title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: Late that night, on the night of 16 July, the family was awakened and told to come down to the lower level of the house because there was unrest in the town at large and they would have to be moved for their own safety. The family emerged from their rooms carrying pillows, bags, and other items to make Alexandra and Alexei comfortable. The family paused and crossed themselves when they saw the stuffed mother bear and cubs that stood on the landing, perhaps as a sign of respect for the dead. Nicholas told the servants and family "Well, we're going to get out of this place." They asked questions of the guards but did not appear to suspect they were going to be killed. Yurovsky, who had been a professional photographer, directed the family to take different positions as a photographer might. Alexandra, who had complained about the lack of chairs for herself and Alexei, sat to her son's left. The Tsar stood behind Alexei, Dr. Botkin stood to the Tsar's right, Olga and her sisters stood behind Alexandra along with the servants. They were left for approximately half an hour while further preparations were made. The group said little during this time, but Alexandra whispered to the girls in English, violating the guard's rules that they must speak in Russian. Yurovsky came in, ordered them to stand, and read the sentence of execution. Olga and her mother attempted to make the sign of the cross and the rest of the family had time only to utter a few incoherent sounds of shock or protest before the death squad under Yurovsky's command began shooting. It was the early hours of 17 July 1918.


title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: The initial round of gunfire killed only the Tsar, the Empress and two male servants, and wounded Grand Duchess Maria, Dr Botkin and the Empress' maidservant, Demidova. At that point the gunmen had to leave the room because of smoke and toxic fumes from their guns and plaster dust their bullets had released from the walls. After allowing the haze to clear for several minutes, the gunmen returned. Dr Botkin was killed, and a gunman named Ermakov repeatedly tried to shoot Tsarevich Alexei, but failed because jewels sewn into the boy's clothes shielded him. Ermakov tried to stab Alexei with a bayonet but failed again, and finally Yurovsky fired two shots into the boy's head. Yurovsky and Ermakov approached Olga and Tatiana, who were crouched against the room's rear wall, clinging to each other and screaming for their mother. Ermakov stabbed both young women with his 8-inch bayonet, but had difficulty penetrating their torsos because of the jewels that had been sewn into their chemises. The sisters tried to stand, but Tatiana was killed instantly when Yurovsky shot her in the back of her head. A moment later, Olga too died when Ermakov shot her in the jaw.


title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: For decades (until all the bodies were found and identified, see below) conspiracy theorists suggested that one or more of the family somehow survived the slaughter. Several people claimed to be surviving members of the Romanov family following the assassinations. A woman named Marga Boodts claimed to be Grand Duchess Olga. Boodts lived in a villa on Lake Como in Italy and it was claimed that she was supported by the former kaiser, Wilhelm II and by Pope Pius XII. Prince Sigismund of Prussia, son of Alexandra's sister, Irene, said he accepted her as Olga, and Sigismund also supported Anastasia claimant Anna Anderson. His mother, Irene, did not believe either woman. Michael Goleniewski, an Alexei pretender, even claimed that the entire family had escaped. Most historians discounted the claims and consistently believed that Olga died with her family.


title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: Remains later identified through DNA testing as the Romanovs and their servants were discovered in the woods outside Yekaterinburg in 1991. Two bodies, Alexei and one of his sisters, generally thought to be either Maria or Anastasia, were missing. On 23 August 2007, a Russian archaeologist announced the discovery of two burned, partial skeletons at a bonfire site near Yekaterinburg that appeared to match the site described in Yurovsky's memoirs. The archaeologists said the bones are from a boy who was roughly between the ages of twelve and fifteen years at the time of his death and of a young woman who was roughly between the ages of fifteen and nineteen years old. Anastasia was seventeen years, one month old at the time of the assassination, while her sister Maria was nineteen years, one month old and her brother Alexei was two weeks shy of his fourteenth birthday. Olga and Tatiana were twenty-two and twenty-one years old at the time of the assassination. Along with the remains of the two bodies, archaeologists found "shards of a container of sulfuric acid, nails, metal strips from a wooden box, and bullets of various caliber." The bones were found using metal detectors and metal rods as probes.


title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: Preliminary testing indicated a "high degree of probability" that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and to one of his sisters, Russian forensic scientists announced on 22 January 2008. The Yekaterinburg region's chief forensic expert Nikolai Nevolin indicated the results would be compared against those obtained by foreign experts. On 30 April 2008, Russian forensic scientists announced that DNA testing confirms that the remains belong to the Tsarevich Alexei and to one of his sisters. In March 2009, Dr. Michael Coble of the US Armed Forces DNA Identification Lab published the final, peer reviewed results of the tests on the 2007 remains, comparing them with the 1991 remains, concluding the entire family died together in 1918. Russian and Austrian scientists got the same results. This finding confirms that all of the Tsar's family were accounted for.


title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: In 2000, Olga and her family were canonized as passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church. The family had previously been canonized in 1981 by the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad as holy martyrs.


title: Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna of Russia

text: The bodies of Tsar Nicholas II, Tsarina Alexandra, and three of their daughters were finally interred at St. Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg on 17 July 1998, eighty years after they were murdered.


title: Sports car

text: A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by many manufacturers around the world.


title: Sports car

text: Definitions of sports cars often relate to how the car design is optimised for dynamic performance, without any specific minimum requirements; both a Triumph Spitfire and Ferrari 488 Pista can be considered sports cars, despite vastly different levels of performance. Broader definitions of sports cars include cars "in which performance takes precedence over carrying capacity", or that emphasise the "thrill of driving" or are marketed "using the excitement of speed and the glamour of the (race)track" However, other people have more specific definitions, such as "must be a two-seater or a 2+2 seater" or a car with two seats only.


title: Sports car

text: In the United Kingdom, early recorded usage of the "sports car" was in "The Times" newspaper in 1919. The first known use of the term in the United States was in 1928. Sports cars started to become popular during the 1920s. The term was originally used for two-seat roadsters (cars without a fixed roof), however, since the 1970s the term has also been used for cars with a fixed roof (which were previously considered grand tourers).


title: Sports car

text: Attributing the definition of 'sports car' to any particular model can be controversial or the subject of debate among enthusiasts. Authors and experts have often contributed their own ideas to capture a definition. Insurance companies have also attempted to use mathematical formulae to categorise sports cars, often charging more for insurance due to the inherent risk of performance driving.


title: Sports car

text: There is no fixed distinction between sports cars and other categories of performance cars, such as muscle cars and grand tourers, with some cars being members of several categories.


title: Sports car

text: Traditionally, the most common layout for sports cars was a roadster (a two-seat car without a fixed roof), however there are also several examples of early sports cars with four seats.


title: Sports car

text: Sports cars are not usually intended to regularly transport more than two adult occupants, so most modern sports cars are usually two-seat layout or 2+2 layout (two smaller rear seats for children or occasional adult use). Larger cars with more spacious rear-seat accommodation are usually considered sports sedans rather than sports cars.


title: Sports car

text: The 1993-1998 McLaren F1 is notable for using a three-seat layout, where the front row consists of a centrally-located driver's seat.


title: Sports car

text: The location of the engine and driven wheels significantly influence the handling characteristics of a car and are therefore important in the design of a sports car. Traditionally, most sports cars have used rear-wheel drive with the engine either located at the front of the car (FR layout) or in the middle of the car (MR layout). Examples of FR layout sports cars are the Caterham 7, Mazda MX-5, and the Dodge Viper. Examples of MR layout sports cars are the Ferrari 488, Ford GT and Toyota MR2. To avoid a front-heavy weight distribution, many FR layout sports cars are designed so that the engine is located further back in the engine bay, as close to the firewall as possible.


title: Sports car

text: Since the 1990s, all-wheel drive has become more common in sports cars. All-wheel drive offers better acceleration and favorable handling characteristics (especially in slippery conditions), but is often heavier and more mechanically complex than traditional layouts. Examples of all-wheel drive sports cars are the Lamborghini Huracan, Bugatti Veyron, and Nissan GT-R.


title: Sports car

text: Rear engine layouts are not commonly used for sports cars, with the notable exception of the Porsche 911.


title: Sports car

text: Although front-wheel drive with the engine at the front (FF layout) is the most common layout for cars in general, it is not as common amongst traditional sports cars. Nonetheless, the FF layout is often used by sport compacts and hot hatches such as the Mazdaspeed3. Examples of FF layout sports cars are the Fiat Barchetta, Saab Sonett, or Opel Tigra.


title: Sports car

text: The basis for the sports car is traced to the early 20th century touring cars and roadsters, and the term 'sports car' would not be coined until after World War One.


title: Sports car

text: A car considered to be "a sports-car years ahead of its time" is the 1903 Mercedes Simplex 60 hp, described at the time as a fast touring car and designed by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler. The Mercedes included pioneering features such as a pressed-steel chassis, a gated 4-speed transmission, pushrod-actuated overhead inlet valves, a honeycomb radiator, low-tension magneto ignition, a long wheelbase, a low centre of mass and a very effective suspension system. The overall result was a "safe and well-balanced machine" with a higher performance than any other contemporary production car. At the 1903 Gordon Bennett Cup, a production Simplex 60 hp was entered only due to a specially-built 90 hp racing car being destroyed in a fire; the 60 hp famously went on to win the race.


