particle 1 is in region with spin "and" particle 2 is in region with spin etc. at time is the integral of the probability density over these regions and evaluated at these spin numbers:


title: Wave function

text: For systems in time-independent potentials, the wave function can always be written as a function of the degrees of freedom multiplied by a time-dependent phase factor, the form of which is given by the Schrödinger equation. For particles, considering their positions only and suppressing other degrees of freedom,


title: Wave function

text: where is the energy eigenvalue of the system corresponding to the eigenstate . Wave functions of this form are called stationary states.


title: Wave function

text: The time dependence of the quantum state and the operators can be placed according to unitary transformations on the operators and states. For any quantum state and operator , in the Schrödinger picture changes with time according to the Schrödinger equation while is constant. In the Heisenberg picture it is the other way round, is constant while evolves with time according to the Heisenberg equation of motion. The Dirac (or interaction) picture is intermediate, time dependence is places in both operators and states which evolve according to equations of motion. It is useful primarily in computing S-matrix elements.


title: Wave function

text: One of most prominent features of the wave mechanics is a possibility for a particle to reach a location with a prohibitive (in classical mechanics) force potential. A common model is the "potential barrier", the one-dimensional case has the potential


title: Wave function

text: The standard interpretation of this is as a stream of particles being fired at the step from the left (the direction of negative ): setting corresponds to firing particles singly; the terms containing and signify motion to the right, while and – to the left. Under this beam interpretation, put since no particles are coming from the right. By applying the continuity of wave functions and their derivatives at the boundaries, it is hence possible to determine the constants above.


title: Wave function

text: In a semiconductor crystallite whose radius is smaller than the size of its exciton Bohr radius, the excitons are squeezed, leading to quantum confinement. The energy levels can then be modeled using the particle in a box model in which the energy of different states is dependent on the length of the box.


title: Wave function

text: The wave functions for the quantum harmonic oscillator can be expressed in terms of Hermite polynomials , they are


title: Wave function

text: The wave functions of an electron in a Hydrogen atom are expressed in terms of spherical harmonics and generalized Laguerre polynomials (these are defined differently by different authors—see main article on them and the hydrogen atom).


title: Wave function

text: It is convenient to use spherical coordinates, and the wave function can be separated into functions of each coordinate,


title: Wave function

text: where are radial functions and are spherical harmonics of degree and order . This is the only atom for which the Schrödinger equation has been solved exactly. Multi-electron atoms require approximative methods. The family of solutions is:


title: Wave function

text: These quantum numbers index the components of the state vector. More, all are in an -dimensional set where each is the set of allowed values for ; all are in an -dimensional "volume" where and each is the set of allowed values for , a subset of the real numbers . For generality and are not necessarily equal.


title: Wave function

text: The probability of finding system with in some or all possible discrete-variable configurations, , and in some or all possible continuous-variable configurations, , is the sum and integral over the density,


title: Wave function

text: The normalization condition requires to be dimensionless, by dimensional analysis must have the same units as .


title: Wave function

text: Whether the wave function really exists, and what it represents, are major questions in the interpretation of quantum mechanics. Many famous physicists of a previous generation puzzled over this problem, such as Schrödinger, Einstein and Bohr. Some advocate formulations or variants of the Copenhagen interpretation (e.g. Bohr, Wigner and von Neumann) while others, such as Wheeler or Jaynes, take the more classical approach and regard the wave function as representing information in the mind of the observer, i.e. a measure of our knowledge of reality. Some, including Schrödinger, Bohm and Everett and others, argued that the wave function must have an objective, physical existence. Einstein thought that a complete description of physical reality should refer directly to physical space and time, as distinct from the wave function, which refers to an abstract mathematical space.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage is an American metalcore band from Westfield, Massachusetts, formed in 1999 after the disbanding of Overcast and Aftershock. Killswitch Engage's current lineup consists of vocalist Jesse Leach, guitarists Joel Stroetzel and Adam Dutkiewicz, bassist Mike D'Antonio, and drummer Justin Foley. The band has released eight studio albums and three live performance albums. Their eighth studio album, "Atonement", was released on August 16, 2019.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage rose to fame with its 2004 release "The End of Heartache", which peaked at number 21 on the "Billboard" 200, and was certified gold by the RIAA in December 2007 for over 500,000 shipments in the United States. The title track, "The End of Heartache", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2005 for Best Metal Performance, and a live DVD titled "(Set This) World Ablaze" was released in 2005. Killswitch Engage has performed at festivals such as Soundwave Festival, Wacken Open Air, Reading and Leeds Festivals, Ozzfest, Download Festival, Rock on the Range, Rock am Ring, Mayhem Festival, Monsters of Rock, Pointfest, Knotfest and Heavy MTL. The band has sold over four million records in the U.S. and has been considered notable within the New Wave of American Heavy Metal, and has also been considered one of the earliest leading forces of the metalcore genre.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage formed following the disbandment of metalcore bands Overcast and Aftershock in 1999. After Overcast broke up in 1998, bassist Mike D'Antonio collaborated with Aftershock guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz. Dutkiewicz, now playing drums, recruited guitarist Joel Stroetzel from Aftershock and vocalist Jesse Leach of the band Nothing Stays Gold (who were signed to a record label owned by Dutkiewicz's brother Tobias, who was also the vocalist in Aftershock) to form a new band, Killswitch Engage. The band's name is derived from an episode of the television series "The X-Files" entitled "Kill Switch", written by William Gibson, who gave the episode this title after meeting the industrial band Kill Switch...Klick.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: In 1999, Killswitch Engage recorded a demo containing four tracks, including "Soilborn", the first song written by the band. The demo was first released at the band's first show, opening for melodic death metal act In Flames, in November 1999. They released their self-titled debut album the following year. Although initially the album was not a financial success and did not land on any charts, it attracted the interest of Carl Severson, who worked at Roadrunner Records at the time. Severson handed "Killswitch Engage" to several Roadrunner representatives. Mike Gitter, a talent agent of the company, contacted D'Antonio, attended several of the band's shows, and offered the band a recording contract with Roadrunner. Realizing that Roadrunner had the resources to promote and distribute Killswitch Engage releases, the band accepted his offer, declining several offers from smaller labels.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: For a brief time in 2000 and 2001, ex-Overcast guitarist Pete Cortese joined Killswitch Engage, but left when he became a father. Killswitch Engage began writing new material for their second album in November 2001. Mixed in January at Backstage Studios by producer Andy Sneap, the album was titled "Alive or Just Breathing", after lyrics in the song "Just Barely Breathing". A music video for the single "My Last Serenade" increased the band's exposure, and the album peaked at number 37 on the Top Heatseekers chart.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Following "Alive or Just Breathing"s release, the album having been written and recorded for two guitarists, the band decided to expand and become a fivesome; Dutkiewicz moved to guitar and former Aftershock drummer Tom Gomes filled in the vacant drummer position. After Leach was married on April 20, 2002 and began touring again he fell into a depression. Leach left the band a few days before the band was meant to play a show and sent the band members an e-mail telling them he had quit. On Leach's end, he remarked "I didn't have the mental energy to face them, or even call them on the phone rather. I was at a point in my life where I just didn't want to face any of them so I wrote them a long email explaining, like, I'm just done", while D'Antonio said in an interview that "after three years of hanging out with the dude, and considering him a brother, to just get an email was a little bit harsh."


title: Killswitch Engage

text: The band immediately started to search for a replacement vocalist and found Howard Jones of Blood Has Been Shed. Jones disliked the band's sound when he first heard it. He commented, "I was like, 'Meh.' I come from hardcore and dirtier metal, and Killswitch sounded so clean. But the more I listened to it, I realized there's some really good songs here". After hearing about Leach's vocal problems, Jones contacted the band and was accepted as the replacement. Philip Labonte of All That Remains tried out for lead vocals but lost to Jones, who had to quickly memorize seven songs for his debut at the 2002 Hellfest.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: The new lineup played on the Road Rage tour in Europe in 2002 with 36 Crazyfists and Five Pointe O . Touring continued through the New Year's Day, and in 2003 the first song to feature Jones, "When Darkness Falls", appeared on the soundtrack of the 2003 horror film "Freddy vs. Jason". Following the 2003 Ozzfest, drummer Gomes left the band because he wished to spend more time with his wife, to pursue his band Something of a Silhouette, and because he was tired of touring. He was replaced by Justin Foley of Blood Has Been Shed, and Foley's first tour with the band was the MTV2 Headbangers Ball in 2003.<ref name="Billboard Bits: EMI/WMG, Liza/VH1, 'Headbanger's Ball'"></ref>


title: Killswitch Engage

text: "The End of Heartache" was released on May 11, 2004, and peaked at number 21 on the "Billboard" 200 with 38,000 sales in its first week, and it also peaked at number 39 on the Australian Albums Chart. The album went on to sell more than 500,000 copies in the U.S and was certified gold on December 7, 2007. The album received mostly positive reviews, with Jon Caramanica of "Rolling Stone" calling the album a "stunning collection, retaining much of their signature musical brutality". Eduardo Rivadavia of AllMusic commented "riffs upon riffs are piled sky-high into each number that follows, it's the unpredictable rhythmic shifts used to build and then relieve internal pressure that fuel the Killswitch Engage power source".


