title: British passport

text: Version 1 showcased birds native to the British Isles. The bio-data page was printed with a finely detailed background including a drawing of a red grouse, and the entire page was protected from modification by a laminate which incorporates a holographic image of the kingfisher; visa pages were numbered and printed with detailed backgrounds including drawings of other birds: a merlin, curlew, pied avocet, and red kite. An RFID chip and antenna were visible on the official observations page and held the same visual information as printed, including a digital copy of the photograph with biometric information for use with facial recognition systems. The Welsh and Scottish Gaelic languages were included in all British passports for the first time, and appeared on the titles page replacing the official languages of the EU, although the EU languages still appeared faintly as part of the background design. Welsh and Scottish Gaelic preceded the official EU languages in the translations section.


title: British passport

text: In 2010, Her Majesty's Passport Office signed a ten-year, £400 million contract with De La Rue to produce British passports. This resulted in Series A, version 2, which introduced minor security enhancements. The biometric chip was relocated from the official observations page to inside the cover, and the observations page itself was moved from the back of the passport to immediately after the data page. All new art was produced for version 2, this time with a coastal theme. Data and visa pages featured coastal scenes, wildlife and meteorological symbols.


title: British passport

text: Renewal of the passport required physical cancellation of the old passport, which was then returned to the bearer. The top-right corners of its front and back covers were cut off, as well as the top-right corner of the final pair of pages, which had been bound in plastic with the bearer's details and a digital chip; a white bar-coded form stating "Renewal" and the bearer's personal details was stuck onto the back cover.


title: British passport

text: HMPO's contract with De La Rue involved the design of a new generation of biometric passport, which was released in October 2015 as the Series B passport. The cover design remained the same as Series A, with minor changes to the cover material. The number of pages of a standard passport was increased from 32 to 34, and the 50-page 'jumbo' passport replaced the previous 48-page business passport. New security features included rich three-dimensional UV imagery, cross-page printing and a single-sheet bio-data page joined with the back cover. A new typeface for the cover was adopted as well, which is now Times New Roman. At the time of its introduction, no other passport offered visa free access to more countries than the UK's Series B British passport.


title: British passport

text: The theme of the Series B passport was 'Creative United Kingdom', and HMPO described the Series B artwork as the most intricate ever featured in a British passport. Each double-spread page set featured artwork celebrating 500 years of achievements in art, architecture and innovation in the UK. Ordnance Survey maps were also printed inside featuring places related to the imagery. A portrait of William Shakespeare was embedded in each page as a watermark.


title: British passport

text: The Series B passport was initially issued to British citizens with "European Union" printed on the cover. However, new stocks of the Series B from March 2019 onwards removed the reference in anticipation of withdrawal from the EU. The premature change was controversial given the uncertainty and division in the UK during 2019.


title: British passport

text: The introduction of the burgundy machine-readable passport between 1988 and 1993 had been met with significant resistance. The burgundy passports attracted criticism for their perceived flimsiness, mass-produced nature and sudden deviation from the traditional design. There was speculation regarding re-introduction of the old-style passport following the UK's withdrawal from the European Union. but the government denied any immediate plans. Such a change was supported by some due to its symbolic value, including Brexit Secretary David Davis, while others thought the undue weight put on such a trivial change raises the question of whether the government is able to prioritise its order of business ahead of Brexit. Nevertheless, the British passport was due for an update in 2020, as the existing De La Rue passport contract was expiring.


title: British passport

text: On 2 April 2017, Michael Fabricant MP said that De La Rue had stated that the coat of arms would "contrast better on navy blue than it currently does on the maroon passports" as part of their pre-tender discussions with the government. In December 2017, then Immigration Minister Brandon Lewis announced that the blue passport would "return" after exit from the EU.


title: British passport

text: Following open tender under EU public procurement rules in 2018, the Franco-Dutch security firm Gemalto was selected over British banknote and travel document printer De La Rue. The result of the tender proved highly controversial, as it saw the production of British passport blanks moved from Gateshead in the UK to Tczew, Poland. Most passports are produced in Poland, due to it being more cost efficient. Although urgent, fast tracked or premium service passports that are 34 or 50 pages are locally produced at application processing centres in the UK.


title: British passport

text: On 10 March 2020, the new Series C blue British passport officially began to be issued. Series B passports would also be issued while the Home Office used up old stock.


title: British passport

text: Series C introduces a polycarbonate laser-engraved bio-data page with an embedded RFID chip. Also embedded in the data page is a decoding lens which optically unscrambles information hidden on the official observations page and inner front cover. The reverse of the polycarbonate data page serves as the title page and features a portrait-orientation photo of the bearer, reminiscent of pre-1988 passports. Series C features very little artwork, with a compass rose being the only printed art. The passport has the national flowers of England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales (Tudor Rose, Shamrock, Scotch Thistle and Daffodil, respectively) embossed on the back cover.


title: British passport

text: The National Registration Act established a National Register which began operating on 29 September 1939 (National Registration Day). This introduced a system of identity cards, and a requirement that they must be produced on demand or presented to a police station within 48 hours. Identity cards had to be carried by every man, woman, and child at all times. They included information such as name, age, address, and occupation.


title: British passport

text: Prior to National Registration Day, 65,000 enumerators across the country delivered forms which householders were required to record their details on. On the following Sunday and Monday the enumerators visited every household, checked the form before issuing a completed identity card for each of the residents. All cards at this time were the same brown/buff colour.


title: British passport

text: On 21 February 1952, it no longer became necessary to carry an identity card. The National Registration Act of 1939 was repealed on 22 May 1952.


title: British passport

text: There had been plans, under the Identity Cards Act 2006, to link passports to the Identity Cards scheme. However, in the Conservative – Liberal Democrat Coalition Agreement that followed the 2010 General Election, the new government announced that they planned to scrap the ID card scheme, the National Identity Register, and the next generation of biometric passports, as part of their measures "to reverse the substantial erosion of civil liberties under the Labour Government and roll back state intrusion".


title: British passport

text: The Identity Cards Act 2006 would have required any person applying for a passport to have their details entered into a centralised computer database, the National Identity Register, part of the National Identity Scheme associated with identity cards and passports. Once registered, they would also have been obliged to update any change to their address and personal details. The identity card was expected to cost up to £60 (with £30 going to the Government, and the remainder charged as processing fees by the companies that would be collecting the fingerprints and photographs). In May 2005 the Government said that the cost for a combined identity card and passport would be £93 plus processing fees.


title: British passport

text: The next generation of biometric passports, which would have contained chips holding facial images and fingerprints, were to have been issued from 2012. Everyone applying for a passport from 2012 would have had their 10 fingerprints digitally scanned and stored on a database, although only two would have been recorded in the passport.


title: British passport

text: Nobody in the UK is required to carry any form of ID. In everyday situations, most authorities, such as the police, do not make spot checks of identification for individuals, although they may do so in instances of arrest.


title: British passport

text: Since 2004, the United Kingdom has participated in the Five Nations Passport Group, an international forum for cooperation between the passport issuing authorities in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States to "share best practices and discuss innovations related to the development of passport policies, products and practices".


title: British passport

text: Owing to the many different categories in British nationality law, there are different types of passports for each class of British nationality. All categories of British passports are issued by His Majesty's Government under royal prerogative. Since all British passports are issued in the name of the Crown, the reigning monarch does not require a passport. The following table shows the number of valid British passports on the last day of 2020 and shows the different categories eligible to hold a British passport:


title: British passport

text: British citizen, British Overseas citizen, British subject, British protected person and British National (Overseas) passports are issued by HM Passport Office in the UK. British nationals of these categories applying for passports outside the UK can apply for their passport online from HMPO. British passports were previously issued by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office in British embassies around the world. However, in 2009, this was stopped and British citizen passports can now only be issued by the Passport Office in the UK. The FCO says: "In their 2006 report on consular services, the National Audit Office recommended limiting passport production to fewer locations to increase security and reduce expenditure."


title: British passport

text: British citizens and British Overseas Territory citizens of Gibraltar can apply for their passport in Gibraltar, where it will be issued by the Gibraltar Civil Status and Registration Office. British citizens can still live, work, and study in Gibraltar at any time, as British citizenship grants right of abode in Gibraltar.


title: British passport

text: British passports in Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are issued in the name of the Lieutenant-Governor of the respective Crown Dependencies on behalf of the States of Jersey, States of Guernsey and the Government of the Isle of Man respectively. Meanwhile, in British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territories Citizen passports are issued in the name of the respective territory's governor. However, an Overseas Territory Citizen resident and renewing their passport in the UK will receive a standard (e.g. British Citizen) passport book, only with their Overseas Territory status being recorded instead.


title: British passport

text: Due to the enactment of the British Nationality (Falkland Islands) Act 1983, and the British Overseas Territories Act 2002, citizens of the Falkland Islands can only apply for British citizen passports, even though they also hold Overseas Territory Citizen status. Citizens of Gibraltar would also have their Overseas Territory passport cancelled if they applied for a British citizen passport after 2002.


title: British passport

text: The nationality reads for Overseas Territories "British Overseas Territories Citizen" regardless of the residence of the bearer. Previously, in the machine-readable zone, the three-letter ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code of the territory is given in the field of the code of issuing state, while GBR (British Overseas Territories citizens, formerly British Dependent Territories citizens) is shown in the nationality field. Either of these features enabled automatic distinction between BOTCs related to different territories. Ever since the HMPO assumed the responsibility of the issuance of BOTC passports in 2015, however, the code of issuing state is changed to GBR for all territories, thus making it impossible to identify the holder's domicile without the aid of other features, such as the passport cover.