title: Sports car

text: The 1910 Austro-Daimler 27/80 is another early sports car which had success in motor racing. The 27/80 was designed by Ferdinand Porsche, who drove the car to victory in the 1910 Prince Henry Tour motor race. The Vauxhall and Austro-Daimler— like the Mercedes Simplex 60 hp— were production fast touring cars. The 1912 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII is also considered one of the earliest sports cars, as it was a "purpose built, high performance, two-seater production automobile". The model was named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain, a patron of the car's chief designer and an enthusiast for the marque. Other early sports cars include the 1905 Isotta Fraschini Tipo D, the 1906 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, the 1908 Delage, the 1910 Bugatti Type 13 and the 1912 DFP 12/15.


title: Sports car

text: Early motor racing events included the 1903 Paris–Madrid race, the 1905-1907 Herkomer Trophy, the 1908-1911 Prince Henry Tour and the 1911–present Monte Carlo Rally. The Prince Henry Tours (which were similar to modern car rallies) were among the sporting events of the period, bringing renown to successful entrants. The Prince Henry Tours started the evolution of reasonably large and technically advanced production sports cars.


title: Sports car

text: In England, development of sporting cars was inhibited by the Motor Car Act 1903, which imposed a speed limit of on all public roads. This led to the 1907 opening of the Brooklands motor circuit, which inspired the development of performance cars such as the 1910 Vauxhall Prince Henry, 1910 Sunbeam 12/16, 1910 Talbot 25 hp, 1910 Straker-Squire 15 hp and 1913 Star 15.9 hp.


title: Sports car

text: Following the halt in sports car production caused by World War I, Europe returned to manufacturing automobiles from around 1920. It was around this time that the term 'Sports Car' began to appear in the motor catalogues, although the exact origin of the name is not known. After this, there had been much sufficient vehicles on our roads. We find that this might be the start to another era of the manufacturing of great cars who will thrive for centuries. E.g. Vintage cars at the time. The decade which followed became known as the vintage era and featured rapid technical advances over the preceding Brass Era cars. Engine performance benefited from the abandonment of "tax horsepower" (where vehicles were taxed based on bore and number of cylinders, rather than actual power output) and the introduction of leaded fuel, which increased power by allowing for higher compression ratios.


title: Sports car

text: In the early 1920s, the cost to produce a racing car was not significantly higher than a road car, therefore several manufacturers used the design from the current year's racing car for the next year's sports car. For example, the 1921 Ballot 2LS based on the racing car that finished third at the 1921 French Grand Prix. The Benz 28/95PS was also a successful racing car, with victories including the 1921 Coppa Florio.


title: Sports car

text: The first 24 Hours of Le Mans race for sports cars was held in 1923, although the two-seat sports cars only competed in the smallest class, with the majority of cars entered being four-seat fast touring cars. "This race, together with the Tourist Trophy Series of Races, organised after the first World War by the R.A.C., appealed to the public imagination and offered to the manufacturers of the more sporting cars an excellent opportunity for boosting sales of their products." The classic Italian road races— the Targa Florio, and the Mille Miglia (first held in 1927)— also captured the public's imagination.


title: Sports car

text: By 1925, the higher profits available for four-seater cars resulted in production of two-seat sports cars being limited to smaller manufacturers such as Aston-Martin (350 Astons built from 1921 to 1939) and Frazer-Nash (323 cars built from 1924 to 1939). Then by the late 1920s, the cost of producing racing cars (especially Grand Prix cars) escalated, causing more manufacturers to produce cars for the growing sports car market instead.


title: Sports car

text: Significant manufacturers of sports cars in the late 1920s were AC Cars, Alfa Romeo, Alvis, Amilcar, Bignan and Samson, Chenard-Walcker, Delage, Hispano-Suiza, Hotchkiss, Mercedes-Benz and Nazzaro. Two cars from the Vintage Era that would influence sports cars for many years were the Austin Seven and MG M-type "Midget". Successful sports cars from Bentley during this era were the Bentley 3 Litre (1921-1929) and the Bentley Speed Six (1928-1930), with the former famously described by Bugatti's founder as "the fastest lorry in the world".


title: Sports car

text: Sandwiched between the Great Depression and the World War II, the pre-war era was a period of decline in importance for sports car manufacturers, although the period was not devoid of advances, for example streamlining. Cheap, light-weight family sedans with independent front suspension— such as the BMW 303, Citroën Traction Avant and Fiat 508— offered similar handling and comfort to the more expensive sports cars. Powerful, reliable and economical (although softly suspended) American saloons began to be imported to Europe in significant numbers. Sports car ownership was increased through models such as the Austin 7 and Wolseley Hornet six, however many of these sports cars did not offer any performance upgrades over the mass-produced cars upon which they were based.


title: Sports car

text: The highest selling sports car company of the 1930s was Morris Garages, who produced 'MG Midget' models of the M-Type, J-Type, P-Type and T-Type. The K3 version of the K-Type Magnette was a successful racing car, achieving success in the Mille Miglia, Tourist Trophy and 24 Hours of Le Mans.


title: Sports car

text: The Bugatti Type 57 (1934-1940) was another significant sports car of the pre-war era and is now among the most valuable cars in the world. The T57 was successful in sports car races, including winning the 1937 24 Hours of Le Mans and 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans. Another successful Bugatti sports car was the Bugatti Type 55 (1932-1935), which was based on the Type 51 Grand Prix racing car.


title: Sports car

text: The decade following the Second World War saw an "immense growth of interest in the sports car, but also the most important and diverse technical developments [and] very rapid and genuine improvement in the qualities of every modern production car; assisted by new design and manufacturing techniques a consistently higher level of handling properties has been achieved."


title: Sports car

text: In Italy, a small but wealthy market segment allowed for the manufacture of a limited number of high-performance models directly allied to contemporary Grand Prix machines, such as the 1948 Ferrari 166 S. A new concept altogether was the modern "Gran Turismo" class from Italy, which was in effect unknown before the war: sustained high speed motoring from relatively modest engine size and compact closed or "berlinetta" coachwork. The 1947 Maserati A6 1500 two-seat berlinetta was the first production model from Maserati.


title: Sports car

text: In Germany the motor industry was devastated by the war, but a small number of manufacturers returned it to prominence. In 1948, the Porsche 356 was released as the debut model from Porsche. The significance of the Porsche 356 and its successors was described in 1957 as "future historians must see them as among the most important of mid-century production cars". The 1954 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL is another significant car from this era.


title: Sports car

text: The 1961 Jaguar E-Type is an iconic sports car of the early 1960s, due to its attractive styling and claimed top speed of . The E-type was produced for 14 years and was initially powered by a six-cylinder engine, followed by a V12 engine for the final generation.


title: Sports car

text: In 1962, the MG B introduced a new era of affordable lightweight four-cylinder roadsters. The MG B used a unibody construction and was produced until 1980. Other successful lightweight roadsters include the Triumph Spitfire (1962-1980) and the Alfa Romeo Spider (1966-1993). The Fiat X1/9 (1972-1989) was unusual for its use of a mid-engine design in an affordable roadster model. A late entrant to the affordable roadster market was the 1975 Triumph TR7, however by the late 1970s the demand for this style of car was in decline, resulting in production ceasing in 1982.


title: Sports car

text: The original Lotus Elan (1962-1975) two-seat coupe and roadster models are an early commercial success for the philosophy of achieving performance through minimising weight, as has been rated as one of the top 10 sports cars of the 1960s. The Elan featured fibreglass bodies, a backbone chassis, and overhead camshaft engines.


title: Sports car

text: A very different style of roadster was the AC Cobra, released in 1962, which was fitted with V8 engines up to in size.


title: Sports car

text: The Porsche 911 was released in 1964 and has remained in production since. The 911 is notable for its use of the uncommon rear-engine design and the use of a flat-six engine. Another successful rear-engine sports car was the original Alpine A110 (1961-1977), which was a successful rally car during the Group 4 era.


title: Sports car

text: In 1965, the BMW New Class Coupes were released, leading to the BMW 6 Series which remains in production to this day.


title: Sports car

text: The Lamborghini Miura (1966) and Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale (1967) mid-engined high performance cars are often cited as the first supercars. Other significant European models of the 1960s and 1970s which might be considered supercars today are the Ferrari 250 GTO (1962-1964), Ferrari 250 GT Lusso (1963-1964), Ferrari 275 GTB/4 (1966-1968), Maserati Ghibli (1967-1973), Ferrari Daytona (1968-1973), Dino 246 (1969-1974), De Tomaso Pantera (1971-1993), Ferrari 308 GTB (1975-1980) and BMW M1 (1978-1981).


title: Sports car

text: The Ford Capri is a 2+2 coupe that was produced from 1968 to 1986 and intended to be a smaller European equivalent of the Ford Mustang. A main rival to the Capri was Opel Manta, which was produced from 1970 to 1988.