title: Killswitch Engage

text: "The End of Heartache" became the main single for the movie "", and in 2005 the song was nominated for Best Metal Performance for the 47th Grammy Awards. In late 2004, "The End of Heartache" was re-released as a special edition album, with a second disc featuring various live performances, a Japanese bonus track, and a re-recorded version of "Irreversal". During the summer of 2005, the band returned for Ozzfest, and on November 1, 2005, "Alive or Just Breathing" was re-released as part of Roadrunner Records' 25th anniversary. On November 22, 2005, the live DVD "(Set This) World Ablaze" was released, which contained a live concert at the Palladium in Worcester, Massachusetts, an hour-long documentary, and all the band's music videos. The DVD was certified gold in the US on April 8, 2006.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage played the Reading and Leeds Festivals in August 2006, having already played Australian dates without Dutkiewicz, who was suffering from back problems and needed corrective surgery. On May 23, 2006, the song "This Fire Burns" was released on the "WWE Wreckless Intent" album. The track was intended to be the new theme song for WWE wrestler Randy Orton; however, it was scrapped and later became the theme song for the WWE Judgment Day 2006 pay-per-view. "This Fire Burns" was used as the entrance theme for WWE wrestler CM Punk (along with his stables the Straight Edge Society and The New Nexus) from 2006 until 2011 and was later re-released as "This Fire" on the "As Daylight Dies" Special Edition.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Recorded in three months, "As Daylight Dies" was released on November 21, 2006 and peaked at number 32 on the "Billboard" 200 chart with 60,000 sales in its first week. "As Daylight Dies" proved to be one of their biggest albums yet. It also entered the Australian Albums Chart at number 29. Mixed by Dutkiewicz, the album received mostly positive reviews—Thom Jurek of Allmusic called it "a Top Five metal candidate for 2006 for sure". "Decibel Magazine" contributor Nick Terry said "To call "As Daylight Dies" addictive would be an understatement. That it outdoes its already impressive enough predecessor could almost go without saying". Cosmo Lee of "Stylus Magazine" commented "the album is astonishingly badly sequenced", though he praised the album as being "less emotionally heavy-handed, and a lot more fun". As of November 27, 2007, "As Daylight Dies" has sold more than 500,000 units in the US.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: The album's first single, "My Curse", peaked at number 21 on the Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, and is featured in the video games "Sleeping Dogs", "", "Burnout Dominator" and "Burnout Paradise" and is available as downloadable content for the "Rock Band" series. "The Arms of Sorrow" peaked at number 31 on the same chart. The band's cover of Dio's "Holy Diver", originally recorded for a "Kerrang!" compilation album titled "High Voltage", peaked at number 12 on the Mainstream Rock charts. Early in 2007, the band had to cancel three of its European tour dates with The Haunted due to Dutkiewicz's back problems. He required emergency back surgery and was replaced on the tour by Soilwork guitarist Peter Wichers.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Due to Dutkiewicz's back problems in early 2007, he was replaced by Damageplan and The Mercy Clinic frontman Patrick Lachman during the No Fear Tour. Dutkiewicz recovered and was able to finish the No Fear tour, and the band began filming its video for "As Daylight Dies"s second single, "The Arms of Sorrow". On August 6, 2007, Dutkiewicz was forced to leave the Warped Tour so he could fully recover from his back surgery and continue daily physical therapy. He was replaced by Killswitch's guitar technician Josh Mihlek for select songs, until his return on August 14, 2007.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage entered the studio in October 2008 to start recording their next album with Dutkiewicz and Brendan O'Brien co-producing the album. In mid-February, bassist Mike D'Antonio confirmed in an interview with Metal Hammer that "drums were finished", and that he had "finished up the last few bass fixes". He also stated that Howard [Jones] was in Atlanta finishing vocals, and that "it shouldn't be too much longer now." From March to May, Killswitch Engage was a part of Disturbed's Music as a Weapon IV festival along with Lacuna Coil, Chimaira, Suicide Silence, Bury Your Dead and more. On April 14, the band announced the name of their album as "Killswitch Engage", the second time the band has self-titled an album. The album was released on June 30, 2009, debuting at No. 7 on the Billboard 200, marking the band's highest chart position for an album. In July and August, Killswitch Engage took part in Mayhem Festival with headliners Marilyn Manson, Slayer, Bullet for My Valentine and others. In February 2010, Killswitch Engage announced that vocalist Howard Jones would not be performing with Killswitch Engage during their winter tour with The Devil Wears Prada and Dark Tranquillity; during the time, All That Remains vocalist Philip Labonte was substituting for Jones until he could return. At least one source speculated that Jones' hiatus was due to back pain. On March 18, 2010, original vocalist Jesse Leach returned to the band for a series of songs. From then on, Leach and Labonte performed as substitute vocalists for the remainder of the tour.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: In 2010, the band contributed the track "My Obsession" to the "" soundtrack. The band was later added as late replacement to 2010's Download Festival in June, after original sub-headliner, Wolfmother could not attend as scheduled. Afterward, Killswitch Engage took a break from the road, and its members pursued other interests. Adam Dutkiewicz formed the band Times of Grace with Leach and released the debut album "The Hymn of a Broken Man" on January 18, 2011. Along with Dutkiewicz and Leach, Times of Grace added Joel Stroetzel to their tour lineup. Justin Foley provided the drum tracking for the band Unearth on their album "Darkness in the Light", released on July 5, 2011. Foley also traveled with the band for their 2011 summer tour. D'Antonio started the hardcore band Death Ray Vision, with Shadows Fall vocalist Brian Fair and former Killswitch Engage guitarist Pete Cortese.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: In an interview with FTC, Gun Shy Assassin, Mike D'Antonio had stated that the band was currently in the works for a sixth studio album. D'Antonio stated, "Currently, everyone is individually writing demos for the next Killswitch Engage record. There is no release date yet, but I would assume it will be out early 2012." Adam Dutkiewicz followed that up with a statement on the Killswitch Engage Facebook, saying "YO! Its Adam D! We're about to begin writing our new record. Thanks to all of our fans for waiting so friggin' patiently...now let's turn on the "riff faucet" and RAGE!" On December 1, 2011, Mike D'Antonio posted online that Killswitch Engage should be entering the studio around February/March 2012 to record their sixth album expected around summer 2012. He also stated that the band had eight demos finished for the new record.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On January 4, 2012, the band announced via the band's official website, along with their other official sources, that Howard Jones had left the band after his nine-year membership with them. In the statement, the band did not disclose the reason for this decision out of respect for Jones, but simply thanked him for his nine years with the band and wished him well, as well as thanking the fans for their support as they began the search for a new lead singer; Jones later explained he departed the band to manage his type 2 diabetes which was worsened by a hectic touring lifestyle. Soon after the announcement of Jones's departure, rumors began that Phil Labonte of All That Remains would officially take over lead vocals due to his previous history with the band, although Labonte quickly dispelled the rumor. Many vocalists were considered in the search for a new one for the band. The band's search for a new singer concluded in February with the announcement that original lead vocalist Jesse Leach would return to the band, as the band felt that Leach's energy, as well as his overall comfort and command of both the old and new material, made him the clear choice during auditions. Following Leach's return, the band continued to the process of recording their new album and touring. On April 22, 2012, the band performed Leach's first show since 2002 at the New England Metal and Hardcore Fest.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On June 20, 2012, the demo version of a new song titled "This Is Confrontation" was leaked on YouTube. Not long after the song was leaked, the videos were soon deleted. Later, the band took part in Metal Hammer's "Trespass America Festival" headlined by Five Finger Death Punch with additional support from God Forbid, Emmure, Pop Evil, Trivium and Battlecross. The band performed this song live, confirming the song's title "No End in Sight". Not long after the album was confirmed, the song was streamed publicly again. In October 2012, with Jesse back at the helm, Killswitch Engage announced they would be celebrating the ten-year anniversary of their seminal album "Alive or Just Breathing" with a US Tour through November/December 2012, in which the band played the album live in its entirety. Support on the tour came from fellow Massachusetts natives Shadows Fall and Acaro.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: The album "Disarm the Descent" was released April 1, 2013 in the UK. The album debuted at #15 in the UK charts while debuting at #7 in the Billboard top 200 April 2 in the US. The first single "In Due Time" was released on February 5, 2013. The album has received critical acclaim from reviewers, and has been labeled as a "true standout" and "nothing short of amazing". It was announced in December 2013 that "In Due Time" was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2014 Grammy Awards, but lost to "God Is Dead?" by Black Sabbath. A tour in May 2013 was done to promote the new album. With Miss May I, Darkest Hour, The Word Alive and Affiance as support. As I Lay Dying was originally supposed to be on the tour but dropped due to criminal charges from frontman Tim Lambesis. The band also did a co-headliner with fellow Heavy Metal act Lamb of God in the October 2013 with Testament and Huntress as support for both bands. The band did a small headliner on the east coast for Halloween 2014, with All That Remains, Death Ray Vision and City of Homes supporting.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: In an interview with Wikimetal, Jesse Leach announced that the band will start demoing new material "in the coming months".