title: British passport

text: Diplomatic passports are issued in the UK by HMPO. They are issued to British diplomats and high-ranking government officials to facilitate travel abroad.


title: British passport

text: King's Messenger passports were issued to diplomatic couriers who transport documents on behalf of HM Government. Since 2014, these have been replaced by an observation within a standard diplomatic passport.


title: British passport

text: Emergency passports are issued by British embassies across the world. Emergency passports may be issued to any person holding British nationality. Commonwealth citizens are also eligible to receive British emergency passports in countries where their country of nationality is unrepresented. Under a reciprocal agreement, British emergency passports may also be issued to EU citizens in countries where their own country does not have a diplomatic mission or is otherwise unable to assist.


title: British passport

text: Collective (also known as group) passports are issued to defined groups of 5 to 50 individuals who are British citizens under the age of 18 for travel together to the EEA and Switzerland, such as a group of school children on a school trip.


title: British passport

text: British citizens, British Overseas Territory citizens of Gibraltar and British subjects with right of abode are considered to be UK nationals for the purpose of EU law. They were therefore considered to be EU citizens until 31 January 2020 when the UK withdrew from the EU. As a result, passports issued to these nationals were considered to be EU passports. British passports with EU status facilitated access to consular assistance from another European Union member state.


title: British passport

text: British nationals formerly holding EU status continued to enjoy free movement within the European Economic Area and Switzerland until the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020. The right to live, and work in the Republic of Ireland will continue for British citizens, as British citizens are not treated as aliens under Irish law. Common Travel Area arrangements for visa-free travel remain unchanged.


title: British passport

text: Other types of British national were not considered to be EU citizens, but may nevertheless enjoy visa-free travel to the Schengen Area on a short-term basis.


title: British passport

text: The blue passport sports the coat of arms of the United Kingdom emblazoned in the centre of the front cover.


title: British passport

text: "BRITISH PASSPORT" is inscribed above the coat of arms, and the name of the issuing government is inscribed below (e.g. "UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND" or "TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS"). Where a British national is connected to a territory that is no longer under British sovereignty (e.g. BN(O) in Hong Kong), the issuing government is the United Kingdom. The biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom of the front cover. The rear cover of blue passports are also embossed with the floral emblems of England (Tudor rose), Northern Ireland (Shamrock), Scotland (Scottish thistle) and Wales (daffodil).


title: British passport

text: Burgundy passports issued by the UK, Gibraltar and the Crown Dependencies follow a different format, as they are based on the EU common model. The words "UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND NORTHERN IRELAND" (+ "GIBRALTAR" where relevant) or "BRITISH ISLANDS" (+ the Dependency's name) are inscribed above the coat of arms, whilst the word "PASSPORT" is inscribed below. The biometric passport symbol appears at the bottom of the front cover. On passports issued before 29 March 2019, the words "EUROPEAN UNION" were printed at the top of the booklet.


title: British passport

text: Besides the ordinary passports described above, special passports are issued to government officials from which diplomatic status may (diplomatic passport) or may not (official passport) be conferred by the text on the cover. Until 2014 a special passport was available for a Queen's Messenger, which had on its cover the text "QUEEN’S MESSENGER – COURRIER DIPLOMATIQUE" below the coat of arms and the text "BRITISH PASSPORT" above it. Despite the red cover, the internal pages continued to resemble those of the old blue passport.


title: British passport

text: UK-issued British passports issued during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II contain on their inside cover the following words in English:


title: British passport

text: In older passports, more specific reference was made to "Her Britannic Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs", originally including the name of the incumbent.


title: British passport

text: In non-UK issue passports, the request is made by the Governor or Lieutenant-Governor of the territory in "the Name of Her Britannic Majesty". As with UK-issued passports, following the accession of King Charles III, the request will change to “His Britannic Majesty”.


title: British passport

text: The items are identified by text in English and French (e.g., "Date of birth/Date de naissance"), and there is a section in which all this text is translated into Welsh and Scottish Gaelic. Passports issued until March 2019 were translated into all official EU languages.


title: British passport

text: According to the British government, the current policy of using noble titles on passports requires that the applicant provides evidence that the Lord Lyon has recognised a feudal barony, or the title is included in Burke's Peerage. If accepted (and if the applicant wishes to include the title), the correct form is for the applicant to include the territorial designation as part of their surname (Surname of territorial designation e.g. "Smith of Inverglen"). The official observation would then show the holder's full name, followed by their feudal title e.g. "The holder is John Smith, Baron of Inverglen".


title: British passport

text: Certain British passports are issued with printed endorsements on the Official Observations page, usually in upper case (capital letters). They form part of the passport when it is issued, as distinct from immigration stamps subsequently entered in the visa pages. Some examples are:


title: British passport

text: People who have valid reasons may be allowed to hold more than one passport booklet. This applies usually to people who travel frequently on business, and may need to have a passport booklet to travel on while the other is awaiting a visa for another country. Some Muslim-majority countries including Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, and Yemen do not issue visas to visitors if their passports bear a stamp or visa issued by Israel, as a result of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In that case, a person can apply for a second passport to avoid travel issues. Reasons and supporting documentation (such as a letter from an employer) must be provided.


title: British passport

text: In addition, a person who has dual British citizenship and British Overseas Territories citizenship is allowed to hold two British passports under different statuses at the same time. Persons who acquired their BOTC status with a connection to Gibraltar or Falkland Islands, however, are not eligible due to differences in regulations, and their BOTC passports will be cancelled when their British citizen passports are issued even when they possess both citizenships.


title: British passport

text: The King, Charles III, is not required to hold a passport because passports are issued in his name and on his authority, thus making it superfluous for him to hold one. All other members of the royal family, however, including the heir apparent William, Prince of Wales, do require passports.


title: British passport

text: Visa requirements for British citizens are administrative entry restrictions by the authorities of other states placed on citizens of the United Kingdom. As of 28 September 2022, holders of regular British Citizen passports had visa-free or visa on arrival access to 187 countries and territories, ranking the British Citizen passport 6th in the world in terms of travel freedom (tied with the French, Irish, and Portuguese passports) according to the Henley Passport Index. Additionally, Arton Capital's Passport Index ranked the British Citizen passport 5th in the world in terms of travel freedom, with a visa-free score of 169 (tied with the Singaporean, Maltese, Lithuanian, and Slovak passports), as of 28 September 2022.


title: British passport

text: Visa requirements for other categories of British nationals, namely British Nationals (Overseas), British Overseas Citizens, British Overseas Territories Citizens, British Protected Persons, and British Subjects, are different.


title: British passport

text: According to the Foreign travel advice provided by the British Government (unless otherwise noted) these are the numbers of British visitors to various countries per annum in 2015 (unless otherwise noted):


title: British passport

text: The cost of a British passport is between free and £95, for an adult (16 and over) 50-page frequent traveler passport who apply by paper form.


title: British passport

text: Pre-Brexit, the contract for printing British passports had been held by British company De La Rue. In 2018, the contract for printing post-Brexit was awarded to Franco-Dutch company Gemalto, which in 2019 became Thales DIS, part of the multinational Thales Group. The passports booklets will be printed more cheaply in Poland, with a controversial loss of printer jobs at De La Rue, but the passports will be personalised in the UK across two sites.


title: Ron Leibman

text: Ron Leibman (; October 11, 1937 – December 6, 2019) was an American actor. He won both the Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play in 1993 for his performance as Roy Cohn in "Angels in America". Leibman also won a Primetime Emmy Award in 1979 for his role as Martin 'Kaz' Kazinsky in his short-lived crime drama series "Kaz".


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman also acted in films such as "Where's Poppa?" (1970), "The Hot Rock" (1972), "Norma Rae" (1979), and "Zorro, The Gay Blade" (1982). Later in his career, he became widely known for providing the voice of Ron Cadillac in "Archer" (2013–2021) and for playing Dr. Leonard Green, Rachel's rich, short-tempered father, on the sitcom "Friends" (1996–2004).


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman was born in Manhattan to Grace (née Marks), who was of Russian-Jewish descent, and Murray Leibman, a Russian Jewish immigrant who worked in the garment business. Leibman graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University.


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman was a member of the Compass Players in the late 1950s, and was admitted to the Actors Studio shortly thereafter.


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman made his film debut alongside George Segal in the dark comedy "Where's Poppa?" (1970). He then starred alongside Robert Redford and Segal in the heist film "The Hot Rock" (1972) and he was featured as a northern Jewish union organizer in the award-winning movie "Norma Rae" (1979). In 1980, he appeared in "Up The Academy", a "gross-out" comedy set at a reform school; the film was so poorly received that it was disowned by both the staff of "Mad" magazine (who produced the movie) and Leibman himself. (Despite playing the leading role, the actor had his name completely removed from the credits and promotional material.)


title: Ron Leibman

text: His other film appearances include "Slaughterhouse-Five" (1972), "Your Three Minutes Are Up" (1973) with Beau Bridges and Janet Margolin, "Zorro, The Gay Blade" (1981), "Auto Focus" (2002) and "Garden State" (2004).


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman won an Emmy Award, Outstanding Lead Actor In A Drama Series, in 1979 for his convict-turned-lawyer character in "Kaz" (1978–79), a series which he also created and co-wrote. He was later nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for the role of Morris Huffner in "Christmas Eve".


title: Ron Leibman

text: He co-starred with his second wife, Jessica Walter, in "Tartuffe" at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in 1986, and they co-starred again in Neil Simon's play "Rumors" in 1988 on Broadway. They also appeared together as husband and wife in the film "Dummy" (2003) and in the TV series "Law & Order" in the episode "House Counsel" in 1995.