title: Sports car

text: The 1973-1978 Lancia Stratos was a mid-engined two-seat coupe that was powered by a Ferrari V6 engine. This was an unusual arrangement for a car used to compete in rallying, nonetheless it was very successful and won the World Rally Championship in 1974, 1975 and 1976.


title: Sports car

text: The Lancia Montecarlo was produced from 1975 to 1981 and is a mid-engine two-seater, available as a coupé or a targa-top. Sold as Lancia Scorpion in the USA. Its racing variant, Montecarlo Turbo, won the 1979 World Championship for Makes in its division and overall for 1980 World Championship for Makes and 1981 World Endurance Championship for Makes. Montecarlo also won the 1980 Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft and Giro d'Italia automobilistico marathon. The Montecarlo was a basis for the silhouette racing car, Lancia Rally 037.


title: Sports car

text: Turbocharging became increasingly popular in the 1980s, from relatively affordable coupes such as the 1980-1986 Renault Fuego and 1992-1996 Rover 220 Coupé Turbo, to expensive supercars such as the 1984-1987 Ferrari 288 GTO and 1987-1992 Ferrari F40.


title: Sports car

text: In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several manufacturers developed supercars which competed for production car top speed records. These cars included the 1986-1993 Porsche 959, 1991-1995 Bugatti EB 110, 1992-1994 Jaguar XJ220 and 1993-1998 McLaren F1.


title: Sports car

text: The 1980-1995 Audi Quattro was a pioneering all-wheel drive sports car. The 1995 Porsche 911 Turbo (993) saw the 911 Turbo model switch to all-wheel drive, a drivetrain layout that the model uses to this day.


title: Sports car

text: The BMW M3 was released in 1986 and has been produced for every generation since. The 1993-1996 Mercedes-Benz W124 E36 AMG was the mass-produced AMG model. Audi's equivalent division, called "RS", was launched in 1994 with the Audi RS 2 Avant.


title: Sports car

text: Ford Europe withdrew from the sports car market at the end of 1986 when the Capri was discontinued after a production run of nearly two decades. There was no direct successor, as Ford was concentrating on higher performance versions of its hatchback and saloon models at the time.


title: Sports car

text: In 1989, a new generation of Lotus Elan roadster was released which used a front-wheel drive layout, a controversial choice for a "purist" sports car. The Elan sold poorly and was discontinued after three years. The 1996 Lotus Elise, a mid-engined, rear-wheel drive roadster, was much more successful and remained in production until 2021.


title: Sports car

text: Roadsters enjoyed a resurgence in the mid-1990s, including the 1989-present Mazda MX-5, the 1995-2002 BMW Z3 (succeeded by the 2002-2016 BMW Z4), the 1995-2002 MG F, the 1996–present Porsche Boxster and the 1998–present Audi TT.


title: Sports car

text: The Honda S2000 roadster was introduced in 1999 for the 2000 model year, and was noted for its high-revving 4 cylinder engine and its exceptionally high specific output of 125 horsepower per litre.


title: Sports car

text: The 2000–2021 Lotus Exige was introduced as a coupe version of Elise. Similarly, Porsche Cayman (987) was introduced in 2006 as the coupe equivalent to the Porsche Boxster roadster. Lotus also expanded their model range with the 2009–2021 Lotus Evora, a larger four-seat coupe.


title: Sports car

text: Audi's first mid-engined supercar is the 2006–present Audi R8. Other sports cars of the 2000s were the 2005-2010 Alfa Romeo Brera/Spider, 2009-2015 Peugeot RCZ and the 2008-2017 reintroduction of the Volkswagen Scirocco (a coupe based on the VW Golf platform).


title: Sports car

text: Reflecting overall car industry trends, the mid-2010s saw naturally aspirated engines being replaced by turbocharged engines. Ferrari's first regular production turbocharged engine was used in the 2014-2017 Ferrari California T, followed by the 2015-2019 Ferrari 488. Similarly, in 2016, the Porsche 911 (991.2) began to use turbocharging on all models and the Porsche 982 Cayman/Boxster downsized from a six-cylinder engine to a turbocharged four-cylinder engine.


title: Sports car

text: Also in the 2010s, dual-clutch transmissions became more widespread, causing manual transmissions to decline in sales and no longer be offered on some models.


title: Sports car

text: Hybrid-electric sports cars began to appear in the 2010s— notably the 2013-2016 LaFerrari, 2013-2015 McLaren P1, 2013-2015 Porsche 918 Spyder "hypercars". The 2014–present BMW i8 was also an early plug-in hybrid sports car.


title: Sports car

text: In 2013, the Jaguar F-Type saw the brand return to two-seat sports car market, with the four-seat grand tourer Jaguar XK discontinued the following year.


title: Sports car

text: The BMW 2 Series coupe and convertible were introduced in 2013 to sit below the larger BMW 4 Series models, with the new BMW M2 high-performance model introduced in 2015.


title: Sports car

text: The 2013–present Alfa Romeo 4C two-seat coupe and roadster used a carbon-fibre body and became Alfa's first mid-engine sports car since the 1967-1969 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale.


title: Sports car

text: Fiat had exited the roadster market with the end of Fiat Barchetta production in 2005. The company resumed production of roadsters in 2016 with the Fiat 124 Spider, which is based on the Mazda MX-5.


title: Sports car

text: During the 1910s and 1920s, American manufacturers of smaller sports cars included Apperson, Kissel, Marion, Midland, National, Overland, Stoddard-Dayton and Thomas; manufacturers of larger sports cars included Chadwick, Mercer, Stutz Motor Company, and Simplex.


title: Sports car

text: Since the 1960s, American performance cars have often been designed as muscle cars rather than sports cars. However, several American two-seat sports cars have also been produced, such as the 1953–present Chevrolet Corvette, 1962-1967 Shelby Cobra, 1983-1988 Pontiac Fiero and 2005-2006 Ford GT.


title: Sports car

text: The first Japanese sports car was the 1959-1960 Datsun 211, a two-seat roadster built on the chassis of a compact pickup truck and powered by a engine. Only 20 cars were built, and the 1963-1965 Datsun SP310— based on the chassis of a passenger sedan instead of a pickup truck— is often considered Datsun's first mass-production sports car.


title: Sports car

text: Honda's first sports car was the 1963-1964 Honda S500, a two-seat roadster with independent suspension for all wheels and a DOHC engine. In 1965, Toyota joined the two-seat roadster market with the Toyota Sports 800.


title: Sports car

text: Mazda is noted for its use of rotary engines, beginning in 1967 with the Mazda Cosmo. The Cosmo was a two-seat coupe with a rotary engine producing up to . Mazda continued to produce sports cars with rotary engines (sometimes turbocharged) until the Mazda RX-8 ended production in 2012.


title: Sports car

text: The Toyota 2000GT, produced from 1967 to 1970, was an expensive two-seat coupe that greatly changed overseas perceptions of the Japanese automotive industry. The 2000GT demonstrated that Japan was capable of producing high-end sports cars to rival the traditional European brands.


title: Sports car

text: In 1969, Nissan introduced the two-seat coupe, powered by a six-cylinder engine and described as providing similar performance to the Jaguar E-Type at a more affordable price. The 240Z began the lineage of Nissan "Z cars" which continues through to today's Nissan 370Z. In 1974, Nissan expanded their coupe range with the Nissan Silvia 2+2 coupe, which was powered by a four-cylinder engine and produced until 2002.


title: Sports car

text: Also in 1969, Mitsubishi's first performance car was introduced, in the form of the Mitsubishi Colt 11-F Super Sports coupe. The 11-F Super Sports was followed by the 1970-1977 Mitsubishi Galant GTO and 1971-1975 Mitsubishi Galant FTO, both based on a platform shared with the Galant sedan.


title: Sports car

text: Toyota's mass-production 2+2 coupes of the 1970s consisted of the Celica, Supra, Corolla Levin and Sprinter Trueno. The Celica was introduced in 1971 and remained in production until 2006. From 1979 to 1986, the Supra name was used for six-cylinder versions of the Celica, until the Supra moved to a separate platform from 1986 to 2002. The Corolla Levin / Sprinter Trueno were based on the Toyota Corolla hatchback platform and produced from 1972 to 2000.


title: Sports car

text: The Nissan Skyline GT-R was initially produced as a sedan for two years, before a coupe model was introduced in 1971. This first generation Skyline GT-R had rear-wheel drive, a six-cylinder engine and was produced until 1972.


title: Sports car

text: The Honda Prelude front-wheel drive 2+2 coupe was launched in 1978 and remained in production until 2001. The 1985-2006 Honda Integra was also a front-wheel drive 2+2 coupe produced by Honda. Other 2+2 models included the 1982-1989 Mitsubishi Starion (turbocharged and rear-wheel drive) and the 1985-1991 Subaru XT (available with a turbocharger and all-wheel drive). Subaru have produced few sports cars in their history, instead focussing on rally-influenced sedans/hatchbacks for their performance models, such as the Liberty RS and Imprezza WRX/STi models.