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On February 25, 2015, the band released a 40-second snippet of a new single titled "Loyalty". The track appears on the "Catch The Throne: The Mixtape Volume 2" to promote the HBO TV series "Game of Thrones". The mixtape also features appearances from various other metal and rap acts such as Anthrax and Snoop Dogg.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On March 30, 2015, Mike D'Antonio stated that the band had completed demoing material for its next studio album.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage took part in a summer tour in July 2015, opening up for Rise Against with support from letlive.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On December 10, 2015, the band premiered a new song entitled "Strength of the Mind" on Revolver. The band also did a small Christmas 2015 tour on the East Coast with Unearth, Act of Defiance and '68.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On December 16, 2015, it was revealed that the band's upcoming seventh album, released on March 11, 2016, would be titled "Incarnate", with a tour being took part in March of that year with Memphis May Fire and 36 Crazyfists as supporters.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On September 27, 2016, Leach revealed on his Instagram page that the band would be releasing a documentary compiled of live footage since 2012.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On November 25, 2016, the band released a Blu-ray/CD called "Beyond The Flames: Home Video Vol.2". The Blu-ray contains live performances that were recorded around the world from 2012 to 2016 and an hour long documentary taking place right after the band's "(Set This) World Ablaze" had left off, as well as music videos, band member profiles and more, plus a bonus live CD containing live tracks from the band's legendary 2014 Monster Mosh show. The two disc set had a one day exclusive sale in record stores everywhere on Black Friday. The set is now available for online purchase and digital download on the Killswitch Engage store.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On August 30, 2017, the band announced on their Instagram page that they were in the process of demoing material for their upcoming eighth studio album.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: In April 2018, it was revealed that their former singer Howard Jones will appear on their new album performing a duet with Jesse Leach during a song that was revealed to be titled "The Signal Fire".


title: Killswitch Engage

text: The band cancelled their tour dates from April 26 to May 5 due to the need of vocalist Jesse Leach undergoing surgery on his vocal cords.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: During an interview with the "Wall of Sound: Up Against the Wall" podcast in October 2018, Jesse Leach revealed more details about the song with former singer Howard Jones stating: "He does a verse, I do a verse, we sing the chorus together it's a real heavy shitkicker" and that the song was inspired by Howard's new band name Light the Torch and their friendship. On April 24, 2019, the band posted on their Instagram that the follow up to the 2016 album "Incarnate" would be released in the autumn.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: According to Music Week, the band has signed with Metal Blade Records for the USA, Music for Nations for the UK, and an international contract with Columbia/Sony. These labels released the band's eighth studio album, "Atonement", on August 16, 2019.


title: Killswitch Engage

text: On August 20, 2019, the band released their music video for "Atonement"'s third single "The Signal Fire", the song they recorded with former frontman Howard Jones (now of Light the Torch).


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Killswitch Engage's musical style has been described as metalcore and melodic metalcore. Like some 2000s metalcore bands, Killswitch Engage vocally combine singing, screaming vocals, and growls in their music. In 2009, MTV, while naming "The Greatest Metal Bands of All Time", said that Killswitch Engage have been "called one of the founders of metalcore". Jason D. Taylor of AllMusic said "Alive or Just Breathing" is "a pure metal album that seemingly has ignored any fashionable trend and instead relies solely on skill and expertise to sculpt some of the meatiest heavy metal since the glory days of Metallica and Slayer."


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Both current vocalist Jesse Leach and former vocalist Howard Jones write lyrics that are considered positive. Jesse Leach stated on "(Set This) World Ablaze", that the lyrics contain "unity, positivity, [and] love." On the lyrical themes of "Killswitch Engage", Ultimate Guitar reviewer Amy Sciarretto noted:


title: Killswitch Engage

text: Jesse Leach has talked about the band's label of metalcore, stating: "I never liked the term 'metalcore.' I don't think it's an accurate representation of the wide variety of bands that get lumped under that category. But I get it. People have to categorize stuff and put it into their own little category so they can describe stuff to somebody else. I like to say we're more of a metal band. It is what it is. People are going to use that term whether I like it or not."


title: When Marnie Was There

text: The film follows Anna Sasaki staying with her relatives in a town in Kushiro wetlands, Hokkaido. Anna comes across a nearby abandoned mansion, where she meets Marnie, a mysterious girl who asks her to promise to keep their secrets from everyone. As summer progresses, Anna spends more time with Marnie and learns the truth about her family and foster care.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: The film featured the final work for Studio Ghibli animator Makiko Futaki, who died in May 2016. It was also the final film that Yonebayashi directed for Ghibli before he left and joined Studio Ponoc. The film received positive reviews from critics, praising its animation, music, vocal performances, and emotional story. It was released in theatres on 19 July 2014, and on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan on 18 March 2015. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 88th Academy Awards, but it lost to "Inside Out".