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman received a 1993 Tony Award for his performance as Roy Cohn in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Angels in America".


title: Ron Leibman

text: He played Dr. Leonard Green, Rachel Green's overbearing father, on the sitcom "Friends". He had a recurring role on "The Sopranos" as Dr. Plepler. In 1983, Leibman starred in the Australian movie "Phar Lap" as David J. Davis, the owner of legendary New Zealand/Australian racehorse Phar Lap, which won the 1930 Melbourne Cup and the 1932 Agua Caliente Handicap.


title: Ron Leibman

text: In 2013, Leibman began appearing as a recurring character on the TV series "Archer" as Ron Cadillac, the husband to Malory Archer, voiced by his real-life wife Jessica Walter.


title: Ron Leibman

text: Leibman was married twice. His first wife was actress Linda Lavin, to whom he was married from 1969 to 1981. In 1983, he married actress Jessica Walter.


title: Instant messaging

text: Instant messaging (IM) technology is a type of online chat allowing real-time text transmission over the Internet or another computer network. Messages are typically transmitted between two or more parties, when each user inputs text and triggers a transmission to the recipient(s), who are all connected on a common network. It differs from email in that conversations over instant messaging happen in real-time (hence "instant"). Most modern IM applications (sometimes called "social messengers", "messaging apps" or "chat apps") use push technology and also add other features such as emojis (or graphical smileys), file transfer, chatbots, voice over IP, or video chat capabilities.


title: Instant messaging

text: Instant messaging systems tend to facilitate connections between specified known users (often using a contact list also known as a "buddy list" or "friend list"), and can be standalone applications or integrated into e.g. a wider social media platform, or a website where it can for instance be used for conversational commerce. IM can also consist of conversations in "chat rooms". Depending on the IM protocol, the technical architecture can be peer-to-peer (direct point-to-point transmission) or client–server (an IM service center retransmits messages from the sender to the communication device). It is usually distinguished from text messaging which is typically simpler and normally uses cellular phone networks.


title: Instant messaging

text: Instant messaging applications can store messages with either local-based device storage (e.g WhatsApp, Viber, Line, WeChat, Signal etc.) or cloud-based server storage (e.g Telegram, Skype, Facebook Messenger, Google Meet/Chat, Discord, Slack etc.).


title: Instant messaging

text: Instant messaging was pioneered in the early Internet era; the IRC protocol was the earliest to achieve wide adoption. Later in the 1990s, ICQ was among the first closed and commercialized instant messengers, and several rival services appeared afterwards as it became a popular use of the Internet. Beginning with its first introduction in 2005, BlackBerry Messenger, which initially had been available only on BlackBerry smartphones, soon became one of the most popular mobile instant messaging apps worldwide. BBM was for instance the most used mobile messaging app in the United Kingdom and Indonesia. Instant messaging remains very popular today; IM apps are the most widely used smartphone apps: in 2018 there were over 50 million Signal users, 980 million monthly active users of WeChat and 1.3 billion monthly users of WhatsApp Messenger.


title: Instant messaging

text: Instant messaging is a set of communication technologies used for text-based communication between two (private messaging) or more (chat room) participants over the Internet or other types of networks (see also LAN messenger). IM–chat happens in real-time. Of importance is that online chat and instant messaging differ from other technologies such as email due to the perceived quasi-synchrony of the communications by the users. Some systems permit messages to be sent to users not then 'logged on' ("offline messages"), thus removing some differences between IM and email (often done by sending the message to the associated email account).


title: Instant messaging

text: IM allows effective and efficient communication, allowing immediate receipt of acknowledgment or reply. However IM is basically not necessarily supported by transaction control. In many cases, instant messaging includes added features which can make it even more popular. For example, users may see each other via webcams, or talk directly for free over the Internet using a microphone and headphones or loudspeakers. Many applications allow file transfers, although they are usually limited in the permissible file-size. It is usually possible to save a text conversation for later reference. Instant messages are often logged in a local message history, making it similar to the persistent nature of emails.


title: Instant messaging

text: Major IM services are controlled by their corresponding companies. They usually follow the client–server model when all clients have to first connect to the central server. This requires users to trust this server because messages can generally be accessed by the company. Companies can be compelled to reveal their user's communication. Companies can also suspend user accounts for any reason.


title: Instant messaging

text: Non-IM types of chat include multicast transmission, usually referred to as "chat rooms", where participants might be anonymous or might be previously known to each other (for example collaborators on a project that is using chat to facilitate communication).


title: Instant messaging

text: An instant message service center (IMSC) is a network element in the mobile telephone network which delivers instant messages. When a user sends an IM message to another user, the phone sends the message to the IMSC. The IMSC stores the message and delivers it to the destination user when they are available. The IMSC usually has a configurable time limit for how long it will store the message. Few companies who make many of the IMSCs in use in the GSM world are Miyowa, Followap and OZ. Other players include Acision, Colibria, Ericsson, Nokia, Comverse Technology, Now Wireless, Jinny Software, Miyowa, Feelingk and few others.


title: Instant messaging

text: The term "Instant Messenger" is a service mark of Time Warner and may not be used in software not affiliated with AOL in the United States. For this reason, in April 2007, the instant messaging client formerly named Gaim (or gaim) announced that they would be renamed "Pidgin".


title: Instant messaging

text: Each modern IM service generally provides its own client, either a separately installed piece of software, or a browser-based client. They are normally centralised networks run by the servers of the platform's operators, unlike peer-to-peer protocols like XMPP. These usually only work within the same IM network, although some allow limited function with other services. Third party client software applications exist that will connect with most of the major IM services. There is the class of instant messengers that uses the serverless model, which doesn't require servers, and the IM network consists only of clients. There are several serverless messengers: RetroShare, Tox, Bitmessage, Ricochet, Ring.


title: Instant messaging

text: Some examples of popular IM services today include Signal, Telegram, WhatsApp Messenger, WeChat, QQ Messenger, Viber, Line, and Snapchat. The popularity of certain apps greatly differ between different countries. Certain apps have emphasis on certain uses - for example Skype focuses on video calling, Slack focuses on messaging and file sharing for work teams, and Snapchat focuses on image messages. Some social networking services offer messaging services as a component of their overall platform, such as Facebook's Facebook Messenger, who also own WhatsApp. While others have a direct messaging function as an additional adjunct component of their social networking platforms, like Instagram, Reddit, Tumblr, TikTok, Clubhouse and Twitter, either directly or through chat rooms.


title: Instant messaging

text: Private chat allows private conversation with another person or a group. The privacy aspect can also be enhanced in a number of ways such as end to end encryption by default like Signal. Or some applications have a timer feature, like Snapchat, where messages, conversations or files such as photos are automatically deleted from the users phone once the time limit is reached. Public and group chat features allow users to communicate with multiple people at a time.


title: Instant messaging

text: Many major IM services and applications offer the call feature for user-to-user calls, conference calls, and voice messages. The call functionality is useful for professionals who utilize the application for work purposes and as a hands-free method. Videotelephony using a webcam is also possible by some.


title: Instant messaging

text: Some IM applications include in-app games for entertainment. Yahoo! Messenger for example introduced these where users could play a game and viewed by friends in real-time. The Messenger application has a built in option to play computer games with people in a chat, including games like Tetris and Blackjack.


title: Instant messaging

text: Though a relatively new feature, peer-to-peer payments are available on major messaging platforms. This functionality allows individuals to use one application for both communication and financial tasks. The lack of a service fee also makes messaging apps advantageous to financial applications. Major platforms such as Facebook messenger and WeChat already offer a payment feature, and this functionality is likely to become a standard amongst IM apps competing in the market.


title: Instant messaging

text: Though the term dates from the 1990s, instant messaging predates the Internet, first appearing on multi-user operating systems like Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS) and Multiplexed Information and Computing Service (Multics) in the mid-1960s. Initially, some of these systems were used as notification systems for services like printing, but quickly were used to facilitate communication with other users logged into the same machine. CTSS facilitated communication via text message for up to 30 people.


title: Instant messaging

text: Parallel to instant messaging were early online chat facilities, the earliest of which was Talkomatic (1973) on the PLATO system, which allowed 5 people to chat simultaneously on a 512x512 plasma display (5 lines of text + 1 status line per person). During the bulletin board system (BBS) phenomenon that peaked during the 1980s, some systems incorporated chat features which were similar to instant messaging; Freelancin' Roundtable was one prime example. The first such general-availability commercial online chat service (as opposed to PLATO, which was educational) was the CompuServe CB Simulator in 1980, created by CompuServe executive Alexander "Sandy" Trevor in Columbus, Ohio.


title: Instant messaging

text: As networks developed, the protocols spread with the networks. Some of these used a peer-to-peer protocol (e.g. talk, ntalk and ytalk), while others required peers to connect to a server (see talker and IRC). The Zephyr Notification Service (still in use at some institutions) was invented at MIT's Project Athena in the 1980s to allow service providers to locate and send messages to users.


title: Instant messaging

text: Early instant messaging programs were primarily real-time text, where characters appeared as they were typed. This includes the Unix "talk" command line program, which was popular in the 1980s and early 1990s. Some BBS chat programs (i.e. Celerity BBS) also used a similar interface. Modern implementations of real-time text also exist in instant messengers, such as AOL's Real-Time IM as an optional feature.