title: Sports car

text: In 1984, the Toyota MR2 two-seat coupe became Japan's first production mid-engine car. The MR2 switched to a two-seat roadster body style for the final generation from 1999 to 2007.


title: Sports car

text: The first Korean coupe model was the 1988 Hyundai Scoupe, which used front-wheel drive and was based on Excel hatchback. The Scoupe was followed by 1996-2008 Hyundai Tiburon and 2011-present Hyundai Veloster.


title: Sports car

text: The Nissan Skyline GT-R was reintroduced in 1989-2002 (R32, R33 and R34 generations) which became famous for their use of turbocharging and all-wheel drive, which provided performance comparable with many more expensive sports cars. The latest generation (R35) started production in 2007 as the Nissan GT-R.


title: Sports car

text: The 1990-2005 Honda NSX is considered Japan's first supercar. The NSX was praised for being more reliable and user-friendly than contemporary European supercars. Aside from the NSX, the other Japanese supercar is the 2010-2012 Lexus LFA, a two-seat front-engine coupe powered by a V10 engine.


title: Sports car

text: The Honda S2000 is an open top sports car was manufactured from 1999 to 2009. The S2000 is named for its engine displacement of two liters, carrying on in the tradition of the S500, S600, and S800 roadsters of the 1960s. Its engine is notable for its high specific power output.


title: Sports car

text: The Mitsubishi GTO coupe/convertible was introduced in 1990. The base models used front-wheel drive and a naturally aspirated V6 engine, however all-wheel drive and a turbocharged V6 engine were also available. To sit below the GTO in the model range, the Mitsubishi FTO front-wheel drive coupe was introduced in 1994. Both the GTO and FTO were discontinued in 2000.


title: Sports car

text: Suzuki's first sports car was the 1991-1998 Suzuki Cappuccino, a two-seat roadster kei car with rear-wheel drive and a turbocharged engine.


title: Sports car

text: The Toyota 86 / Subaru BRZ is a 2+2 coupe that was introduced in 2012 and currently remains in production with a new model released for the 2022 model year. The 86/BRZ is a rare modern example of a relatively affordable rear-wheel drive sports car.


title: Sports car

text: The 2016–present Honda NSX (2nd generation) supercar marked a change in approach for Honda, by using all-wheel drive, a hybrid drivetrain, turbocharging and a dual-clutch transmission.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Glycated hemoglobin (glycohemoglobin, hemoglobin A1c, HbA1c, less commonly HbA, HgbA1c, Hb1c, etc., also A1C informally with patients) is a form of hemoglobin (Hb) that is chemically linked to a sugar. Most monosaccharides, including glucose, galactose and fructose, spontaneously (i.e. non-enzymatically) bond with hemoglobin, when present in the bloodstream of humans. However, glucose is less likely to do so than galactose and fructose (13% that of fructose and 21% that of galactose), which may explain why glucose is used as the primary metabolic fuel in humans.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The formation of the sugar-hemoglobin linkage indicates the presence of excessive sugar in the bloodstream, often indicative of diabetes. A1C is of particular interest because it is easy to detect. The process by which sugars attach to hemoglobin is called glycation. HbA is a measure of the beta-N-1-deoxy fructosyl component of hemoglobin.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: A1c is measured primarily to determine the three-month average blood sugar level and can be used as a diagnostic test for diabetes mellitus and as an assessment test for glycemic control in people with diabetes. The test is limited to a three-month average because the average lifespan of a red blood cell is four months. Since individual red blood cells have varying lifespans, the test is used as a limited measure of three months. Normal levels of glucose produce a normal amount of glycated hemoglobin. As the average amount of plasma glucose increases, the fraction of glycated hemoglobin increases in a predictable way. In diabetes, higher amounts of glycated hemoglobin, indicating poorer control of blood glucose levels, have been associated with cardiovascular disease, nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Glycated hemoglobin is preferred over glycosylated hemoglobin to reflect the correct (non-enzymatic) process. Early literature often used "glycosylated" as it was unclear which process was involved until further research was performed. The terms are still sometimes used interchangeably in English-language literature.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The naming of HbA derives from hemoglobin type A being separated on cation exchange chromatography. The first fraction to separate, probably considered to be pure hemoglobin A, was designated HbA, and the following fractions were designated HbA, HbA, and HbA, in their order of elution. Improved separation techniques have subsequently led to the isolation of more subfractions.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Hemoglobin A1c was first separated from other forms of hemoglobin by Huisman and Meyering in 1958 using a chromatographic column. It was first characterized as a glycoprotein by Bookchin and Gallop in 1968. Its increase in diabetes was first described in 1969 by Samuel Rahbar "et al." The reactions leading to its formation were characterized by Bunn and his coworkers in 1975.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The use of hemoglobin A1c for monitoring the degree of control of glucose metabolism in diabetic patients was proposed in 1976 by Anthony Cerami, Ronald Koenig and coworkers.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Glycated hemoglobin causes an increase of highly reactive free radicals inside blood cells, altering the properties of their cell membranes. This leads to blood cell aggregation and increased blood viscosity, which results in impaired blood flow.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Another way glycated hemoglobin causes damage is via inflammation, which results in atherosclerotic plaque (atheroma) formation. Free-radical build-up promotes the excitation of Fe-hemoglobin through into abnormal ferryl hemoglobin (Fe-Hb). Fe is unstable and reacts with specific amino acids in hemoglobin to regain its Fe oxidation state. Hemoglobin molecules clump together via cross-linking reactions, and these hemoglobin clumps (multimers) promote cell damage and the release of Fe-hemoglobin into the matrix of innermost layers (subendothelium) of arteries and veins. This results in increased permeability of interior surface (endothelium) of blood vessels and production of pro-inflammatory monocyte adhesion proteins, which promote macrophage accumulation in blood vessel surfaces, ultimately leading to harmful plaques in these vessels.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Highly glycated Hb-AGEs go through vascular smooth muscle layer and inactivate acetylcholine-induced endothelium-dependent relaxation, possibly through binding to nitric oxide (NO), preventing its normal function. NO is a potent vasodilator and also inhibits formation of plaque-promoting LDLs (i.e. “bad cholesterol”) oxidized form.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: This overall degradation of blood cells also releases heme from them. Loose heme can cause oxidation of endothelial and LDL proteins, which results in plaques.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Glycation of proteins is a frequent occurrence, but in the case of hemoglobin, a nonenzymatic condensation reaction occurs between glucose and the N-end of the beta chain. This reaction produces a Schiff base (R-N=CHR', R = beta chain, CHR'= glucose-derived), which is itself converted to 1-deoxyfructose. This second conversion is an example of an Amadori rearrangement.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: When blood glucose levels are high, glucose molecules attach to the hemoglobin in red blood cells. The longer hyperglycemia occurs in blood, the more glucose binds to hemoglobin in the red blood cells and the higher the glycated hemoglobin.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Once a hemoglobin molecule is glycated, it remains that way. A buildup of glycated hemoglobin within the red cell, therefore, reflects the average level of glucose to which the cell has been exposed during its life-cycle. Measuring glycated hemoglobin assesses the effectiveness of therapy by monitoring long-term serum glucose regulation.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: A1c is a weighted average of blood glucose levels during the life of the red blood cells (117 days for men and 106 days in women). Therefore, glucose levels on days nearer to the test contribute substantially more to the level of A1c than the levels in days further from the test.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: This is also supported by data from clinical practice showing that HbA1c levels improved significantly after 20 days from start or intensification of glucose-lowering treatment.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Several techniques are used to measure hemoglobin A1c. Laboratories may use high-performance liquid chromatography, immunoassay, enzymatic assay, capillary electrophoresis, or boronate affinity chromatography. Point of care (e.g., doctor's office) devices use immunoassay boronate affinity chromatography.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: In the United States, HbA testing laboratories are certified by the National Glycohemoglobin Standardization Program to standardize them against the results of the 1993 Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT). An additional percentage scale, Mono S has previously been in use by Sweden and KO500 is in use in Japan.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The American Diabetes Association, European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and International Diabetes Federation have agreed that, in the future, HbA is to be reported in the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (IFCC) units. IFCC reporting was introduced in Europe except for the UK in 2003; the UK carried out dual reporting from 1 June 2009 until 1 October 2011.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Laboratory results may differ depending on the analytical technique, the age of the subject, and biological variation among individuals. Higher levels of HbA are found in people with persistently elevated blood sugar, as in diabetes mellitus. While diabetic patient treatment goals vary, many include a target range of HbA values. A diabetic person with good glucose control has an HbA level that is close to or within the reference range.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The International Diabetes Federation and the American College of Endocrinology recommend HbA values below 48 mmol/mol (6.5 DCCT %), while the American Diabetes Association recommends HbA be below 53 mmol/mol (7.0 DCCT %) for most patients. Results from large trials in suggested that a target below 53 mmol/mol (7 DCCT %) for older adults with type 2 diabetes may be excessive: Below 53 mmol/mol, the health benefits of reduced A1c become smaller, and the intensive glycemic control required to reach this level leads to an increased rate of dangerous hypoglycemic episodes.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: A retrospective study of 47,970 type 2 diabetes patients, aged 50 years and older, found that patients with an HbA more than 48 mmol/mol (6.5 DCCT %) had an increased mortality rate, but a later international study contradicted these findings.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: A review of the UKPDS, Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD), Advance and Veterans Affairs Diabetes Trials (VADT) estimated that the risks of the main complications of diabetes (diabetic retinopathy, diabetic nephropathy, diabetic neuropathy, and macrovascular disease) decreased by about 3% for every 1 mmol/mol decrease in HbA.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: However, a trial by ACCORD designed specifically to determine whether reducing HbA below 6.0% using increased amounts of medication would reduce the rate of cardiovascular events found higher mortality with this intensive therapy, so much so that the trial was terminated 17 months early.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Practitioners must consider patients' health, their risk of hypoglycemia, and their specific health risks when setting a target HbA level. Because patients are responsible for averting or responding to their own hypoglycemic episodes, their input and the doctors' assessments of the patients' self-care skills are also important.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Persistent elevations in blood sugar (and, therefore, HbA) increase the risk of long-term vascular complications of diabetes, such as coronary disease, heart attack, stroke, heart failure, kidney failure, blindness, erectile dysfunction, neuropathy (loss of sensation, especially in the feet), gangrene, and gastroparesis (slowed emptying of the stomach). Poor blood glucose control also increases the risk of short-term complications of surgery such as poor wound healing.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Lower-than-expected levels of HbA can be seen in people with shortened red blood cell lifespans, such as with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, sickle-cell disease, or any other condition causing premature red blood cell death. Blood donation will result in rapid replacement of lost RBCs with newly formed red blood cells. Since these new RBCs will have only existed for a short period of time, their presence will lead HbA to underestimate the actual average levels. There may also be distortions resulting from blood donation during the preceding two months, due to an abnormal synchronization of the age of the RBCs, resulting in an older than normal average blood cell life (resulting in an overestimate of actual average blood glucose levels). Conversely, higher-than-expected levels can be seen in people with a longer red blood cell lifespan, such as with iron deficiency.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Results can be unreliable in many circumstances, for example after blood loss, after surgery, blood transfusions, anemia, or high erythrocyte turnover; in the presence of chronic renal or liver disease; after administration of high-dose vitamin C; or erythropoetin treatment. In general, the reference range (that found in healthy young persons), is about 30–33 mmol/mol (4.9–5.2 DCCT %). The mean HbA for diabetics type 1 in Sweden in 2014 was 63 mmol/mol (7.9 DCCT%) and for type 2, 61 mmol/mol (7.7 DCCT%).