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Anna Sasaki is a 12-year-old girl with low self-esteem living in Sapporo with foster parents, Yoriko and her husband. One day, Anna suffers an asthma attack at school. At the doctor's recommendation to send Anna to a place where the air is clean, Yoriko decides to have her spend summer break with Yoriko's relatives, Setsu and Kiyomasa Oiwa, who live in a rural seaside town located between Kushiro and Nemuro.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Anna investigates an abandoned mansion across a salt marsh. She finds it familiar but gets trapped by the rising tide until she is found by Toichi, an old fisherman. Anna sees a blonde haired girl in the mansion. On the night of the Tanabata festival, she meets the girl, Marnie. The two agree to keep their meetings secret. Marnie invites Anna to a party at the mansion, where she sees Marnie dancing with a boy named Kazuhiko.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Anna meets Hisako, an older woman who paints. Hisako comments that Anna's sketches look like a girl whom she knew when she was young. A family moves into the mansion. During the move-in, Anna meets a girl named Sayaka, who gives her Marnie's diary that had been hidden in a drawer. Anna tells Marnie she found documents that show her foster parents are paid to take care of her. She makes the assumption that they only pretend to love her for the money, and says she can’t forgive her biological family for leaving her behind and dying. Marnie shares how her parents are always traveling abroad, and how she is left behind with her cruel nanny. The maids bully her and threaten to lock her in the silo near the mansion. Anna leads Marnie to the silo to confront the latter’s fear of it. Marnie conquers her fear and Kazuhiko comforts Marnie.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Sayaka finds the missing pages from Marnie's diary, which include passages about Kazuhiko and the silo. She and her brother find Anna unconscious with a high fever. They bring her back to the Oiwas, where Anna confronts Marnie. Marnie says she is sorry for leaving her and that she cannot see Anna anymore. When Anna recovers, Hisako reveals Marnie's story: Marnie married Kazuhiko and had a daughter named Emily, but he died from a sudden illness and Marnie committed herself to a sanatorium to cope with her loss. With no other family to care for her, Emily was sent to a boarding school. Marnie recovered but a preteen Emily was resentful for her mother abandoning her. In her adulthood, Emily ran away from home and had a daughter herself, but she and her husband were killed in a car accident. Marnie raised her granddaughter, who was placed in foster care after her death.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: At the end of the summer, Yoriko arrives to take Anna home and is delighted to see Anna having made new friends in Hisako, Toichi and Sayaka. She gives Anna a photograph of the mansion and says it belonged to Anna's grandmother. When Anna sees Marnie's name written on the back, she realizes that she is Emily's daughter and Marnie's granddaughter. This revelation brings closure about her identity. Yoriko tells Anna about the government payments, but reassures her that they have always loved her. For the first time, Anna calls Yoriko her mother.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Anna says goodbye to her new friends and promises to visit again next summer before seeing Marnie at the mansion window, waving goodbye to her.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: The original novel by Joan G. Robinson had previously been cited by Hayao Miyazaki as one of his favorite children's novels. Hiromasa Yonebayashi was assigned the project by Ghibli producer Toshio Suzuki, who asked him to change the setting of the story to Japan. Yonebayashi found the story moving, but he "thought it would be very difficult to visualize as a film," and initially turned down the role. His interest was later renewed and he began to conceive new elements for the story, such as Anna's characterization as an artist. Although the setting was changed, the decision was made to retain Marnie's appearance as blonde and blue-eyed, though Miyazaki was opposed to this decision. According to Ghibli producer Yoshiaki Nishimura, Miyazaki judged the usage of Marnie's character "plain outdated and cheesy" to promote the film, although Nishimura clarified that catching people's attention with her appearance never had been their intention.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Yonebayashi intended the film to be encouraging to children in Japan who felt lonely and isolated, and hoped that "when they see Marnie, maybe they could take a little step forward". Key focus was placed upon highly detailed character movements and backgrounds, as well as depicting the details of Anna's experience in the environment. The Marsh House that is central to the story was designed by Yohei Taneda, who Yonebayashi asked "to draw the Marsh House as if it were another character who watches over Anna." Taneda scouted buildings in Hokkaido for inspiration.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: When Marnie Was There Soundtrack Music Collection, known as in Japan, is a two-disc soundtrack and image song album that was released on CD in Japan and in 113 countries worldwide (including Japan) as a digital download on the iTunes Store on 16 July 2014. The first "Image Song" disc features music composed to express the personality of the characters and feel of places in the film. The second disc features all the background music for the film. Priscilla Ahn, the writer and performer of the movie's theme song, "Fine on the Outside", also released an accompanying album to the film called "Just Know That I Love You" on 16 July 2014.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: "When Marnie Was There" was released in Japan on July 19, 2014. On 14 January, GKIDS announced that they would be distributing the film for a North American release on May 22, 2015. The film premièred at the New York International Children's Film Festival on 27 February 2015. The film had its UK premiere during the BFI London Film Festival on 10 October 2015 with a wider release scheduled for 10 June 2016.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: The film was released on Blu-ray and DVD in Japan by Walt Disney Studios Japan on 18 March 2015, and released on Blu-ray and DVD in America by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment on October 6, 2015.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: "When Marnie Was There" opened at third place, grossing during its opening weekend in Japan. By its fourth weekend, it had earned , made an additional in its next two weekends, and had a total of by its eighth weekend. By the end of 2014, the film had grossed () in Japan.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Overseas, the film sold 114,679 tickets in France, equivalent to approximately () in 2015. In North America, the film had grossed by its third weekend, and went on to gross $561,085 in the United States and Canada. In South Korea, it grossed () in 2015. The film grossed $763,191 in other territories, for a worldwide total of approximately .


title: When Marnie Was There

text: In Japan, the Blu-ray release sold 15,224 units and the DVD release sold 28,560 units , for a combined total of at least physical home video units sold in Japan.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: In the United Kingdom, it was 2016's third best-selling foreign language film on home video (behind "Victor Young Perez" and "Ip Man 3"). It was later 2017's eighth best-selling foreign language film in the UK, and the year's fourth best-selling Japanese film (behind the anime films "Your Name", "My Neighbor Totoro", and "Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions").


title: When Marnie Was There

text: Following the success of the film, Robinson's original novel experienced a boost in sales internationally. Her agent Caroline Sheldon sold the rights of the book to 10 countries, including Japan, Italy, Spain and China. The book was also re-released in English by HarperCollins Children's Books as part of its classics range.


title: When Marnie Was There

text: "When Marnie Was There" received positive reviews. On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 91%, based on 99 reviews, with an average rating of 7.47/10. The website's critical consensus reads, ""When Marnie Was There" is still blessed with enough visual and narrative beauty to recommend, even if it isn't quite as magical as Studio Ghibli's greatest works." On Metacritic, the film has a score of 72 out of 100, based on 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro Eliezer Rodríguez Ledesma (born 28 July 1987), known as Pedro, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Serie A club Lazio. He is known for his pace, dribbling and ability to convert from counter chances.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro scored 99 goals in 321 appearances across all competitions for Barcelona from 2008 to 2015, before joining Chelsea in 2015 where he scored 43 goals in 206 games and helped them win the Premier League in 2017, the FA Cup in 2018 and the UEFA Europa League in 2019. He joined the Serie A club Roma in 2020. He has won 26 major honours, including five La Liga titles and three UEFA Champions League titles. During the 2009–10 season, he became the first player in history to score in every official club competition in a single season and in a single calendar year.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro represented Spain in two FIFA World Cups and two UEFA European Championships, winning the former in 2010 and the latter in 2012.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Born in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, Canary Islands, Pedro started his career at local side San Isidro. In the 2003–04 season, he scored 35 goals for their "Juvenil" side, and also featured for the first team in Tercera División. At the age of 17, he joined Barcelona's youth team.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro was a key player for Barcelona B, as the team achieved promotion from the fourth division, making 37 appearances and scoring seven goals. On 12 January 2008, he made his debut for the first team, playing one minute in a 4–0 home win against Real Murcia in La Liga, but would only amass four more in his only two games combined.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro was a part of the first team's 2008–09 pre-season, and showed early promise, scoring against Hibernian and the New York Red Bulls respectively. On 13 August, he started in a 4–0 win against Wisła Kraków for the third qualifying round of the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League. His first match on the group stage of that competition was on 16 September, when he replaced Thierry Henry in a 3–1 home win over Sporting CP.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: In Barcelona's treble-winning season in 2008–09, Pedro eventually totalled 14 matches, also appearing in La Liga against Racing Santander, Getafe, Valencia, Real Valladolid, Mallorca and Osasuna (0–1 home loss, with Barcelona already crowned champions), totalling 365 minutes. In the campaign's Copa del Rey, he played against Benidorm and Atlético Madrid, coming on for Lionel Messi on both occasions; in the 2–0 Champions League final win against Manchester United, he played the last minute in the place of Andrés Iniesta.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: In 2009–10, manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that Pedro would be definitely promoted to Barcelona's first team, and he responded with a breakthrough year, during which he became the first player to score in every official club competition in a single season and also in a calendar year. On 16 August, after assisting Xavi with the first goal, he scored his first competitive goal for the first team in the 67th minute, helping to ensure a 2–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao in San Mamés for the 2009 Supercopa de España. Later that week, he signed his professional contract, running until June 2014 with a buyout clause set at €75 million; in the 2009 UEFA Super Cup against Shakhtar Donetsk, he came on as a substitute for Zlatan Ibrahimović in the 80th minute, and went on to net the only goal of the match in extra time.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 28 September, Pedro scored his first goal in the Champions League, after replacing Iniesta at half-time in a 2–0 win against Dynamo Kyiv. He continued his hot streak and netted his first in the league, against Almería, with a brilliant strike that sealed the 1–0 home triumph; the following month he grabbed a brace in the first leg of the Copa del Rey round-of-32 match at Cultural Leonesa, for a 2–0 win (he also scored in the second leg, a 5–0 home rout).


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: More and more established in Barcelona's starting lineups, Pedro went on to score another brace in the league, in a 4–2 win against Mallorca. He would continue his scoring touch in the Champions League, netting one of two against Inter Milan.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 16 December, Pedro scored a goal in the semi-final of the FIFA Club World Cup against Atlante, in 3–1 win. In doing so, he became the first player ever to score in six different club competitions in a single season and in a single year – the three domestic competitions, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup. He was later named World Player of the Week by Goal.com after his performances against Espanyol, Atlante and Estudiantes of Argentina, respectively.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: In an emotional return to his hometown team of Tenerife, on 10 January 2010, Pedro came on as a 76th-minute substitute, later helping to Ezequiel Luna's own goal in a 5–0 win – out of respect, he chose not to celebrate. On 10 April, he netted the second goal in a 2–0 win against Real Madrid, in his first appearance in "El Clásico".