title: Instant messaging

text: In the latter half of the 1980s and into the early 1990s, the Quantum Link online service for Commodore 64 computers offered user-to-user messages between concurrently connected customers, which they called "On-Line Messages" (or OLM for short), and later "FlashMail." Quantum Link later became America Online and made AOL Instant Messenger (AIM, discussed later). While the Quantum Link client software ran on a Commodore 64, using only the Commodore's PETSCII text-graphics, the screen was visually divided into sections and OLMs would appear as a yellow bar saying "Message From:" and the name of the sender along with the message across the top of whatever the user was already doing, and presented a list of options for responding. As such, it could be considered a type of graphical user interface (GUI), albeit much more primitive than the later Unix, Windows and Macintosh based GUI IM software. OLMs were what Q-Link called "Plus Services" meaning they charged an extra per-minute fee on top of the monthly Q-Link access costs.


title: Instant messaging

text: Modern, Internet-wide, GUI-based messaging clients as they are known today, began to take off in the mid-1990s with PowWow, ICQ, and AOL Instant Messenger. Similar functionality was offered by CU-SeeMe in 1992; though primarily an audio/video chat link, users could also send textual messages to each other. AOL later acquired Mirabilis, the authors of ICQ; establishing dominance in the instant messaging market. A few years later ICQ (then owned by AOL) was awarded two patents for instant messaging by the U.S. patent office. Meanwhile, other companies developed their own software; (Excite, MSN, Ubique, and Yahoo!), each with its own proprietary protocol and client; users therefore had to run multiple client applications if they wished to use more than one of these networks. In 1998, IBM released IBM Lotus Sametime, a product based on technology acquired when IBM bought Haifa-based Ubique and Lexington-based Databeam.


title: Instant messaging

text: In 2000, an open-source application and open standards-based protocol called Jabber was launched. The protocol was standardized under the name Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). XMPP servers could act as gateways to other IM protocols, reducing the need to run multiple clients. Multi-protocol clients can use any of the popular IM protocols by using additional local libraries for each protocol. IBM Lotus Sametime's November 2007 release added IBM Lotus Sametime Gateway support for XMPP.


title: Instant messaging

text: Video calling using a webcam also started taking off during this time. Microsoft NetMeeting was one of the earliest, but Skype released in 2003 was one of the first that focused on this features and brought it to a wider audience.


title: Instant messaging

text: By 2006, AIM controlled 52 percent of the instant messaging market, but rapidly declined shortly thereafter as the company struggled to compete with other services.


title: Instant messaging

text: By 2010, instant messaging over the Web was in sharp decline in favor of messaging features on social networks. Social networking providers often offer IM abilities, for example Facebook Chat, while Twitter can be thought of as a Web 2.0 instant messaging system. Similar server-side chat features are part of most dating websites, such as OkCupid or PlentyofFish. The former most popular IM platforms were terminated in later years, such as AIM.


title: Instant messaging

text: The popularity of instant messaging was soon revived with new services in the form of mobile applications, notable examples of the time being BlackBerry Messenger (first released in 2005; today available as BlackBerry Messenger Enterprise) and WhatsApp (first released in 2009). Unlike previous IM applications, these newer ones usually ran only on mobile devices and coincided with the rising popularity of Internet-enabled smartphones; this led to IM surpassing SMS in message volume by 2013. By 2014, IM had more users than social networks. In January 2015, the service WhatsApp alone accommodated 30 billion messages daily in comparison to about 20 billion for SMS.


title: Instant messaging

text: In 2016, Google introduced a new intelligent messaging app that incorporated machine learning technology called Allo. Google Allo was shut down on March 12, 2019.


title: Instant messaging

text: Standard complementary instant messaging applications offer functions like file transfer, contact list(s), the ability to hold several simultaneous conversations, etc. These may be all the functions that a small business needs, but larger organizations will require more sophisticated applications that can work together. The solution to finding applications capable of this is to use enterprise versions of instant messaging applications. These include titles like XMPP, Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Office Communicator, etc., which are often integrated with other enterprise applications such as workflow systems. These enterprise applications, or enterprise application integration (EAI), are built to certain constraints, namely storing data in a common format.


title: Instant messaging

text: There have been several attempts to create a unified standard for instant messaging: IETF's Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and SIP for Instant Messaging and Presence Leveraging Extensions (SIMPLE), Application Exchange (APEX), Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol (IMPP), the open XML-based Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP), and Open Mobile Alliance's Instant Messaging and Presence Service developed specifically for mobile devices.


title: Instant messaging

text: Most attempts at producing a unified standard for the major IM providers (AOL, Yahoo! and Microsoft) have failed, and each continues to use its own proprietary protocol.


title: Instant messaging

text: However, while discussions at IETF were stalled, Reuters signed the first inter-service provider connectivity agreement in September 2003. This agreement enabled AIM, ICQ and MSN Messenger users to talk with Reuters Messaging counterparts and vice versa. Following this, Microsoft, Yahoo! and AOL agreed to a deal in which Microsoft's Live Communications Server 2005 users would also have the possibility to talk to public instant messaging users. This deal established SIP/SIMPLE as a standard for protocol interoperability and established a connectivity fee for accessing public instant messaging groups or services. Separately, on October 13, 2005, Microsoft and Yahoo! announced that by the 3rd quarter of 2006 they would interoperate using SIP/SIMPLE, which was followed, in December 2005, by the AOL and Google strategic partnership deal in which Google Talk users would be able to communicate with AIM and ICQ users provided they have an AIM account.


title: Instant messaging

text: Some approaches allow organizations to deploy their own, private instant messaging network by enabling them to restrict access to the server (often with the IM network entirely behind their firewall) and administer user permissions. Other corporate messaging systems allow registered users to also connect from outside the corporation LAN, by using an encrypted, firewall-friendly, HTTPS-based protocol. Usually, a dedicated corporate IM server has several advantages, such as pre-populated contact lists, integrated authentication, and better security and privacy.


title: Instant messaging

text: Certain networks have made changes to prevent them from being used by such multi-network IM clients. For example, Trillian had to release several revisions and patches to allow its users to access the MSN, AOL, and Yahoo! networks, after changes were made to these networks. The major IM providers usually cite the need for formal agreements, and security concerns as reasons for making these changes.


title: Instant messaging

text: The use of proprietary protocols has meant that many instant messaging networks have been incompatible and users have been unable to reach users on other networks. This may have allowed social networking with IM-like features and text messaging an opportunity to gain market share at the expense of IM.


title: Instant messaging

text: Messaging applications have affected the way people communicate on their devices. A survey conducted by MetrixLabs showed that messaging applications 63% of Baby Boomers, 63% of Generation X, and 67% of Generation Y said that they used messaging applications in place of texting. A Facebook survey showed that 65% of people surveyed thought that messaging applications made group messaging easier.


title: Instant messaging

text: Messaging applications have also changed how people communicate in the workplace. Enterprise messaging applications like Slack, TeleMessage, Teamnote and Yammer allow companies to enforce policies on how employees message at work and ensure secure storage of sensitive data. Message applications allow employees to separate work information from their personal emails and texts.


title: Instant messaging

text: Messaging applications may make workplace communication efficient, but they can also have consequences on productivity. A study at Slack showed on average, people spend 10 hours a day on Slack, which is about 67% more time than they spend using email.


title: Instant messaging

text: Users sometimes make use of internet slang or text speak to abbreviate common words or expressions to quicken conversations or reduce keystrokes. The language has become widespread, with well-known expressions such as 'lol' translated over to face-to-face language.


title: Instant messaging

text: Emotions are often expressed in shorthand, such as the abbreviation LOL, BRB and TTYL; respectively laugh(ing) out loud, be right back, and talk to you later.


title: Instant messaging

text: Some, however, attempt to be more accurate with emotional expression over IM. Real time reactions such as ("chortle") ("snort") ("guffaw") or ("eye-roll") are becoming more popular. Also there are certain standards that are being introduced into mainstream conversations including, '#' indicates the use of sarcasm in a statement and '*' which indicates a spelling mistake and/or grammatical error in the prior message, followed by a correction.


title: Instant messaging

text: Instant messaging has proven to be similar to personal computers, email, and the World Wide Web, in that its adoption for use as a business communications medium was driven primarily by individual employees using consumer software at work, rather than by formal mandate or provisioning by corporate information technology departments. Tens of millions of the consumer IM accounts in use are being used for business purposes by employees of companies and other organizations.


title: Instant messaging

text: In response to the demand for business-grade IM and the need to ensure security and legal compliance, a new type of instant messaging, called "Enterprise Instant Messaging" ("EIM") was created when Lotus Software launched IBM Lotus Sametime in 1998. Microsoft followed suit shortly thereafter with Microsoft Exchange Instant Messaging, later created a new platform called Microsoft Office Live Communications Server, and released Office Communications Server 2007 in October 2007. Oracle Corporation also jumped into the market with its Oracle Beehive unified collaboration software. Both IBM Lotus and Microsoft have introduced federation between their EIM systems and some of the public IM networks so that employees may use one interface to both their internal EIM system and their contacts on AOL, MSN, and Yahoo. As of 2010, leading EIM platforms include IBM Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Office Communications Server, Jabber XCP and Cisco Unified Presence. Industry-focused EIM platforms such as Reuters Messaging and Bloomberg Messaging also provide IM abilities to financial services companies.


title: Instant messaging

text: The adoption of IM across corporate networks outside of the control of IT organizations creates risks and liabilities for companies who do not effectively manage and support IM use. Companies implement specialized IM archiving and security products and services to mitigate these risks and provide safe, secure, productive instant messaging abilities to their employees. IM is increasingly becoming a feature of enterprise software rather than a stand-alone application.