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The approximate mapping between HbA values given in DCCT percentage (%) and eAG (estimated average glucose) measurements is given by the following equation:


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: The 2010 American Diabetes Association Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes added the =HbA ≥ 48 mmol/mol (≥6.5 DCCT %) as another criterion for the diagnosis of diabetes.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Glycated hemoglobin testing is recommended for both checking the blood sugar control in people who might be prediabetic and monitoring blood sugar control in patients with more elevated levels, termed diabetes mellitus. For a single blood sample, it provides far more revealing information on glycemic behavior than a fasting blood sugar value. However, fasting blood sugar tests are crucial in making treatment decisions. The American Diabetes Association guidelines are similar to others in advising that the glycated hemoglobin test be performed at least twice a year in patients with diabetes who are meeting treatment goals (and who have stable glycemic control) and quarterly in patients with diabetes whose therapy has changed or who are not meeting glycemic goals.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Glycated hemoglobin measurement is not appropriate where a change in diet or treatment has been made within 6 weeks. Likewise, the test assumes a normal red blood cell aging process and mix of hemoglobin subtypes (predominantly HbA in normal adults). Hence, people with recent blood loss, hemolytic anemia, or genetic differences in the hemoglobin molecule (hemoglobinopathy) such as sickle-cell disease and other conditions, as well as those who have donated blood recently, are not suitable for this test.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Due to glycated hemoglobin's variability (as shown in the table above), additional measures should be checked in patients at or near recommended goals. People with HbA values at 64 mmol/mol or less should be provided additional testing to determine whether the HbA values are due to averaging out high blood glucose (hyperglycemia) with low blood glucose (hypoglycemia) or the HbA is more reflective of an elevated blood glucose that does not vary much throughout the day. Devices such as continuous blood glucose monitoring allow people with diabetes to determine their blood glucose levels on a continuous basis, testing every few minutes. Continuous use of blood glucose monitors is becoming more common, and the devices are covered by many health insurance plans, but not by Medicare in the United States. The supplies tend to be expensive, since the sensors must be changed at least every 2 weeks. Another useful test in determining if HbA values are due to wide variations of blood glucose throughout the day is 1,5-anhydroglucitol, also known as GlycoMark. GlycoMark reflects only the times that the person experiences hyperglycemia above 180 mg/dL over a two-week period.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Concentrations of hemoglobin A1 (HbA1) are increased, both in diabetic patients and in patients with kidney failure, when measured by ion-exchange chromatography. The thiobarbituric acid method (a chemical method specific for the detection of glycation) shows that patients with kidney failure have values for glycated hemoglobin similar to those observed in normal subjects, suggesting that the high values in these patients are a result of binding of something other than glucose to hemoglobin.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: In autoimmune hemolytic anemia, concentrations of HbA1 is undetectable. Administration of prednisolone will allow the HbA1 to be detected. The alternative fructosamine test may be used in these circumstances and it also reflects an average of blood glucose levels over the preceding 2 to 3 weeks.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: All the major institutions such as the International Expert Committee Report, drawn from the International Diabetes Federation, the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, and the American Diabetes Association, suggest the HbA level of 48 mmol/mol (6.5 DCCT %) as a diagnostic level. The Committee Report further states that, when HbA testing cannot be done, the fasting and glucose-tolerance tests be done. Diagnosis of diabetes during pregnancy continues to require fasting and glucose-tolerance measurements for gestational diabetes, and not the glycated hemoglobin.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Meta-analysis has shown probiotics to cause a statistically significant reduction in glycated hemoglobin in type 2 diabetics. Trials with multiple strains of probiotics had statistically significant reductions in glycated hemoglobin, whereas trials with single strains did not.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: Hemoglobin A1c is now standardized and traceable to IFCC methods HPLC-CE and HPLC-MS. The change to the newer unit of mmol/mol is part of this standardization. The standardized test does not test for iodine levels in the blood; hypothyroidism or iodine supplementation are known to artificially raise the A1c.


title: Glycated hemoglobin

text: HbA1c testing has not been found useful in the treatment of cats and dogs with diabetes, and is not generally used; fructosamine is favoured instead.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" is a song by the American singer Michael Jackson. It was released by Epic Records in the UK on November 5, 1983, and in the US on January 23, 1984, as the seventh and final single from his sixth studio album of the same name. "Thriller" is a funk song produced by Quincy Jones and written by Rod Temperton, who wanted to write a theatrical song to suit Jackson's love of film. The music and lyrics evoke horror films, with sound effects such as thunder, footsteps, and wind. It ends with a spoken-word sequence performed by the horror actor Vincent Price.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" received positive reviews and became the album's seventh top-ten single on the "Billboard" Hot 100, reaching number four. It reached number one in Belgium, France and Spain, and the top ten in many other countries. "Thriller" is certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America. In the week of Jackson's death in 2009, it was Jackson's bestselling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the "Billboard" Hot Digital Tracks chart. It charted on the "Billboard" Hot Digital Singles Chart at number two, and remained in the charts' top ten for three consecutive weeks. It appears on several of Jackson's greatest-hits albums and has been covered by numerous artists.


title: Thriller (song)

text: The "Thriller" music video was directed by John Landis and premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983. In the video, Jackson becomes a zombie and performs a dance routine with a horde of the undead. Many elements of the video have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, and it was the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry. It has been named the greatest music video of all time by various publications and readers' polls.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" is a disco-funk song. Set in the key of C# minor, it has a moderate tempo of 120 beats per minute. The instrumentation consists of a synthesizer bassline, a Roland Jupiter-8 synthesizer, an electric guitar, a Rhodes piano, a pipe organ, and a horn section consisting of trumpet, trombone, flugelhorn, saxophone, and flute. The introduction features sound effects such as a creaking door, thunder, feet walking on wooden planks, winds and howling wolves. A LinnDrum drum machine was used for this song, which was modified with LM-1 snare & hi-hat sound chips & TR-808 clap chips.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" was written by the English songwriter Rod Temperton, who had previously written "Rock with You" and "Off the Wall" for Jackson's 1979 album "Off the Wall." Temperton wanted to write something theatrical to suit Jackson's love of film. He improvised with bass and drum patterns until he developed the bassline that runs through the song, then wrote a chord progression that built to a climax. He recalled: "I wanted it to build and build – a bit like stretching an elastic band throughout the tune to heighten suspense."


title: Thriller (song)

text: The backing track, especially the bassline, has certain similarities to the 1981 number-one R&B hit "Give It to Me Baby" by Rick James.