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 14 April, in a league match against Deportivo La Coruña, opposing goalkeeper Daniel Aranzubia attempted to clear the ball from the top of the 16-yard box, and instead kicked the ball right to Pedro, who shot at goal from 40 yards with his left foot and scored, giving "Barça" a 2–0 lead in an eventual 3–0 win. He also found the net in a 3–1 defeat in the first leg of the Champions League semi-final, against Inter Milan at the San Siro.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: In the last three league matches, Pedro scored for Barcelona, with the Catalans eventually renewing their league supremacy: against Tenerife again (4–1 win), the 3–2 winner at Sevilla and against Valladolid (4–0). He completed the 2009–10 season with 53 appearances in all competitions and 23 goals, and, on 9 June, signed a new five-year deal with Barcelona.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro began the 2010–11 campaign firmly established in Barcelona's starting XI. On 29 November 2010, he scored the second goal in the famous 5–0 home win against Real Madrid, with "Barça" climbing to the first position in the league. The following month, he netted twice at Espanyol in the local derby, in a 5–1 success.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 20 April 2011, Pedro scored against Real Madrid in the second half of final, but his goal was disallowed for offside, in an eventual 0–1 extra time loss. On 3 May, against the same opponent, in the 2010-11 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg, he found Iker Casillas' net in a 1–1 home draw (3–1 aggregate win), for his 21st official goal of the campaign; in the Champions League final, he opened the score against Manchester United, in an eventual 3–1 win.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 5 July 2011, Pedro extended his contract by one year, until 2016. His buyout clause was raised from €90m to €150m. After the purchase of Alexis Sánchez, he featured less during 2011–12, he did finish the season with 13 official goals, scoring a brace in that season's Copa del Rey final, a 3–0 win against Athletic Bilbao.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 21 September 2013, Pedro scored a hat-trick in a 4–0 victory at Rayo Vallecano. On 22 December, in another away fixture, he added another three – all in the first half and in only nine minutes – to help Barcelona come back from 0–2 behind and eventually win 5–2 over Getafe, thus becoming the player to score the fastest ever hat-trick in Barcelona history.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 16 December 2014, Pedro scored another hat-trick, this time in second leg of Round of 32 in Copa del Rey against Huesca, with Barcelona who recorded an 8–1 victory at Camp Nou.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 4 June 2015, Barcelona's official website announced that Pedro had renewed his contract until 30 June 2019. His buyout clause would remain at €150 million.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 6 June 2015, Pedro appeared as an added-time substitute for "Barça" in the 2015 UEFA Champions League Final, as the club won its fifth European Cup/Champions League title by beating Juventus 3–1 at Berlin's Olympiastadion. This made Barcelona the first club in history to win the treble of domestic league, domestic cup and European Cup twice. Pedro, Lionel Messi, Andrés Iniesta, Xavi, Gerard Piqué, Sergio Busquets and Dani Alves are the only players to have been a part of both treble-winning teams.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: As an extra-time substitute, Pedro scored the winning goal as Barcelona won the 2015 UEFA Super Cup 5–4 against Sevilla in Tbilisi; it was his second winner in a Super Cup, and came in the 115th minute like its predecessor.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 20 August 2015, Pedro joined Premier League champions Chelsea on a four-year contract for £19 million (€26.6M), potentially rising to £21.4 million (€30M) depending on performances. Three days after signing, he made his debut away to West Bromwich Albion, scoring the first goal of a 3–2 win, Chelsea's first victory of their season, and provided an assist for the second goal, scored by his international teammate Diego Costa. On 19 December, Pedro scored the second goal in a 3–1 win against Sunderland, his first at Stamford Bridge. On 13 February, Pedro scored a brace in a 5–1 victory over Newcastle United, and again on 2 April in a 4–0 win over Aston Villa.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 1 July 2016, it was announced that Pedro would switch to the number 11 shirt at Chelsea, vacated by the loan expiration of Alexandre Pato. On 20 August 2016, Pedro made his first start of the season in an away match against Watford, after it was announced that Willian was out with an injury. Pedro then came off the bench to get an assist for Victor Moses in a 3–0 win over Burnley on 27 August. On 23 October 2016, Pedro scored the fastest goal of the season as in the first 30 seconds, he scored the opener of a 4–0 victory over Manchester United. He also defended Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, who was reportedly accused by Manchester United manager José Mourinho of trying to humiliate United with his actions on the touchline in the closing stages of the game. On 5 November 2016, Pedro scored the last goal and assisted two others in a 5–0 drubbing of Everton at Stamford Bridge. On 26 November 2016, Pedro scored the equaliser for Chelsea right before half-time in a 2–1 victory over Tottenham Hotspur. The goal eventually won Premier League Goal of the Month for November.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 11 August 2018, he scored his first league goal of the season in a 3–0 win at Huddersfield Town. On his 150th Chelsea appearance, Pedro scored the club's 1000th Premier League goal at Stamford Bridge, opening the scoring in a 2–0 win against West London rival Fulham. He netted a brace and had a hand in two more to help the Blues through to the Europa League semi-finals at the expense of Slavia Prague at Stamford Bridge on 18 April. Chelsea won 4–3 on the night and 5–3 on aggregate. On 29 May, Pedro scored in Chelsea's 4–1 win over Arsenal in the 2018-19 UEFA Europa League final; as a result, he became the fifth player to score in a European Cup/Champions League and UEFA Cup/Europa League final, after Allan Simonsen, Dmitri Alenichev, Hernán Crespo, and Steven Gerrard.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: His goal in the Europa League final, meant that it was his 9th goal in a final in his career, putting him 7th in the all time list for top goal scorers in finals. It also means he has more finals goals than ex-teammate Neymar.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 8 March 2020, Pedro scored his first league goal of the season in the win over Everton. He had been scoreless in the Premier League for more than a year, with the previous goal dated back to 27 February 2019.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 26 July 2020, Frank Lampard confirmed Pedro would leave Chelsea after the FA Cup Final and Champions League fixtures. He also announced his departure from the club on Twitter.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 25 August 2020, Serie A club Roma announced the signing of Pedro on a three-year contract. He made his debut for the "Giallorossi" on 19 September, playing his first Serie A match against Verona. He scored his first goal for the club on 3 October in a 1–0 victory over Udinese. After a strong start, his performances worsened due to several injuries and a conflict with manager Paulo Fonseca. Nevertheless, in the final matchday of the season he scored in a 2–0 win in the "Derby della Capitale" against Lazio on 15 May 2021.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 19 August 2021, Pedro joined Roma's arch-rivals, Lazio on a two-year deal after having been omitted from new Roma manager José Mourinho's squad for all of their pre-season fixtures. He became the first player since goalkeeper Astutillo Malgioglio in 1985 to move directly between the two clubs. On 21 August, he made his Lazio debut in a 3–1 win against Empoli. He scored his first goal for Lazio against Roma on 26 September, becoming only the third player to score for both clubs in the Derby della Capitale.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro came on against Inter Milan in the 58th minute on the 26th of August 2022, and got a goal and an assist to inspire a Lazio comeback.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: On 20 May 2010, Pedro was included by Vicente del Bosque in Spain's 23-man squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Nine days later, he made his debut in a 3–2 friendly win against Saudi Arabia, replacing David Silva for the final 30 minutes in Innsbruck, Austria. On 8 June, in the last exhibition game prior to the finals in South Africa, with Poland, Pedro scored his first international goal, and also assisted Fernando Torres in a 6–0 victory at Murcia's Estadio Nueva Condomina.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: In the final stages, he appeared in five matches (three as a late substitute): on 7 July, in the semi-final against Germany, he started in place of Torres, who had been performing poorly in earlier matches. In the 82nd minute, with Spain leading 1–0, he attempted to score a goal himself rather than set up an unmarked Torres, although he performed well in the game. Despite this error, he was selected to start in the final, with the national team winning 1–0 against the Netherlands; at the hour-mark, he was replaced by Jesús Navas.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro was part of the Spanish squad which successfully defended their continental crown at UEFA Euro 2012, coming on as a substitute in each of their knockout round matches, including the final where he replaced Silva in the 59th minute of an eventual 4–0 win over Italy.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: Pedro scored the first hat-trick of his professional career on 12 October 2012, netting after a Jordi Alba strike in an eventual 4–0 away win over Belarus for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers.