title: Instant messaging

text: IM products can usually be categorised into two types: Enterprise Instant Messaging (EIM) and Consumer Instant Messaging (CIM). Enterprise solutions use an internal IM server, however this is not always feasible, particularly for smaller businesses with limited budgets. The second option, using a CIM provides the advantage of being inexpensive to implement and has little need for investing in new hardware or server software.


title: Instant messaging

text: For corporate use, encryption and conversation archiving are usually regarded as important features due to security concerns. There are also a bunch of open source encrypting messengers. Sometimes the use of different operating systems in organizations requires use of software that supports more than one platform. For example, many software companies use Windows in administration departments but have software developers who use Linux.


title: Instant messaging

text: SMS is the acronym for “short message service” and allows mobile phone users to send text messages without an Internet connection, while instant messaging provides similar services through an Internet connection. SMS was a much more dominant form of communication before smartphones became widely used globally. While SMS relied on traditional paid telephone services, instant messaging apps on mobiles were available for free or a minor data charge. In 2012 SMS volume peaked, and in 2013 chat apps surpassed SMS in global message volume.


title: Instant messaging

text: Easier group messaging was another advantage of smartphone messaging apps and also contributed to their adoption. Before the introduction of messaging apps, smartphone users could only participate in single-person interactions via mobile voice calls or SMS. With the introduction of messaging apps, the group chat functionality allows all the members to see an entire thread of everyone's responses. Members can also respond directly to each other, rather than having to go through the member who started the group message, to relay the information.


title: Instant messaging

text: However, SMS still remains popular in the United States because it is usually included free in monthly phone bundles. While SMS volumes in some countries like Denmark, Spain and Singapore dropped up to two-thirds from 2011 to 2013, in the United States SMS use only dropped by about one quarter.


title: Instant messaging

text: Crackers (malicious or black hat hackers) have consistently used IM networks as vectors for delivering phishing attempts, drive-by URLs, and virus-laden file attachments from 2004 to the present, with over 1100 discrete attacks listed by the IM Security Center in 2004–2007. Hackers use two methods of delivering malicious code through IM: delivery of viruses, trojan horses, or spyware within an infected file, and the use of "socially engineered" text with a web address that entices the recipient to click on a URL connecting him or her to a website that then downloads malicious code.


title: Instant messaging

text: Viruses, computer worms, and trojans usually propagate by sending themselves rapidly through the infected user's contact list. An effective attack using a poisoned URL may reach tens of thousands of users in a short period when each user's contact list receives messages appearing to be from a trusted friend. The recipients click on the web address, and the entire cycle starts again. Infections may range from nuisance to criminal, and are becoming more sophisticated each year.


title: Instant messaging

text: IM connections sometimes occur in plain text, making them vulnerable to eavesdropping. Also, IM client software often requires the user to expose open UDP ports to the world, raising the threat posed by potential security vulnerabilities.


title: Instant messaging

text: In the early 2000s, a new class of IT security provider emerged to provide remedies for the risks and liabilities faced by corporations who chose to use IM for business communications. The IM security providers created new products to be installed in corporate networks for the purpose of archiving, content-scanning, and security-scanning IM traffic moving in and out of the corporation. Similar to the e-mail filtering vendors, the IM security providers focus on the risks and liabilities described above.


title: Instant messaging

text: With rapid adoption of IM in the workplace, demand for IM security products began to grow in the mid-2000s. By 2007, the preferred platform for the purchase of security software had become the "computer appliance", according to IDC, who estimated that by 2008, 80% of network security products would be delivered via an appliance.


title: Instant messaging

text: By 2014 however, the level of safety offered by instant messengers was still extremely poor. According to a scorecard made by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, only 7 out of 39 instant messengers received a perfect score, whereas the most popular instant messengers at the time only attained a score of 2 out of 7. A number of studies have shown that IM services are quite vulnerable for providing user privacy.


title: Instant messaging

text: Encryption is the primary method that messaging apps use to protect user's data privacy and security. SMS messages are not encrypted, making them insecure, as the content of each SMS message is visible to mobile carriers and governments and can be intercepted by a third party. SMS messages also leak metadata, or information about the message that is not the message content itself, such as phone numbers of the sender and recipient, which can identify the people involved in the conversation. SMS messages can also be spoofed and the sender of the message can be edited to impersonate another person.


title: Instant messaging

text: Messaging applications on the market that use end-to-end encryption include Signal, WhatsApp, Wire and iMessage. Applications that have been criticized for lacking or poor encryption methods include Telegram and Confide, as both are prone to error or not having encryption enabled by default.


title: Instant messaging

text: In addition to the malicious code threat, the use of instant messaging at work also creates a risk of non-compliance to laws and regulations governing use of electronic communications in businesses.


title: Instant messaging

text: In the United States alone there are over 10,000 laws and regulations related to electronic messaging and records retention. The better-known of these include the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, HIPAA, and SEC 17a-3.


title: Instant messaging

text: Clarification from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) was issued to member firms in the financial services industry in December, 2007, noting that "electronic communications", "email", and "electronic correspondence" may be used interchangeably and can include such forms of electronic messaging as "instant messaging" and text messaging. Changes to Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, effective December 1, 2006, created a new category for electronic records which may be requested during discovery in legal proceedings.


title: Instant messaging

text: Most nations also regulate use of electronic messaging and electronic records retention in similar fashion as the United States. The most common regulations related to IM at work involve the need to produce archived business communications to satisfy government or judicial requests under law. Many instant messaging communications fall into the category of business communications that must be archived and retrievable.


title: Instant messaging

text: As of March 2022, the most used messaging apps worldwide include: Signal with 100 million, Line with 217 million, Viber with 260 million, Telegram with 700 million, WeChat with 1.2 billion, Facebook Messenger with 1.3 billion, and WhatsApp with 2.0 billion users. There are 25 countries in the world where WhatsApp messenger is not the market leader in messaging apps, such as the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Philippines, and China.


title: Pivot table

text: A pivot table is a table of grouped values that aggregates the individual items of a more extensive table (such as from a database, spreadsheet, or business intelligence program) within one or more discrete categories. This summary might include sums, averages, or other statistics, which the pivot table groups together using a chosen aggregation function applied to the grouped values.


title: Pivot table

text: Although "pivot table" is a generic term, Microsoft held a trademark on the term in the United States from 1994 to 2020.


title: Pivot table

text: In their book "Pivot Table Data Crunching", Bill Jelen and Mike Alexander refer to Pito Salas as the "father of pivot tables". While working on a concept for a new program that would eventually become Lotus Improv, Salas noted that spreadsheets have patterns of data. A tool that could help the user recognize these patterns would help to build advanced data models quickly. With Improv, users could define and store sets of categories, then change views by dragging category names with the mouse. This core functionality would provide the model for pivot tables.


title: Pivot table

text: Lotus Development released Improv in 1991 on the NeXT platform. A few months after the release of Improv, Brio Technology published a standalone Macintosh implementation, called DataPivot (with technology eventually patented in 1999). Borland purchased the DataPivot technology in 1992 and implemented it in their own spreadsheet application, Quattro Pro.


title: Pivot table

text: In 1993 the Microsoft Windows version of Improv appeared. Early in 1994 Microsoft Excel 5 brought a new functionality called a "PivotTable" to market. Microsoft further improved this feature in later versions of Excel:


title: Pivot table

text: For typical data entry and storage, data usually appear in "flat" tables, meaning that they consist of only columns and rows, as in the following portion of a sample spreadsheet showing data on shirt types:


title: Pivot table

text: While tables such as these can contain many data items, it can be difficult to get summarized information from them. A pivot table can help quickly summarize the data and highlight the desired information. The usage of a pivot table is extremely broad and depends on the situation. The first question to ask is, "What am I seeking?" In the example here, let us ask, "How many "Units" did we sell in each "Region" for every "Ship Date?"":


title: Pivot table

text: A pivot table usually consists of "row", "column" and "data" (or "fact") fields. In this case, the column is "ship date", the row is "region" and the data we would like to see is (sum of) "units". These fields allow several kinds of aggregations, including: sum, average, standard deviation, count, etc. In this case, the total number of units shipped is displayed here using a "sum" aggregation.


title: Pivot table

text: Using the example above, the software will find all distinct values for "Region". In this case, they are: "North", "South", "East", "West". Furthermore, it will find all distinct values for "Ship Date". Based on the aggregation type, "sum", it will summarize the fact, the quantities of "Unit", and display them in a multidimensional chart. In the example above, the first datum is 66. This number was obtained by finding all records where both "Region" was "East" and "Ship Date" was "1/31/2005", and adding the "Units" of that collection of records ("i.e.", cells E2 to E7) together to get a final result.


title: Pivot table

text: Pivot tables are not created automatically. For example, in Microsoft Excel one must first select the entire data in the original table and then go to the Insert tab and select "Pivot Table" (or "Pivot Chart"). The user then has the option of either inserting the pivot table into an existing sheet or creating a new sheet to house the pivot table. A pivot table field list is provided to the user which lists all the column headers present in the data. For instance, if a table represents sales data of a company, it might include Date of sale, Salesperson, Item sold, Color of the item, Units sold, Per unit price, and total price. This makes the data more readily accessible.


title: Pivot table

text: The fields that would be created will be visible on the right hand side of the worksheet. By default, the pivot table layout design will appear below this list.


title: Pivot table

text: Pivot Table fields are the building blocks of pivot tables. Each of the fields from the list can be dragged on to this layout, which has four options:


title: Pivot table

text: Some uses of pivot tables are related to the analysis of questionnaires with optional responses but some implementations of pivot tables do not allow these use cases. For example the implementation in LibreOffice Calc since 2012 is not able to process empty cells.