title: Thriller (song)

text: Temperton's first version was titled "Starlight", with the chorus lyric: "Give me some starlight / Starlight sun". The production team, led by Quincy Jones, felt the song should be the title track, but that "Starlight" was not a strong album title. Instead, they wanted something "mysterious to match Michael's evolving persona". Temperton considered several possible titles, including "Midnight Man", which Jones felt was "going in the right direction". Finally, he conceived "Thriller", but worried that it was "a crap word to sing ... It sounded terrible! However, we got Michael to spit it into the microphone a few times and it worked."


title: Thriller (song)

text: With the title settled, Temperton wrote lyrics within "a couple of hours". He envisioned a spoken-word sequence for the end of the song, but did not know what form it should take. It was decided to have a famous voice from the horror genre perform it, and Jones' then-wife, Peggy Lipton, suggested her friend Vincent Price. Temperton composed the words for Price's part in a taxi on the way to the studio on the day of recording.


title: Thriller (song)

text: Along with the rest of the album, "Thriller" was recorded over eight weeks in 1982. It was recorded at Westlake Recording Studios on Santa Monica Boulevard in Los Angeles, California. The engineer Bruce Swedien had Jackson record his vocals in different approaches, doubling takes and recording at different distances from the microphone. Some background vocals were recorded in the Westlake shower stall. The bassline was recorded with two modified Minimoog synthesizers playing in unison.


title: Thriller (song)

text: To record the wolf howls, Swedien set up tape recorders up around his Great Dane in a barn overnight, but the dog never howled. Instead, Jackson recorded the howls himself. For the creaking doors, Swedien rented doors designed for sound effects from the Universal Studios Lot and recorded the hinges. Price recorded his part in two takes; Jones, acknowledging that doing a voice-over for a song is difficult, praised Price and described his takes as "fabulous".


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" was the final single released from the album. It was not initially planned for release, as Jackson's record label, Epic, saw it as a novelty song; the Epic executive Walter Yetnikoff asked, "Who wants a single about monsters?" By mid-1983, sales of "Thriller" began to decline. Jackson, who was "obsessive" about his sales figures, urged Yetnikoff and executive Larry Stessel to help conceive a plan to return the album to the top of the charts. Jackson's manager Frank DiLeo suggested releasing "Thriller", backed by a new music video.


title: Thriller (song)

text: The music video for "Thriller" references numerous horror films, and stars Jackson performing a dance routine with a horde of the undead. It was directed by the horror director John Landis and written by Landis and Jackson. Jackson contacted Landis after seeing his film "An American Werewolf in London." The pair conceived a 13-minute short film with a budget much larger than previous music videos. Jackson's record company refused to finance it, believing "Thriller" had peaked, so a making-of documentary, "Making Michael Jackson's Thriller," was produced to receive financing from television networks.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Michael Jackson's Thriller" premiered on MTV on December 2, 1983. It was launched to great anticipation and played regularly on MTV. It doubled sales of "Thriller", and sold over a million copies on VHS, becoming the bestselling videotape at the time. It is credited for transforming music videos into a serious art form, breaking down racial barriers in popular entertainment, and popularizing the making-of documentary format.


title: Thriller (song)

text: Many elements have had a lasting impact on popular culture, such as the zombie dance and Jackson's red jacket, designed by Landis's wife Deborah Nadoolman. Fans worldwide re-enact its zombie dance and it remains popular on YouTube. The Library of Congress described it as "the most famous music video of all time". In 2009, it became the first music video inducted into the National Film Registry as "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 charts at number 20. It reached number seven the following week, number five the next, and peaked the next week at number four, where it stayed for two weeks. It finished as the #78 single on Billboard's Hot 100 for the 1984.


title: Thriller (song)

text: "Thriller" charted at number 19 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Chart. On March 10, 1984, it reached its peak at number 3. "Thriller" debuted on the UK Singles Chart on November 19, 1983, at number 24, and the following week peaked at number ten; it appeared on the chart for 52 weeks. Beginning on February 5, 1984, "Thriller" peaked on the French Singles Chart at number one and topped the chart for four consecutive weeks. "Thriller" also topped the Belgian VRT Top 30 Chart for two weeks in January 1984.


title: Thriller (song)

text: Following Jackson's death in 2009, his music surged in popularity. In the week of his death, "Thriller" was Jackson's best-selling track in the US, with sales of 167,000 copies on the "Billboard" Hot Digital Singles Chart. On July 11, 2009, "Thriller" charted on the "Billboard" Hot Digital Singles Chart at number two (its peak), and the song remained in the charts' top ten for three consecutive weeks. In the United Kingdom, the song charted at number 23 the week of Jackson's death. The following week, the song reached its peak at number 12 on the UK Single Chart. On July 12, 2009, "Thriller" peaked at number two on the Italian Singles Chart and was later certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry. "Thriller" reached at number three on the Australian ARIA Chart and Swiss Singles Chart and topped the Spanish Singles Charts for one week. The song also placed within the top ten on the German Singles Chart, Norwegian Singles Chart and Irish Singles Chart, at number nine, number seven and number eight respectively. "Thriller" also landed at number 25 on the Danish Singles Chart. In the third week of July "Thriller" peaked at number 11 in Finland.


title: Thriller (song)

text: The song has returned to the Billboard Hot 100 chart multiple times since its initial release due to its popularity around the time of Halloween. "Thriller" re-entered the "Billboard" Hot 100 in October 2013 at number 42, number 31 in November 2018, and number 19 in November 2021, marking its highest placement since its original chart run in 1984. This accomplishment means Jackson now has at least one Top 20 hit across 7 consecutive decades from 1969 to 2021 in the Billboard Hot 100.


title: Thriller (song)

text: The song was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America on December 4, 1989, for sales of over one million physical units in the U.S. As of August 2016, the song had sold 4,024,398 copies in the US. By August 2022, it had sold a further 10 million download copies in the US.


title: Thriller (song)

text: Ashley Lasimone, of AOL's Spinner.com, noted that it "became a signature for Jackson" and described "the groove of its bassline, paired with Michael's killer vocals and sleek moves" as having "produced a frighteningly great single." Jon Pareles of "The New York Times" noted that "'Billie Jean', 'Beat It', 'Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' ' and "the movie in the song 'Thriller'", were the songs, unlike the "fluff" "P.Y.T.", that were "the hits that made "Thriller" a world-beater; along with Mr. Jackson's stage and video presence, listeners must have identified with his willingness to admit terror." Ann Powers of the "Los Angeles Times" described "Thriller" as "adequately groovy" with a "funked-out beat" and lyrics "seemingly lifted from some little kid's 'scary storybook'".


title: Thriller (song)

text: In October 2010, it was found that GK Films plans to produce a horror film inspired by the song, directed by Kenny Ortega and produced with Ivan Reitman.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Ruddy Lilian Thuram-Ulien (; born 1 January 1972) is a French former professional footballer who played as a defender.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: He began playing football professionally in his homeland with Monaco and played in the top flight in France, Italy and Spain for over 15 seasons, with notable stints in Serie A with both Parma and Juventus before finishing his career with Barcelona. With France, Thuram was a key player for the team that won the 1998 FIFA World Cup; his side also won UEFA Euro 2000, and he helped them to runners-up at the 2006 World Cup. Thuram was the most capped player in the history of the France national team with 142 appearances between 1994 and 2008 until Hugo Lloris surpassed the mark in 2022.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: A quick, powerful and versatile player, he was capable of playing both as a centre-back or as a right-back, and was competent both offensively and defensively. Despite his physical and aggressive playing style, Thuram has been described as a "studious" figure off the pitch; in 2010, he became a UNICEF ambassador, and has stood out for his initiatives to fight against racism.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram was born in Guadeloupe in the French West Indies. His family relocated to mainland France in 1981.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram's football career began with Monaco in Ligue 1 in 1991. He then transferred to Parma (1996–2001) and then to Juventus (2001–2006) for £25 million, and eventually to Barcelona in 2006.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram started his professional career with Monaco in 1991. He only made one appearance that season, but was officially promoted to the first team the following season, when he would go on to make 19 appearances.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: He was inserted into the starting XI by the end of 1992 and would go on to make 155 league appearances for the Ligue 1 outfit, before transferring to Parma in the summer of 1996. He made his national team debut in 1994, while at Monaco. With Monaco, he most notably won the Coupe de France in 1991, also reaching the final of the 1991–92 European Cup Winners' Cup.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: However, Thuram scored his only UEFA Champions League goal in his career for Monaco in a 4–1 victory over Spartak Moscow in the 1993–94 season.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: In July 1996, Thuram made a high-profile transfer to Italy to join Serie A club Parma. In his first season, he made over 40 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring one goal, as Parma finished second in the 1996–97 Serie A to Juventus. He maintained a starting position in defence throughout his time with Parma, making 163 Serie A appearances and scoring one league goal. In all, he made over 200 appearances for the club, really making a name for himself, also earning caps for France.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Following another impressive season in 2000–01, where Parma reached the Coppa Italia final, and finishing the Serie A season in fourth place, Thuram, along with teammate Gianluigi Buffon, transferred to Juventus. His transfer cost the club 80 billion Italian lire (€41,316,552).