title: Pedro (footballer, born 1987)

text: A quick, versatile, and intelligent two-footed forward, Pedro usually plays as a left winger, although he is capable of playing on either flank, as well as in several other positions in both attack and midfield; he has often been used on the right flank with the Spanish national team. A nimble and diminutive player, he is known for his pace, balance, technique, dribbling skills, and defensive work-rate, as well as his ability both to score and create goals, courtesy of his finishing ability, passing, crossing, and link-up play. Moreover, he is known for his ability to make runs in behind the opposing defence from the flank or drive forward, which makes him an attacking threat on counter-attacks.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Pontiac or formally the Pontiac Motor Division of General Motors, was an American automobile brand owned, manufactured, and commercialized by General Motors. Introduced as a companion make for GM's more expensive line of Oakland automobiles, Pontiac overtook Oakland in popularity and supplanted its parent brand entirely by 1933.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Sold in the United States, Canada, and Mexico by GM, in the hierarchy of GM's five divisions, it was slotted above Chevrolet, but below Oldsmobile, Buick, and Cadillac. Starting with the 1959 models, marketing was focused on selling the lifestyle that the car's ownership promised rather than the car itself. By emphasizing its "Wide Track" design, it billed itself as the "performance" division of General Motors, which "built excitement."


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Facing financial problems and restructuring efforts, GM announced in 2008 that it would follow the same path with Pontiac as it had with Oldsmobile in 2004. It would discontinue manufacturing and marketing vehicles under the Pontiac brand by the end of 2010. The last Pontiac-badged cars were built in December 2009, with one final vehicle assembled in January 2010. Franchise agreements for Pontiac dealers expired on October 31, 2010, leaving GM to focus on its four remaining North American brands: Chevrolet, Buick, Cadillac, and GMC.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The Oakland Motor Car Company was founded in 1907 in Pontiac, Michigan, by Edward Murphy, a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriages. The following year, another former buggy company executive, William C. Durant, founded General Motors in Flint, Michigan, as a holding company for the Buick Motor Company. GM soon bought other automakers, including Oldsmobile and Cadillac. In 1909, Oakland became part of GM. The first Pontiac model made its debut as the Oakland Four from 1909 until it was replaced by the Oakland Six in 1916. In 1926 the Pontiac Series 6-27 was introduced as a junior brand to Oakland, which featured a six-cylinder engine. The Pontiac was more popular than the senior brand and became its own GM division when Oakland was canceled in 1931.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: It was named after the famous Ottawa chief, who had also given his name to the city of Pontiac, Michigan, where the car was produced. Within months of its introduction, Pontiac was outselling Oakland, which was essentially a 1920s Chevrolet with a six-cylinder engine. Body styles offered included a sedan with both two and four doors, Landau Coupe, with the Sport Phaeton, Sport Landau Sedan, Sport Cabriolet, and Sport Roadster. As a result of Pontiac's rising sales, versus Oakland's declining sales, Pontiac became the only companion marque to survive its parent, with Oakland ceasing production in 1932.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Pontiacs were also manufactured from knock-down kits at GM's Japanese factory at Osaka Assembly in Osaka, Japan, from 1927 to 1941.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Pontiac produced cars offering , (3.25x3.75 in, 82.5x95mm) L-head straight-six cylinder engines in the Pontiac Series 6-27 of 1927; its stroke was the shortest of any American car in the industry at the time. The Series 6-27 sold 39,000 units within six months of its appearance at the 1926 New York Auto Salon, hitting 76,742 in 12 months. The next year, 1928, it became the top-selling six in the U.S., ranking seventh in overall sales. When the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred in September, both Pontiac and Oakland sales dropped dramatically and because Oakland was the more expensive, GM leadership decided that Pontiac should remain.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: 1932 was the first year for the Pontiac Series 302 V8. The 1932 V8 had an oversquare bore and stroke of x displacing with a compression ratio of 5.2:1. Horsepower was rated at @3200 RPM using three main bearings, solid valve lifters and a Marvel one-barrel carburetor. Unusually, Pontiac switched to the straight-eight for 1933 until it was replaced in 1954.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: As the economy began to recover, by 1933, it had moved up to producing the least expensive cars available with straight-eight engines. This was done by using many components from the six-cylinder Chevrolet Master, such as the body, but installing a large chrome strip on the top and center of the front hood Pontiac called the "Silver Streak". Only eight-cylinder engines were offered in 1933 and 1934, displacing rated at .


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In 1935, Pontiac shared the "torpedo" body appearance with the LaSalle and the Cadillac Series 60, just prior to its being used by Chevrolet, earning some media attention for the marque. At the 1939 New York World's Fair, a 1939 Deluxe Six was displayed with body panels made entirely from plexiglass. An unusual feature of the "torpedo"-bodied exhibition car was that, with the push of a button, the front half of the body would open showing the engine and the car's front seat interior.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: A major change occurred in 1937, when all Pontiac models except the new station wagon began using the all-steel B-body shared with Oldsmobile, LaSalle, and small Buicks. A new stronger X frame had a Hotchkiss drive using a two-part drive shaft. The eight-cylinder had a wheelbase, while the six-cylinder had a wheelbase. Both engines increased displacements with the six going to producing and the eight to rated at .


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: From 1940 through 1942, the Pontiac Torpedo was the brand's only model built on three different bodies: the "A" body shared with Chevrolet, the "B" body shared with Oldsmobile and Buick, and the "C" body shared with the large Oldsmobile, Buick, and the small Cadillac. It shared some appearances with the Opel Kapitän. In 1941 the Pontiac Streamliner appeared with a Straight-8 engine, and on February 2, 1942, the last civilian Pontiac automobile was manufactured in the United States, as all automobile factories converted to military production.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: For an extended period of time—prewar through the early 1950s—Pontiacs were solid cars, but not especially powerful. They came with the Pontiac straight-8 engine, which was slightly less expensive to produce than the increasingly popular V8, but they were also heavier and longer. Additionally, the long crankshaft suffered from excessive flex, restricting straight-eights to a relatively low compression ratio with a modest redline. However, in this application, inexpensive (yet quiet) flatheads were not a liability.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: From 1946 to 1948, all Pontiac models were essentially 1942 models with minor changes. The Hydramatic automatic transmission was introduced in 1948 and helped Pontiac sales grow even though their cars, Torpedoes, and Streamliners, were quickly becoming out of date.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The first all-new Pontiac models appeared in 1949. They incorporated styling cues such as lower body lines and rear fenders that were integrated into the rear-end styling of the car.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Along with the new styling came a new model. Continuing the Native American theme of Pontiac, the Chieftain line was introduced to replace the Torpedo. These were built on the GM B-body platform and featured different styling from the more conservative Streamliner. In 1950, the Catalina pillarless hardtop coupe was introduced as a "halo" model, much like the Chevrolet Bel Air of the same year.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In 1952, Pontiac discontinued the Streamliner and replaced it with additional models in the Chieftain line built on the GM A-body platform. This single model line continued until 1954 when the Star Chief was added. The Star Chief featured a stretch to the A-body platform giving it a wheelbase.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1953 models were the first to have one-piece windshields instead of the normal two-piece units. While the 1953 and 1954 models were heavily reworked versions of the 1949-52 Chieftain models, they were engineered for the V8 engine that was supposed to be introduced on the 1953 models, but the Buick division complained to corporate heads that the introduction might take sales away because Buick was introducing the new nailhead V8 in 1953. The corporation held Pontiac back until 1955.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Completely new bodies and chassis were introduced in 1955. A new overhead-valve Strato Streak V8 engine was introduced. (see Engines section below). Sales increased. With the introduction of this V8, the six-cylinder engines were discontinued; a six-cylinder would not return to the full-size Pontiac line until the GM corporate downsizing of 1977. A four-cylinder engine was introduced in the Tempest model line in 1961, followed by an overhead-cam six-cylinder starting in 1966, as well as on the Firebird. It was the first popular-priced, mass-produced engine in America using an overhead-camshaft configuration.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In 1956, when 42-year-old Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen became general manager of Pontiac, alongside new heads of engineering, E. M. Estes and John DeLorean, Knudsen immediately began reworking the brand's image. One of the first steps involved the removal of the famous trademark "silver streaks" from the hood and deck lid of the 1957 models just weeks before they were introduced, which were a traditional styling feature beginning in 1933. Another step was introducing the first Bonneville—a limited-edition Star Chief convertible that showcased Pontiac's first fuel-injected engine. About 630 Bonnevilles were built in 1957. It was possible to purchase a Cadillac for the price of the Bonneville, the model raised new interest in what Pontiac now called "America's No. 1 Road Car".