title: Pivot table

text: Report filter is used to apply a filter to an entire table. For example, if the "Color of Item" field is dragged to this area, then the table constructed will have a report filter inserted above the table. This report filter will have drop-down options (Black, Red, and White in the example above). When an option is chosen from this drop-down list ("Black" in this example), then the table that would be visible will contain only the data from those rows that have the "Color of Item= Black".


title: Pivot table

text: Column labels are used to apply a filter to one or more columns that have to be shown in the pivot table. For instance if the "Salesperson" field is dragged to this area, then the table constructed will have values from the column "Sales Person", "i.e.", one will have a number of columns equal to the number of "Salesperson". There will also be one added column of Total. In the example above, this instruction will create five columns in the table — one for each salesperson, and Grand Total. There will be a filter above the data — column labels — from which one can select or deselect a particular salesperson for the pivot table.


title: Pivot table

text: This table will not have any numerical values as no numerical field is selected but when it is selected, the values will automatically get updated in the column of "Grand total".


title: Pivot table

text: Row labels are used to apply a filter to one or more rows that have to be shown in the pivot table. For instance, if the "Salesperson" field is dragged on this area then the other output table constructed will have values from the column "Salesperson", "i.e.", one will have a number of rows equal to the number of "Sales Person". There will also be one added row of "Grand Total". In the example above, this instruction will create five rows in the table — one for each salesperson, and Grand Total. There will be a filter above the data — row labels — from which one can select or deselect a particular salesperson for the Pivot table.


title: Pivot table

text: This table will not have any numerical values, as no numerical field is selected, but when it is selected, the values will automatically get updated in the Row of "Grand Total".


title: Pivot table

text: This usually takes a field that has numerical values that can be used for different types of calculations. However, using text values would also not be wrong; instead of Sum, it will give a count. So, in the example above, if the "Units sold" field is dragged to this area along with the row label of "Salesperson", then the instruction will add a new column, "Sum of units sold", which will have values against each salesperson.


title: Pivot table

text: Pivot tables or pivot functionality are an integral part of many spreadsheet applications and some database software, as well as being found in other data visualization tools and business intelligence packages.


title: Pivot table

text: Excel pivot tables include the feature to directly query an online analytical processing (OLAP) server for retrieving data instead of getting the data from an Excel spreadsheet. On this configuration, a pivot table is a simple client of an OLAP server. Excel's PivotTable not only allows for connecting to Microsoft's Analysis Service, but to any XML for Analysis (XMLA) OLAP standard-compliant server.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Calvin Edwin Ripken Jr. (born August 24, 1960), nicknamed "The Iron Man", is an American former baseball shortstop and third baseman who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Baltimore Orioles (1981–2001). One of his position's most offensively productive players, Ripken compiled 3,184 hits, 431 home runs, and 1,695 runs batted in during his career, and he won two Gold Glove Awards for his defense. He was a 19-time All-Star and was twice named American League (AL) Most Valuable Player (MVP). Ripken holds the record for consecutive games played (2,632), having surpassed Lou Gehrig's streak of 2,130 that had stood for 56 years and that many deemed unbreakable. In 2007, he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in his first year of eligibility with 98.53% of votes, the sixth-highest election percentage ever.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Born in Maryland, Ripken grew up traveling around the United States as his father, Cal Sr., was a player and coach in the Orioles' organization. After playing at Aberdeen High School, Ripken Jr. was drafted by the Orioles in the second round of the 1978 MLB draft. He reached the major leagues in 1981 as a shortstop but moved to third base in 1982, but the following year, he was shifted to shortstop, his long-time position for Baltimore. That year, Ripken also won the AL Rookie of the Year Award and began his consecutive games played streak. In 1983, he won a World Series championship over the Philadelphia Phillies and his first AL MVP Award. One of Ripken's best years came in 1991 when he was named an All-Star, won the Home Run Derby, and was recipient of his first All-Star Game MVP Award, his second AL MVP Award, and first Gold Glove Award. He broke the consecutive games played record on September 6, 1995, in his 2,131st consecutive game, which fans voted as the league's "most memorable moment" in the history of the game in an MLB.com poll; Ripken voluntarily ended his 17-year streak at 2,632 games before the final home game of the 1998 season. He switched back to third base for the final five years of his career. In 2001, his final season, Ripken was named the All-Star Game MVP and was honored with the Commissioner's Historic Achievement Award.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken is considered one of the best shortstops in baseball history. At , , he pioneered the way for the success of taller, larger shortstops. He holds the record for most home runs hit as a shortstop (345), breaking the record previously held by Ernie Banks, and was selected as the starting shortstop for the Major League Baseball All-Century Team. Ripken is a best-selling author and the President and CEO of Ripken Baseball, Inc., whose goal is to grow the love of baseball from a grassroots level. Since his retirement, he has purchased three minor league baseball teams. He has been active in charity work throughout his career and is still considered an ambassador of the game. He lives in Annapolis, Maryland, and is married to Laura Ripken, née Kiessling, a judge on the Maryland Court of Special Appeals.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken was born in Havre de Grace, Maryland, the son of Violet Roberta "Vi" Ripken (née Gross) and Cal Ripken Sr. He has German, English, and Irish ancestry. Though the Ripkens called Aberdeen, Maryland, their home, they were often on the move because of Cal Sr.'s coaching duties with the Baltimore Orioles organization. Cal Sr., in fact, was in Topeka, Kansas, with one of his teams when his son was born. Cal Jr. grew up around baseball and got started in it at a very young age. He was able to receive instruction from players on his father's teams, notably Doug DeCinces. He also got advice from his father, who once remarked to his mother that his questions were better than the ones reporters had. At the age of three, Ripken knew he wanted to be a ballplayer, and at the age of 10, Ripken "knew the game inside and out". Ripken and his brother Billy attended Aberdeen High School. They both played baseball there; Cal also played soccer. He has two other siblings, Ellen and Fred.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken began his high school career playing second base; his coach, Don Morrison, said, "I was considering moving him to short, but I was unsure if his arm was strong enough." Despite Morrison's concerns, Ripken did move to shortstop as a sophomore, combining strong fielding with a team-leading 10 runs batted in (RBI). Needing pitching help, the Aberdeen Eagles began using Ripken as a pitcher as well in his junior year. He responded by striking out 55 batters in innings pitched with three shutouts while batting .339 with 21 hits and nine RBIs. He was named the Harford County Most Valuable Player (MVP) while helping Aberdeen become county champions for the first time since 1959. During his senior year, Ripken again had a strong season, lifting his batting average to .688 at one point and posting a 0.79 ERA with 45 strikeouts over his first 26 innings. In the playoffs, Ripken pitched the state championship game against Thomas Stone High School. The Eagles trailed 3–1 when Ripken, noting that rain was coming and that the game would be canceled and replayed because the Eagles had not yet played the fourth inning, made nine throws to first base to ensure the game would be replayed. When the game was played the next week, Ripken struck out 17, allowed two hits, and threw a complete game as Aberdeen won the state championship. He threw 102 pitches in the 7–1 victory.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: The Baltimore Orioles drafted Ripken in the second round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft 48th overall. Despite a story written by SABR, Ripken was selected with the Orioles' predetermined draft pick, not through a forfeited pick from the Boston Red Sox after the Sox selected Dick Drago in the 1977 re-entry draft. The Orioles would select catcher Cecil Whitehead with the pick they received from Boston two picks after Ripken. On deciding to go straight from high school to the professional level, he said, "When the colleges started coming around, Dad and I talked about mostly whether I was going to pursue a career in baseball. If I had the ability, the feeling was to get on with it, and if it didn't work out, start over again in college at 25 or 26." Ripken played both pitcher and shortstop in high school; in fact, the Orioles were the only team not just interested in his pitching ability. The Orioles decided to start him playing shortstop in the minor leagues, deciding it would be easier for him to transition back to pitching if necessary than it would be for him to start hitting again.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: To begin Ripken's minor league career, the Orioles assigned him to the Bluefield Orioles of the rookie Appalachian League. He batted .264 with 63 hits, no home runs, and 24 RBIs, failing to make the league's all-rookie team. In 1979, Ripken moved up to the Single-A Miami Orioles of the Florida State League. Shortly into the season, Miami manager Lance Nichols decided to move Ripken to third base, saying, "Cal was having some problems at short, so naturally I decided to shift him to third ... Third base was a perfect fit for Cal and our team." On July 2, Ripken hit his first professional home run, a game-winner in the 12th inning against Gary Abone of the West Palm Beach Expos. Ripken batted .303, hit five home runs, led the league with 28 doubles, and had 54 RBIs while playing in all 105 of Miami's games. He was named an All-Star after the season. His performance earned him a brief call-up to the Charlotte Orioles of the Double-A Southern League; Ripken batted .180 in a month with them, albeit with three home runs.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken began 1980 with Charlotte. His manager at Charlotte, Jimmy Williams, predicted him to set the team home run record, and Ripken did not disappoint. At season's end, he had 25 home runs, besting the previous record by four. He also had 28 doubles, 78 RBIs, and a .492 slugging percentage. Ripken was named an All-Star while helping Charlotte win the Southern League championship.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: In 1981, Ripken was added to Baltimore's 40-man roster. He attended spring training with the Orioles, but was sent to the Rochester Red Wings of the Triple-A International League to start the season. At Rochester, Ripken played in the longest professional baseball game. Ripken started at third base and played all 33 innings against the Pawtucket Red Sox (which featured another future Hall of Famer, Wade Boggs) in a game that took parts of three days to complete. Ripken hit 23 home runs for Rochester while batting .288 with 75 RBIs in 114 games. He was named the International League Rookie of the Year.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: The Orioles were planning to keep Ripken in Rochester through 1981, but searching for improvement in the second half of the 1981 season, they called him up on August 7. Manager Earl Weaver planned to have Ripken take over the role of utility infielder, in place of Wayne Krenchicki, who had been sent down to make room for Ripken on the roster. He made his debut on August 10 as a pinch runner for Ken Singleton in the 12th inning of a game against the Kansas City Royals. Ripken scored on a hit by John Lowenstein, giving the Orioles the win. His first major league hit came six days later against Dennis Lamp of the Chicago White Sox. Ripken finished the season batting .182 without an extra-base hit as the Orioles finished fourth in the second half of the season.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken received the third base job for the Orioles in 1982 when the team traded DeCinces before the start of the season. He homered in his very first at-bat of the first game of the Orioles' 1982 season against Dennis Leonard of Kansas City as part of a three-hit outing. However, he slumped to begin the season; his batting average was .118 through May 1. Ripken looked for advice from several Orioles players and coaches but was most aided by advice from Reggie Jackson: "Just know what you know you can do, not what everybody else tells you to do." After that, Ripken hit well for the rest of the season. On May 29, Ripken did not play the second game of a doubleheader, the last time he missed a game until 1998. On July 1, Weaver decided to permanently shift Ripken to shortstop, deciding that it was harder to find a shortstop who could hit than it was to find a third baseman who could hit. Weaver said, "You never know. Rip might be a great shortstop." Ripken hit 28 home runs that year en route to winning the American League (AL) Rookie of the Year Award. Aided by Ripken, the Orioles contended for the playoffs until they lost to the Milwaukee Brewers on the final day of the season.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken advanced even more in 1983, having what would be one of the best years of his career. He played well all season on the way to earning the first of 19 All-Star berths. Roommate Rick Dempsey gave this analysis of Ripken's performance: "Certainly there were pitchers who faced him in 1982 and made or tried to make adjustments against him. But Cal was determined and worked hard to offset their adjustments." At season's end, Ripken had set Orioles' records for RBIs by a shortstop (102) and hits by all players (211). He led the major leagues in hits and doubles (47) while also leading the AL with 121 runs scored. As a shortstop, he led the league in fielding percentage (.970), assists (534), and double plays (111), although he did not win the Gold Glove Award. After the season, he was named the AL Most Valuable Player (MVP), hitting .318 with 27 home runs. Ripken became the first player in MLB history to win Rookie of the Year and MVP Awards in consecutive seasons.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken made the playoffs for the first time as the Orioles won the AL East in 1983. The Orioles defeated the White Sox in the ALCS before beating the Philadelphia Phillies four games to one in the 1983 World Series. In the series, Ripken hit just .167 with no homers and only one RBI. Although not contributing significantly in the World Series with his bat, he made a number of key plays defensively at shortstop, including the final out of the series on a Garry Maddox lineout in Game 5.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Before the 1984 season, Ripken signed a four-year contract for "about" $1 million a year, the largest contract the Orioles had ever given to a player of his age. Again, he was named to the All-Star Game. He racked up another fine season, batting .304 with 27 home runs, 86 RBIs, and 103 runs scored. Although he failed to win a Gold Glove, he set an AL record with 583 assists. The Orioles had a winning record but only managed to finish in fifth place.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken's streak nearly came to an end in 1985. Against the Texas Rangers in the second game of the season, he sprained his ankle on a fielding play. Ripken finished the game, but afterward, Dr. Charles Silverstein ordered him to rest for 24 hours. However, the Orioles had an off day after that game, and Ripken was back for their next game. During the season, Ripken was managed by his father when Cal Sr. filled in between Joe Altobelli and Weaver for one game on June 14. Ripken finished the year batting .282 with 26 home runs and 110 RBIs while also leading the league with 123 double plays and 286 putouts.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: During June 1986, Ripken recorded a 17-game hitting streak. It was a tough season for the Orioles, as they finished last for the first time in their tenure in Baltimore. In a speech to the team before the All-Star break, Weaver criticized the healthy players on the team for not hitting, except Ripken. "Do you know the kid hasn't missed an infield practice all year? Now, he's going to the All-Star Game," Weaver said. He batted .282 with 81 RBIs, a drop partly because the Orioles scored 110 fewer runs than the year before. He was the first Oriole other than Eddie Murray since 1979 to lead the team in home runs, with 25.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Cal Ripken Sr. replaced the retired Weaver as manager of the Orioles at the beginning of the 1987 season. That year, Ripken Sr. became the first manager to write two of his sons into the lineup card when both Ripken Jr. and his brother and fellow Oriole, Billy Ripken, played in the same game on July 11. Later in the season, Ripken Sr. decided to take Ripken Jr. out of the game on September 14, in a blow-out loss to the Toronto Blue Jays at Exhibition Stadium. Ron Washington replaced him in the eighth inning, ending Ripken's streak of 8,243 consecutive innings played. Ripken Sr. called the streak a "burden" after the game, saying, "I had to do it sometime." Consecutive innings streaks have not always been recorded, but Ripken's remains unchallenged by historians. Ripken finished the year batting a career-low .252, but he still hit 27 home runs, had 98 RBIs, and walked a career-high 81 times. He also recorded a .982 fielding percentage.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: The Orioles considered having Ripken replace Ray Knight at third base in 1988, but they decided to keep him at shortstop. After the Orioles started the season 0–6, Ripken Sr. was fired and replaced by Frank Robinson. The Orioles started the year 0–21, with Ripken slumping as well to open the season. He finished the year batting just .264, although he led major league shortstops with 23 home runs and 81 RBIs. He also had a particularly memorable play in the All-Star Game, making a tremendous catch and strong throw to retire Will Clark in the second inning. Ken Rosenthal of "The Baltimore Sun" called it "the gem of the evening."


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: During the 1988 season, Ripken had signed a three-year contract with an option for a fourth year, preventing him from being a free agent at season's end. On August 2, 1989, he and Billy combined for seven hits against the Boston Red Sox, with Cal Jr. providing a game-winning hit late in the game. That was an AL record for hits by brothers; the major league record was held by Lloyd and Paul Waner, who had eight on June 25, 1932. Fifteen days later, he passed Steve Garvey by playing in his 1,208th straight game, moving to third on baseball's all-time list behind Lou Gehrig and Everett Scott. Despite this accomplishment, Ray Robinson of "The New York Times" wrote, "Few regarded Ripken... or anyone else, as the successor to the Iron Horse." The Orioles, after posting three straight losing seasons, contended for the playoffs most of the year before missing out in the final week of the season. Ripken slumped in September, as he had only seven hits in his final 55 at bats. He batted .257 in 1989 but was especially impressive for his fielding; he once went 47 games in a row without an error and finished the year with a .990 fielding percentage.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken slumped offensively in 1990, batting .209 through his first 59 games. However, throughout the year, he impressed players and fans with his fielding. On June 12, he broke Mark Belanger's Baltimore record for most consecutive errorless chances by a shortstop. He went 67 straight games before experiencing what was originally scored an error on June 26. However, official scorer Bill Steka decided the error was really Mike Devereaux's fault and changed the call the next day. Ripken continued the streak to 95 games, breaking the Major League record for shortstops and setting the AL record for infielders other than third basemen. On June 12, he also passed Scott to move into second place all-time for consecutive games played. The milestone came at Memorial Stadium; however, the fans booed him because of his offensive slump. Ripken finished the year batting .250, leading the Orioles with 21 home runs, 84 RBIs, 150 hits, and 78 runs scored. He and Billy tied for the team lead with 28 doubles. Ripken committed only three errors in 1990, shattering the previous record of six in a season. Despite his fielding accomplishments, Ozzie Guillén, who had committed 17 errors, won the Gold Glove Award. Some felt that Ripken should have won the award: Tim Kurkjian called the vote a "crime", and Bobby Valentine stated that he was, "embarrassed by the actions of my peers."