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The following year, the Bonneville became its own line, built on the wheelbase of the A-body platform. A 1958 Tri power Bonneville was the pace car for that year's Indianapolis 500. Also, 1958 was the last year Pontiac Motor Division would bear the "Indian" motif throughout the vehicle. The exception would be the Indian head high-beam indicator light in the instrument cluster. All 1958 models featured ball joint front suspension replacing the previous kingpin design.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: With the 1959 model year, Pontiac came out with its "Arrowhead" emblem, with the star design in the middle. The "Arrowhead" design ran all the way up the hood from between the split grille, and on Star Chief models, had eight chrome stars from the emblem design bolted to both sides of the vehicle as chrome trim. Knudsen saw to it that the car received a completely reworked chassis, body, and interior styling. Quad headlamps, as well as a longer, lower body, were some of the styling changes.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The Chieftain line was renamed Catalina; the Star Chief was downgraded to replace the discontinued Super Chief series and for the first time did not have a two-door hardtop, only a two-door sedan along with a four-door hardtop and four-door sedan; in addition, there was no Star Chief wagon. The Bonneville was now the top of the line, coming in three body styles: a two-door hardtop, four-door vista, and four-door station wagon. The Star Chief's four-door "Vista" hardtop was also shared by the Bonneville. Catalina models included a two-door hardtop, two-door sedan, four-door sedan, and four-door hardtop vista as well as two station wagons, a six-passenger with two rows of seats, and a nine-passenger version with a rear-facing third row. Bonneville and Star Chief were built on a wheelbase with the exception of the Bonneville wagon, and all Catalina models and the Bonneville wagon rode on a wheelbase. Catalina was also shorter than Bonneville and Star Chief and weighed less than its long-wheelbase counterparts. All 1959 Pontiacs were equipped with a V8 engine with horsepower ratings from to a "Tri-power" carbureted version. All automatics were four-speed Super-Hydra-Matics or, as the Hydramatic Division that designed and built them called them, "Controlled coupling HydraMatic". Oldsmobile used this same transmission and called it Jetaway Hydramatic; Cadillac also used it and called it 315 or P 315 Hydramatic. A three-speed, column-mounted stick shift was standard on all Pontiacs. This coincided with major body styling changes across all models that introduced increased glass area, twin V-shaped fins, and lower hood profiles. Because of these changes, "Motor Trend" picked the entire Pontiac line as the 1959 Car of the Year. The 1959s featured a wider track. The increase to was because Knudsen noticed the new, wider bodies looked awkward on the carried-over 1958 frames. The new "Wide-Track" Pontiacs not only had improved styling but also handled better, contributing to Pontiac's resurgence in the marketplace.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1960 models had a complete reskinning with the exception of the body's canopies, which remained identical to the '59s, but removed the tail fins and the distinctive split grille (which Ford copied on the final Edsel models for 1960). The 1960 models' standard engine had a power gain of 3 hp due to a compression increase of .25 to one over the 1959 engine. Ventura was introduced, and a more luxurious hardtop coupe with the Vista four-door hardtop was built on the shorter wheelbase platform, thus positioned between the Catalina and Star Chief models. The Ventura featured the luxury features of the Bonneville in the shorter, lighter Catalina body.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Most of Pontiac's models built during the 1960s and 1970s were either styled like, or were siblings to, other GM makes (except Cadillac). However, Pontiac retained its own front- and rear-end styling, interiors, and engines.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1961 models were similarly reworked. The split grille returned, as well as all-new bodies and a new design of a perimeter-frame chassis for all its full-size models (something which would be adopted for all of GM's intermediate-sized cars in 1964, and all its full-sized cars in 1965). These new chassis allowed for reduced weight and smaller body sizes. The similarly styled Chevrolet still used the radically different "X" frame in the early 1960s.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: A complete departure in 1961, though, was the new Tempest, one of the three Buick-Olds-Pontiac (BOP) "compacts" introduced that year, the others being the Buick Special and Skylark and Oldsmobile F-85 and Cutlass. Toward the end of the 1961 model year, an upscale version of the Tempest called the LeMans was introduced, named after the 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race in France.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: All three were unibody cars, dubbed the Y-body platform, combining the frame and body into a single construction, making them comparatively lighter and smaller. All three put into production new technology pushed by John DeLorean, on which GM had been working for several years prior, but the Tempest was by far the most radical. A flexible steel shaft rotating at the speed of the engine delivered power from the front-mounted engine through a "torque tube" to a rear-mounted transaxle. This innovation provided close to a 50/50 front-rear weight distribution that improved handling as well as incorporated four-wheel independent suspension. It almost eliminated the large floor "hump" common to front-engined, rear-drive cars.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Though the Tempest's transaxle was similar to the one in the Corvair, introduced the year before, it shared essentially no common parts. GM had planned to launch a Pontiac version of the Corvair (dubbed "Polaris"), but Bunkie Knudsen—whose niece had been seriously injured in a Corvair crash—successfully argued against the idea. The Polaris design apparently made it to full-scale clay before it was canceled. Instead, DeLorean's "rope-shaft" design was green-lighted.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The Tempest won the "Motor Trend" "Car of the Year" award in 1961—for Pontiac, the second time in three years. It also featured an innovative "rope" or flexible drive shaft.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The Tempest also featured a inline slant-four cylinder engine, derived from the right bank of Pontiac's 389 V8, enabling it to be run down the same production line and reducing costs. the engine received a crankshaft designed for four cylinders, but this did not completely solve its balance issues. The engine gained the nickname "Hay Baler" because of its tendency to kick violently, like the farm machine, when its timing was off.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: An optional Buick V8, was not popular when it was available for 1961 and 1962 in the Tempest. For 1963, Pontiac replaced it with a new "326" that was actually V8 with a bore of 3.78 and stroke of 3.75 (same stroke as the 389). It was based and shared parts with the 389, but an altered, reduced bore. The car's body and suspension were also changed to be lower, longer, and wider. The response was that more than half of the 1963 Tempests and LeMans (separate lines for that one year only) were ordered with the V8, a trend that did not go unnoticed by management. The next year, the 326 became a true 326 with a new bore size of 3.72. The Tempest's popularity helped move Pontiac into third place among American car brands in 1962, a position Pontiac would hold through 1970.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In November 1961, Knudsen moved to Chevrolet. Pete Estes now became general manager of Pontiac and DeLorean was promoted to Pontiac chief engineer. Both continued Knudsen's work of making Pontiac a performance-car brand. Pontiac capitalized on the emerging trend toward sportier bucket-seat coupes in 1962 by introducing the Grand Prix, taking the place of the Ventura, which now became a trim option on the Catalina. Although GM officially ended factory support for all racing activities across all of its brands in January 1963, Pontiac continued to target performance enthusiasts by making larger engines with more power available across all model lines. For 1963, the Grand Prix received the same styling changes as other full-sized Pontiacs such as vertical headlights and crisper body lines, but also received its own squared-off roofline with a concave rear window, along with less chrome. This concave rear window was duplicated on all Tempest/LeMans four-door intermediates in 1964–1965.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: For 1964, the Tempest and LeMans' transaxle design was dropped and the cars were redesigned under GM's new A-body platform - frame cars with a conventional front-engined, rear-wheel drive layout. The most important of these is the GTO, short for "Gran Turismo Omologato," the Italian for "Grand Touring, Homologated" used by Ferrari as a badge to announce a car's official qualification for racing. In spite of a GM unwritten edict against engines larger than in intermediate cars, DeLorean (with support from Jim Wangers from Pontiac's ad agency), came up with the idea to offer the GTO as an option package that included a engine rated at 325 or .


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The entire Pontiac lineup was honored as Motor Trend's Car of the Year for 1965, the third time Pontiac received such recognition. The February 1965 issue of Motor Trend was almost entirely devoted to Pontiac's Car of the Year award and included feature stories on the division's marketing, styling, engineering, and performance efforts along with road tests of several models.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Due to the popularity of the GTO option, it was split from being an option on the Tempest LeMans series to becoming a separate GTO series. On the technology front, 1966 saw the introduction of a completely new overhead camshaft 6-cylinder engine in the Tempest, and in an industry first, plastic grilles were used on several models.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1967 model year saw the introduction of the Pontiac Firebird pony car, a variant of the Chevrolet Camaro that was the brand's answer to the Ford Mustang. Intermediate-sized cars (Tempest, LeMans, GTO) were mildly face-lifted, but all full-size cars and GTO lost their Tri-Power engine option, though they did get a larger V8 that replaced the previous 389. Full-sized cars got a major facelift with rounder wasp-waisted body lines, a name change for the mid-line series from Star Chief to Executive as well as a one-year-only Grand Prix convertible. 1968 introduced the Endura 'rubber' front bumper on the GTO, the precursor to modern cars' integrated bumpers, and the first of a series of "Ram Air" engines, which featured the induction of cold air to the carburetor for more power. The Tri carburetor deletion came from the 14th floor of GM banning multiple carburetions and was headed by GM president Ed Cole. The Ram Air V garnered much auto press publicity, but only a relative few were made available for sale. Full-sized cars and intermediates reverted from vertical to horizontal headlights while the sporty/performance 2+2 was dropped from the lineup.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: For 1969, Pontiac moved the Grand Prix from the full-sized lineup into a G-body model of its own based on the A-body intermediate four-door modified from to wheelbase chassis, but with distinctive styling and long hood/short deck proportions to produce yet another niche product – the intermediate-sized personal-luxury car that offered the luxury and styling of the higher-priced personal cars such as the Buick Riviera and Ford Thunderbird as well as the old Grand Prix and Olds Starfire, but for a much lower price tag. Pete Estes, who like Knudsen had moved to be general manager of Chevrolet in 1966, and DeLorean, general manager of the Pontiac division, needed a car to take the place of the sagging sales of the full-size Grand Prix, but the development cost of the car was too much of burden for Pontiac division alone, so Delorean went to his old boss at Chevrolet to gather support for the development cost of the new "G" body Grand Prix. Estes agreed to share in the cost and allow Pontiac to have a one-year exclusivity on this new car; the next year Chevy would follow with its version which was called Chevrolet Monte Carlo. The new Grand Prix was such a sales success in 1969 as dealers moved 112,000 units - more than four times the number of Grand Prixs sold in 1968. Full-sized Pontiacs were also substantially restyled but retained the same basic under-body structure and chassis that debuted with the 1965 model — the roof-lines for the four-door pillared sedans and Safari wagons were the same as the 1965 models, while the two-door semi-fastback design gave way to a squared-off notch-back style and four-door hardtop sedans were also more squared off than 1967-68 models. The GTOs and Firebirds received the Ram Air option, the GTO saw the addition of the "Judge" performance/appearance package, and the Firebird also got the "Trans Am" package. Although originally conceived as a model to compete directly in the Trans Am racing series, in a cost-saving move the Pontiac Trans Am debuted with the standard performance engines. This year also saw DeLorean leaving the post of general manager to accept a similar position at GM's Chevrolet division. His replacement was F. James McDonald.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Pontiacs built in the late 1960s conformed to new U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. These included energy-absorbing interior parts such as steering columns, steering wheels, knobs and handles, dual-circuit hydraulic brake systems, shoulder belts, side marker lights, and headrests.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1969 Firebirds received a heavy facelift but otherwise continued much the same as the original 1967 model. It was the final year for the overhead cam six-cylinder engine in Firebirds and intermediates, and the Firebird convertible (until 1991). Production of the 1969 Firebirds was extended into the first three months of the 1970 model year (all other 1970 Pontiacs debuted September 18, 1969) due to a decision to delay the introduction of an all-new 1970 Firebird (and Chevrolet Camaro) until February 26, 1970.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In addition in the late-1960s, GM directed their GM and Pontiac divisions to develop concept mini-cars called "commuter cars" for urban drivers. GM developed a gasoline-electric drive hybrid, the XP-833, and the Pontiac X-4, a rear-wheel drive mid-engine car that was powered by a radical X-shaped aircraft type air-cooled two-stroke radial engine where the standard crankshaft was replaced by a unit called a Scotch yoke. While the GM car was fully tested, the Pontiac concept was not. Neither was placed in production.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: Increasing insurance and fuel costs for owners coupled with looming Federal emissions and safety regulations would eventually put an end to the unrestricted, powerful engines of the 1960s. Safety, luxury, and economy would become the new watchwords of this decade. Engine performance began declining in 1971 when GM issued a corporate edict mandating that all engines be capable of using lower-octane unleaded gasoline, which led to dramatic drops in compression ratios, along with performance and fuel economy. This, coupled with trying to build cars as plush as GM's more luxurious Buicks and Oldsmobiles, contributed to the start of a slow decline of Pontiac in 1971.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In mid-1971 Pontiac introduced the compact, budget-priced Ventura II (based on the third generation Chevrolet Nova). This same year, Pontiac completely restyled its full-sized cars, moved the Bonneville, and replaced it with a higher luxury model named the Grand Ville, while Safari wagons got a new clamshell tailgate that lowered into the body while the rear window raised into the roof. 1971–1976 model full-size station wagons featured a 'Clamshell' design where the rear power-operated glass slid up into the roof as the tailgate (manually or with power assist), dropped below the load floor. The power tailgate, the first in station wagon history, ultimately supplanted the manual tailgate, which required marked effort to lift from storage.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1972 models saw the first wave of emissions reduction and safety equipment and updates. GTO was a now sub-series of the LeMans series. The Tempest was dropped, after being renamed 'T-37' and 'GT-37' for 1971. The base 1972 mid-sized Pontiac was now called LeMans. James MacDonald left the post of general manager to be replaced by Martin J. Caserio in late 1972. Caserio was the first manager in over a decade to be more focused on marketing and sales than on performance.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: For 1973, Pontiac restyled its personal-luxury Grand Prix, mid-sized LeMans, and compact Ventura models and introduced the all-new Grand Am as part of the LeMans line. All other models including the big cars and Firebirds received only minor updates. Again, power dropped across all engines as more emissions requirements came into effect. The 1973 Firebird Trans Am's factory-applied hood decal, a John Schinella stylized interpretation of Native American bird designs, took up most of the available space on the hood. Also in 1973, the new Super Duty 455 engine ("Super Duty" harkening back to Pontiac's Racing Engines) was introduced. Although it was originally supposed to be available in GTOs and Firebirds, only a few SD 455 engines made it into Firebird Trans Ams that year. One so equipped was tested by "Car and Driver" magazine, which proclaimed it the last of the fast cars. But the pendulum had swung, and the SD 455 only hung on one more year in the Trans Am.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: As emissions regulations were increasing, two of the three iterations of the big 455 cubic inch engine were dropped after 1974, with the final version of the 455 remaining available through 1976.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: For 1975, Pontiac introduced the new sub-compact Astre, a version of the Chevrolet Vega. This was the brand's entry into the fuel economy segment of the market. Astre had been sold exclusively in Canada since 1973. It was offered through the 1977 model year. 1975 would also be the end of Pontiac convertibles for the next decade.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1976 models were the last of the traditional American large cars powered by mostly big-block V8 engines. After this year, all GM models would go through "downsizing" and shrink in length, width, weight, and available engine size.


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: The 1976 Sunbird, based on the Chevrolet Vega and Monza's equivalent, joined the line. It was first offered as a Notchback, with a Hatchback body style added in 1977. The Vega Wagon body style was added in 1978, Sunbird Safari Wagon, replacing the Astre Safari Wagon. The Sunbird was offered in its rear-wheel-drive configuration through the 1980 model year. (Sunbird Safari wagon through 1979.)


title: Pontiac (automobile)

text: In mid-year 1977, Pontiac introduced the Phoenix, an upscale version of the Ventura which replaced the Ventura entirely after the end of the 1977 model year. Pontiac also introduced its "Iron Duke" 4-cylinder overhead valve engine. It was first used in the 1977 Astre, replacing Astre's aluminum-block Vega engine. The 'Iron Duke' engine would later go into many GM and non-GM automobiles into the early 1990s. The 151 cubic inch L4 and the 301 cubic inch V8 were the last two engines designed solely by Pontiac. Subsequent engine design would be accomplished by one central office with all designs being shared by each brand.