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken had a career year in 1991. Through the All-Star break, his batting average was .348, making him the first shortstop to be leading the league in average through that point since Lou Boudreau in 1947. He finished the season by hitting .323 with a career-high 34 home runs and 114 RBIs. In addition, Ripken hit 46 doubles, stole a career-high six bases, and hit five triples while posting his career lowest strikeout rate and fewest strikeouts in a season with 600 or more plate appearances. He became the first Major League shortstop ever to tally 30 home runs and 200 or more hits or 30 home runs and 40 or more doubles.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken won his second AL MVP award, his first Gold Glove Award, the All-Star Game MVP Award (going two for three including a three-run home run off Dennis Martínez), the Gatorade Home Run Derby contest (hitting a then-record 12 home runs in 22 swings, including seven consecutive homers to start the contest), Louisville Slugger "Silver Slugger Award", Associated Press (AP) Player of the Year Award, and "The Sporting News" Player of the Year Award. The only other player in MLB history to win all those awards in the same season, excluding the Home Run Derby, was Maury Wills in 1962. His home run off of former Orioles and then Montreal Expos pitcher Dennis Martínez was the defining moment of American League's 4–2 victory in the 1991 Major League Baseball All-Star Game. As a result, Ripken was the first player to win both the Home Run Derby and All-Star Game MVP Award in the same year. As for his regular-season MVP award, he was the first to win the award in the American League while playing with a sub-.500 club; the Orioles finished in sixth place that year with a 67–95 record. Ripken was only the second player to be named league MVP on a team with a losing record; Andre Dawson was the first in 1987, winning the NL MVP with the last-place Chicago Cubs.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: At the end of the 1991 season, Memorial Stadium, the Orioles' home since 1954, saw its last MLB game against the Tigers. Ripken was the last Oriole to bat at the stadium, hitting into a double play against Detroit's Frank Tanana on October 6, 1991.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: During the 1992 season, Ripken and the Orioles tried to work out a new contract. Several times throughout the season, Ripken endured batting slumps. He said after the season, "I don't like to make excuses for the fact that I wasn't hitting, but I was distracted ... I just felt like the Orioles were playing mind games with me. Whether that was right or wrong, it was bothering me." On August 22, Ripken finally signed a five-year, $30.5 million contract, the largest in baseball history at the time. Ripken's slumps continued, and he was even booed by Orioles' fans late in the season. He finished the year batting .251 with career-lows in home runs (14) and RBIs (72). The Orioles contended for the playoffs much of the year, and were not eliminated until September 27. However, he did win his second Gold Glove Award.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: For the first time in Ripken's career, he became the only Ripken in the Orioles' organization, as the Orioles ousted his father as coach and traded Billy to Texas. His slump continued at the start of the 1993 season, but Ripken managed to get out of it in May by adopting a taller batting stance. Because of his early-season struggles, some criticized him for playing every day. Bobby Bonds said of Ripken's playing every day, "That's idiotic. If I were his manager, he'd be out of there." Oriole coach Davey Lopes responded that only Ripken could tell whether or not he needed a day off. On June 6, Ripken injured his knee during a brawl against the Seattle Mariners and was convinced for most of the next day that he would be unable to play. However, the knee felt better at gametime, enabling the streak to continue. Ripken achieved a personal milestone on July 10, when he collected his 2,000th career hit, during a game at Oriole Park at Camden Yards against Wilson Álvarez of the White Sox. Because of Ripken's struggles, most managers and some sportswriters felt he should be left out of the All-Star Game in Baltimore that year; however, the fans gave him more than two million votes to ensure his spot. Following the All-Star break, Ripken's hitting improved greatly, as he batted .300 with 14 home runs and 46 RBIs for the rest of the season. He finished the year batting .257 with 24 home runs and 90 RBIs.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Before the 1994 season, the Elias Sports Bureau informed the Orioles that Ripken had surpassed Ernie Banks for most career home runs as a shortstop with his 278th on July 15 against Scott Erickson. Banks met Ripken at a ceremony on February 9 and said, "I'm extremely happy that he broke this record because it give me a chance to come back and be remembered too." Ripken started the season strong, batting .340 with 19 RBIs through April. On May 24, Ripken had six RBIs, including his 300th home run against Teddy Higuera, as the Orioles rallied from a 5–0 deficit to defeat the Brewers 13–5. On August 1, he played in his 2,000th consecutive game, a 1–0 victory over the Twins at the Metrodome. Through 112 games, Ripken batted .315 with 13 home runs and 75 RBIs before the 1994–95 Major League Baseball strike canceled the rest of the season.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Many baseball fans within and outside of the United States tuned into ESPN to watch Ripken surpass Lou Gehrig's 56-year-old record for consecutive games played (2,130 games). The game, between the Orioles and the California Angels, still ranks as one of the network's most-watched baseball games (baseball's most-watched game was Game 7 of the 1986 World Series). Cal's children, Rachel and Ryan, threw out the ceremonial first balls. Both President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore were at the game; Clinton was with the commentators on ESPN for the Orioles' half of the fourth inning. The Orioles erected special box seats for the game to raise money for the Johns Hopkins University to study Lou Gehrig's disease. When the game became official after the bottom of the fifth inning, the numerical banners that displayed Ripken's streak on the wall of the B&O Warehouse outside the stadium's right-field wall changed from 2130 to 2131.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken received a standing ovation from the crowd, the opposing players, and the umpires that lasted more than 22 minutes, one of the longest standing ovations for any athlete; ESPN did not go to a commercial break during the entire ovation. During the ovation, Ripken did a lap around the entire Camden Yards warning track to shake hands and give high-fives to the fans.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: After the game concluded, there was an elaborate ceremony which included a number of speeches from dignitaries including Joe DiMaggio, a teammate of Gehrig. During his speech, Ripken said, "Tonight I stand here, overwhelmed, as my name is linked with the great and courageous Lou Gehrig. I'm truly humbled to have our names spoken in the same breath. This year has been unbelievable. I've been cheered in ballparks all over the country. People not only showed me their kindness, but more importantly, they demonstrated their love of the game of baseball. I give my thanks to baseball fans everywhere. Tonight, I want to make sure you know how I feel. As I grew up here, I not only had dreams of being a big league ballplayer, but also of being a Baltimore Oriole. For all of your support over the years, I want to thank you, the fans of Baltimore, from the bottom of my heart. This is the greatest place to play."


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Reflecting on that evening after his election to the Hall of Fame, Ripken said, "Bobby Bonilla and Rafael Palmeiro pushed me out of the dugout and said, 'Hey, if you don't do a lap around this thing, we'll never get the game started.' I thought it was a ridiculous sort of thing ... but as I started to do it, the celebration of 50,000 started to be very one-on-one and very personal. I started seeing people I knew ... Those were the people that had been around the ballpark all those years, and it was really a wonderful human experience."


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken began the 1996 season slowly, but his playing improved as the season went on. On June 14 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City against the Royals, Ripken broke the world record of consecutive games played by playing in his 2,216th. The record had been held by Sachio Kinugasa of Japan. Kinugasa was at the game to watch Ripken break his record. On July 15, Ripken was moved to third base as an experiment, with Manny Alexander taking the shortstop position. He was told the change would be permanent but was moved back to shortstop after Alexander had one hit in his six games at shortstop. Ripken appeared in 163 games during the regular season in 1996, batting .278 with 26 home runs, 102 RBIs, and a .980 fielding percentage at shortstop. He returned to the playoffs for the first time in 13 years as the Orioles won the AL Wild Card. In the AL Division Series, Baltimore defeated Cleveland in four games, with Ripken batting .444 in the series. His average fell to .250 in the ALCS as the Orioles were defeated in five games by the Yankees.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: In 1997, the Orioles signed free-agent shortstop Mike Bordick from the Oakland Athletics and moved Ripken back to third base permanently. General manager Pat Gillick said that the move was made not because of problems by Ripken but because more defensive options were available at shortstop than at third base. Had Ripken not wanted to move back to third base, the Orioles likely would have signed Tim Naehring instead.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken was scheduled to become a free agent following the 1997 season, but at the start of the year he agreed to a two-year extension with the Orioles. During the season, he suffered from nerve damage that at times kept him from being able to sit on the bench. However, he did not miss a game and batted .270 with 17 home runs and 84 RBIs as the Orioles again made the playoffs—this time by winning the AL East. Ripken batted .438 as the Orioles defeated the Mariners in four games in the ALDS. He batted .348 and hit a home run in the ALCS, but the Orioles fell to Cleveland in six games.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken batted .271 with 14 home runs and 61 RBIs in 1998. On September 20, before the final home game of the season against the Yankees, Ripken decided to end his streak at 2,632 games, having surpassed Gehrig's previous record by 502 games. Rookie third baseman Ryan Minor started in his place, at first thinking it was a rookie prank. Realizing that the streak was coming to an end, the fans, his teammates, and the visiting Yankees (with David Wells being the first to notice that Ripken was not playing during batting practice) gave Ripken an ovation after the game's first out was recorded. Ripken later stated that he decided to end the streak at the end of the season to avoid any offseason controversy about his playing status and to end the streak entirely on his own terms while he still could. Ripken returned to the lineup for the final seven games of the season, on the road against the Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: In 1999, Ripken had the highest batting average of his career, at .340. Although he was injured at both the beginning and the end of the 1999 season and also mourned the loss of his father and former coach Cal Ripken Sr. only a few days before 1999's opening game, he hit 18 homers in 332 at-bats (one HR every 18.4 AB's). He had the best individual game of his career, going 6-for-6 with two home runs off John Smoltz and tying a club record with 13 total bases against the Atlanta Braves on June 13. On September 3, he hit the 400th home run of his career against Rolando Arrojo of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: Ripken's 1999 season ended early due to injury when he was only nine hits away from joining the 3,000 hit club. He achieved the milestone early in the 2000 season in the April 15th game against the Twins at the Metrodome when he singled off reliever Héctor Carrasco; Eddie Murray, another member of the club and the Orioles' first-base coach, was the first to congratulate him. Ripken had a good night at the plate, recording three hits, the third of which was the milestone. Ripken missed all of July and August with a back injury. He was selected to the All-Star Game but sat out because of the injury, marking the first All-Star Game that he missed since his rookie season. In 83 games, Ripken batted .256 (his lowest total since 1992) with 15 home runs and 56 RBIs.


title: Cal Ripken Jr.

text: In June 2001, Ripken announced he would retire at the end of the season. He was voted the starting third baseman in the All-Star Game at Seattle's Safeco Field on July 10, 2001. In a tribute to Ripken's achievements and stature in the game, shortstop Alex Rodriguez (unknowingly foreshadowing his own future) insisted on exchanging positions with third baseman Ripken for the first inning, so that Ripken could play shortstop as he had for most of his career. That move allowed Ripken to claim the record of most MLB All-Star Game appearances at shortstop. In the third inning, Ripken made his first plate appearance and was greeted with a standing ovation. Ripken then homered off the first pitch from Chan Ho Park. Ripken ended up with All-Star MVP honors, becoming one of four players in MLB history with multiple All-Star Game MVP Awards (1991 and 2001) and the only player to be named All-Star Game MVP in two different decades.