title: Lilian Thuram

text: While at Parma, along with eventual Juventus teammates Buffon and Fabio Cannavaro, Thuram won both the UEFA Cup and the Coppa Italia during the 1998–99 season, immediately followed by the 1999 Supercoppa Italiana.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: In the summer of 2001, Thuram made a transfer to Juventus, along with goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. Thuram formed defensive partnerships with the likes of Ciro Ferrara, Paolo Montero, Gianluca Pessotto, Mark Iuliano, Alessandro Birindelli, Igor Tudor, Gianluca Zambrotta, Nicola Legrottaglie, Fabio Cannavaro, Giorgio Chiellini, Federico Balzaretti and Jonathan Zebina during his five-year tenure with the club. In his first season with the club, as a right back under Marcello Lippi, Thuram won the 2001–02 Serie A title, also reaching the final of the 2001–02 Coppa Italia. Juventus started the following season by winning the 2002 Supercoppa Italiana, and defended their Serie A title, also reaching the UEFA Champions League final, where they were defeated by rivals Milan on penalties.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Juventus won the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana the following season, reaching another Coppa Italia final, but finished in a disappointing 3rd place in Serie A, and failed to progress past the second round in the Champions League. During the 2004–05 and 2005–06 seasons under coach Fabio Capello, Thuram, along with Fabio Cannavaro in the centre of defence, with Gianluigi Buffon in goal, Jonathan Zebina at right back and Gianluca Zambrotta at left back formed one of the most expensive, but also most feared, defences in Europe and Italy. During these next two seasons with the club, Thuram won the "Scudetto" two more times with Juventus, although these consecutive league titles were later revoked due to Juventus' involvement in the 2006 Italian football scandal ("calciopoli"). After five years with Juve, Thuram transferred to Barcelona in the Spanish La Liga, in the wake of the "calciopoli" scandal. He managed over 200 total appearances for the club, with two goals.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: On 24 July 2006, Thuram signed with Barcelona for €5 million after Juventus were relegated to Serie B due to the "calciopoli" scandal.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: In Thuram's last season (2007–08), he was the third- or fourth-choice centre-back after Carles Puyol, Gabriel Milito and Rafael Márquez.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: On 26 June 2008, he was reported as having signed a one-year contract with an option for another year with Paris Saint-Germain. The deal, however, was cancelled shortly after because he was diagnosed with a heart defect that had caused the death of his brother. On 2 August, he announced his final retirement from professional football due to his condition.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: After becoming world champion in 1998, Thuram was an integral part of France's triumph at UEFA Euro 2000, which led to the team being ranked by FIFA as number one from 2001–2002. He also played in the 2002 World Cup, 2006 World Cup, Euro 1996, Euro 2004 and Euro 2008, in addition to winning the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup. In France's 2–1 group win over England at Euro 2004, Thuram became the third Frenchman to 100 caps, after fellow 1998 champions Didier Deschamps and Marcel Desailly.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram was named in the French squad for the 1998 World Cup and played a key part in their entire tournament, most notably in the semi final against Croatia. After getting caught out of position and being at fault for Croatia's opening goal, Thuram went on to score a brace, his only international goals, and give France a 2–1 win to take them to the final where the team defeated Brazil 3–0 to win their first World Cup. Thuram was awarded the Bronze Ball as the third most valuable player in the tournament. He, Bixente Lizarazu, Laurent Blanc and Marcel Desailly comprised the backbone of the French defence that conceded only two goals in seven matches.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: After a brief international retirement, France coach Raymond Domenech convinced Thuram to return to the French team on 17 August 2005, along with fellow "Golden Generation" teammates Zinedine Zidane and Claude Makélélé, as "Les Bleus" struggled to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. Thuram's centre back partnership with William Gallas was to be the foundation for France's progression to the final. Thuram earned his 116th cap for France in the group stage match against South Korea in Leipzig on 18 June 2006. In that game he equalled Desailly's record number of caps, which he broke in the final group stage match, a 2–0 win over Togo in Cologne on 23 June 2006, winning his 117th cap. He was named the man of the match in France's semi-final 1–0 victory against Portugal, coincidentally the same distinction he had earned eight years earlier at the semi-finals of the 1998 World Cup.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: On 9 June 2008, Thuram took the field against Romania in a group match, and became the first player to make 15 UEFA European Championship finals appearances. The former record of 14 appearances was held by Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo and Karel Poborský. He played one more game during the tournament, raising the number of his appearances to 16, which record was then equaled a few days later by Edwin van der Sar from the Netherlands in the quarter-finals. Thuram was the captain of France in the tournament. Along with Claude Makélélé, he announced his retirement from international football on 17 June 2008, after France's 2–0 loss to Italy. He finished his career with the national team as France's most capped player with 142 appearances. His record was broken by Hugo Lloris in the quarter-finals of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram was an extremely dominant, consistent, athletic and attentive footballer, who was considered by pundits to be one of the best defenders in the world in his prime. As a defender, he was known for his strength, pace, stamina and his outstanding physical, tactical, and technical attributes, as well as his elegance, intelligence, ability to read the game, his heavy marking of opponents, and his aggressive tackling, which made him difficult to beat in one on one situations; he also excelled in the air. As a full-back, he was known for his ability to make attacking runs up the flank and contribute to his team's offensive play after winning back the ball. A large, powerful and versatile player, who was equally competent offensively as he was defensively, he could play on either flank or in the centre, due to his ability with either foot, often alternating between playing as a centre-back or as a right-back, and was even deployed in midfield on occasion. In spite of his physical and tenacious playing style, he was also known to be a fair player.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram's cousin is Amiens player Yohann Thuram-Ulien. He has two sons with his first wife Sandra, Marcus (born 6 August 1997) and Khéphren (born 26 March 2001), and both became professional footballers. He named his sons after Jamaican activist Marcus Garvey and Egyptian pharaoh Khephren, respectively.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: From 2007 to 2013, Thuram was in a relationship with Karine Le Marchand, a French TV host. In August 2022 he married journalist Kareen Guiock, whom he met in 2015; they wed at the Palace of Fontainebleau.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Thuram was sponsored by sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials. In a global Nike advertising campaign in the run-up to the 2002 World Cup in Korea and Japan, he starred in a "Secret Tournament" commercial (branded "Scorpion KO") directed by Terry Gilliam, appearing alongside football players such as Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, Edgar Davids, Fabio Cannavaro, Francesco Totti, Ronaldinho, Luís Figo and Hidetoshi Nakata, with former player Eric Cantona the tournament "referee".


title: Lilian Thuram

text: Beyond his football career, Thuram has always shown political engagement, and has frequently spoken out against racism. In such, during the French riots in November 2005, Thuram took a position against Nicolas Sarkozy, the head of the conservative political party (and future president) UMP and then Minister of the Interior. Thuram was opposed to the verbal attacks against young people that the then-Minister made when he talked about the "scum", and he said that Nicolas Sarkozy never lived in a "banlieue", areas of low-income housing surrounding French cities.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: On 6 September 2006, Thuram sparked controversy when he invited 80 people, who were expelled by French Minister of the Interior Nicolas Sarkozy from a flat where they lived illegally, to the football match between France and Italy. He has also engaged in campaigns that favour the Catalan language in Northern Catalonia.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: In November 2011, Thuram curated an exhibition at the Musée du quai Branly entitled "Human Zoos: The Invention of the Savage". It examined the human zoos that traced the practice of using colonial subjects as exhibits in zoos and freak shows. The material in the exhibition runs from the parade of Brazil's Tupinamba "savages" for the royal entrance of King Henry II of France in 1550 in Rouen, to the last "living spectacle" of Congo villagers exhibited in Brussels in 1958.


title: Lilian Thuram

text: In January 2013, Thuram took part in a march through Paris by supporters of the Ayrault government's plan to legalise same-sex marriage. He had previously explained that he supported same-sex marriage in the name of equal rights (comparing the denial of equality for homosexuals to the denial of equal rights for women and for black people in earlier periods of history), and in the name of France's secular principles ("laïcité"), rejecting religious arguments against civil marriage. He also expressed support for the right of same-sex couples to adopt children.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: The "Vanguard" class is a class of nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) in service with the Royal Navy. The class was introduced in 1994 as part of the Trident nuclear programme, and comprises four vessels: , , and , built between 1986 and 1999 at Barrow-in-Furness by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering, now owned by BAE Systems. All four boats are based at HM Naval Base Clyde (HMS "Neptune"), west of Glasgow, Scotland.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: Since the decommissioning of the Royal Air Force WE.177 free-fall thermonuclear weapons during March 1998, the four "Vanguard" submarines are the sole platforms for the United Kingdom's nuclear weapons. Each submarine is armed with up to 16 UGM-133 Trident II missiles. The class is scheduled to be replaced starting in the early 2030s with the Dreadnought-class submarine.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: Beginning in the late 1960s, the United Kingdom operated four s, each armed with sixteen US-built UGM-27 Polaris missiles. The Polaris missile was supplied to Britain following the terms of the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement. This nuclear deterrent system was known as the UK Polaris programme. In the early 1980s the British government began studies examining options for replacing the "Resolution"-class submarines and their Polaris missiles, both of which would be approaching the end of their service lives within little over a decade. On 24 January 1980, the House of Commons backed government policy, by 308 votes to 52, to retain an independent nuclear deterrent. Options that were examined included:


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: A European solution and the US UGM-73 Poseidon were also briefly considered, but ultimately rejected, primarily on capability, cost and uncertainty grounds. The clear favourite was the UGM-96 Trident I, which as well as being a cost-effective solution – given the US would also operate the missile in vast numbers – also delivered the overall best long-term capability insurances against Soviet advancements in ballistic missile defence. Subsequently, on 10 July 1980, the then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher wrote to US President Jimmy Carter requesting the purchase of Trident I missiles on a similar basis as the 1963 Polaris Sales Agreement. However, following the acceleration of the US UGM-133 Trident II missiles, Thatcher wrote to US President Ronald Reagan in 1982 requesting the United Kingdom be allowed to procure the improved system instead. An agreement was made in March 1982 between the two countries, and under the agreement, Britain made a 5% research and development contribution.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: The "Vanguard" class were designed in the early 1980s by the Ministry of Defence, acting in one of its last Royal Navy warship design authority roles. The guidance drawings were then supplied for detailed design development by Vickers Shipbuilding and Engineering (VSEL) based at Barrow-in-Furness, now BAE Systems Maritime – Submarines. They were designed from the outset as nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, able to accommodate the UGM-133 Trident II missiles. As such, the missile compartment is based on the same system used on the American , which is also equipped with the UGM-133 Trident II. This requirement led to the "Vanguard"-class design being significantly larger than the previous Polaris-equipped "Resolution" class, and at nearly 16,000 tonnes they are the largest submarines ever built for the Royal Navy.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: Due to the large size of the "Vanguard"-class, the Devonshire Dock Hall in Barrow-in-Furness was built between 1982 and 1986 specifically for the construction of the boats.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: Beginning in 1985, both HMNB Clyde and the Royal Naval Armaments Depot Coulport at Faslane underwent extensive redevelopment in preparation for the "Vanguard" class submarines and Trident II missiles. Rosyth dockyard also underwent significant redevelopment. The work included enhanced "handling, storage, armament processing, berthing, docking, engineering, training and refitting facilities" at an estimates cost of £550 million.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: Prime Minister Thatcher laid the keel of the first boat, HMS "Vanguard", on 3 September 1986 at the Devonshire Dock Hall. "Vanguard" was launched in 1992 and commissioned in 1993. 1992 saw a debate over whether the fourth vessel, "Vengeance", should be cancelled, however the Ministry of Defence ultimately ordered it in July 1992 and it was commissioned in 1999.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: On 4 December 2006, then Prime Minister Tony Blair revealed plans to spend up to £20 billion on a new generation of ballistic missile submarines to replace the "Vanguard" class. In order to reduce costs and show Britain's commitment to the Non-Proliferation Treaty, Blair suggested that submarine numbers could be cut from four to three, while the number of nuclear warheads would be cut by 20% to 160. On 23 September 2009, then Prime Minister Gordon Brown confirmed that this reduction to three submarines was still under consideration. In February 2011, the Defence Secretary Liam Fox stated that four submarines would be needed if the UK was to retain a credible nuclear deterrent. On 18 May 2011 the British government approved the initial assessment phase for the construction of a new class of four submarines, paving the way for the ordering of the first long-lead items and preparations for the main build to begin in the future. This new class of submarine, now known as the "Dreadnought" class, will retain the current Trident II missiles, and will incorporate a new 'PWR3' nuclear reactor as well as technology developed for the nuclear-powered fleet submarines of the Royal Navy.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: A vote on the Trident renewal programme was held in the House of Commons on 18 July 2016, and determined that the UK should proceed with construction of the next generation of submarines. The motion passed with a significant majority of 472 MPs voting in favour and 117 against. The MoD put the cost of building, testing and commissioning the replacement vessels at £31 billion (plus a contingency fund of £10 billion) over 35 years, or about 0.2 per cent of government spending, or 6 per cent of defence spending, every year. It is expected the new fleet of submarines will come into operation starting 2028 at the earliest and certainly by the 2030s. The "Dreadnought" class will extend the life of the Trident programme until at least the 2060s.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: The "Vanguard"-class submarines are equipped with 16 ballistic missile tubes. However, as of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Royal Navy loads only eight of the missile tubes with the Trident II submarine-launched ballistic missiles, each armed with up to eight nuclear warheads. In addition to the missile tubes, the submarines are fitted with four 21 inch (533 mm) torpedo tubes and carry the Spearfish heavyweight torpedo, allowing them to engage submerged or surface targets at ranges up to . Two SSE Mark 10 launchers are also fitted, allowing the boats to deploy Type 2066 and Type 2071 decoys, and a UAP Mark 3 electronic support measures (ESM) intercept system is carried.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: The submarines carry the Thales Underwater Systems Type 2054 composite sonar. The Type 2054 is a multi-mode, multi-frequency system, which incorporates the 2046, 2043 and 2082 sonars. The Type 2043 is a hull-mounted active/passive search sonar, the Type 2082 a passive intercept and ranging sonar, and the Type 2046 a towed array sonar operating at very low frequency providing a passive search capability. The fleet is in the process of having the sonars refitted to include open-architecture processing using commercial off-the-shelf technology. Navigational search capability is provided by a Type 1007 I-band navigation radar. They will also be fitted with the new Common Combat System. Two periscopes are carried, a CK51 search model and a CH91 attack model. Both have TV and thermal imaging cameras in addition to conventional optics.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: A specialised Submarine Command System (SMCS) was originally developed for the "Vanguard" boats and was later used on the .


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: A new pressurised water reactor, the Rolls-Royce PWR 2, was designed for the "Vanguard" class. The PWR 2 has double the service life of previous models, and it is estimated that a "Vanguard"-class submarine could circumnavigate the world 40 times without refuelling. Furthermore, during their long-overhaul refit periods, a 'Core H' reactor is fitted to each of the boats, ensuring that none of the submarines will require further re-fuelling for the rest of their service lives. The reactor drives two GEC steam turbines linked to a single shaft pump jet propulsor, giving the submarines a maximum submerged speed of over . Auxiliary power is provided by a pair of 6 MW steam-turbine generators supplied by WH Allen, (later known as NEI Allen, Allen Power & Rolls-Royce), and two 905 kWb Paxman diesel generators for provision of backup power supply.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: British nuclear weapons are designed and developed by the UK's Atomic Weapons Establishment. The boats are capable of deploying with a maximum of 192 independently targetable warheads, or MIRVs, with immediate readiness to fire. However, as a result of a decision taken by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review this was reduced to 48 warheads with a readiness to fire reduced 'to days rather than minutes'. Furthermore, the total number of warheads maintained by the United Kingdom was reduced to approximately 200, with a total of 58 Trident missiles. The 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review reduced this number further and the submarines will put to sea in future with a reduced total of 40 warheads and a reduced missile load of 8 (from a maximum possible 16). The number of operationally available nuclear warheads is to be reduced 'from fewer than 160 to no more than 120 and the total UK nuclear weapon stockpile will number no more than 180.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: On 16 March 2021 Prime Minister Boris Johnson unveiled his government's 10-year plan to boost international trade and deploy soft power around the world with an aspiration of creating a “Global Britain”. In a document called "Global Britain in a competitive age", this plan raised the cap on the number of nuclear warheads aboard the Royal Navy's Trident submarines from 180 to 260. The document also vowed to maintain a fleet of four nuclear-armed submarines so Britain would always have one at sea.


title: Vanguard-class submarine

text: The 2021 BBC TV series "Vigil" is set on board a fictional "Vanguard"-class submarine named HMS "Vigil". Further boats of the class named HMS "Virtue", HMS "Vanquish" along with the real HMS "Vanguard" are mentioned.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: The revenge of the , also known as the or Akō vendetta, is a historical event in Japan in which a band of "rōnin" (lordless samurai) avenged the death of their master on 31 January 1703. The incident has since become legendary. It is one of the three major "adauchi" vendetta incidents in Japan, alongside the Revenge of the Soga Brothers and the Igagoe vendetta.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless after their "daimyō" (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to perform "seppuku" (ritual suicide) for assaulting a powerful court official named Kira Yoshinaka. After waiting and planning for a year, the "rōnin" avenged their master's honor by killing Kira. They were then obliged to commit "seppuku" for the crime of murder. This true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should display in their daily lives. The popularity of the tale grew during the Meiji era, during which Japan underwent rapid modernization, and the legend became entrenched within discourses of national heritage and identity.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Fictionalized accounts of the tale of the forty-seven rōnin are known as "Chūshingura". The story was popularized in numerous plays, including in the genres of "bunraku" and "kabuki". Because of the censorship laws of the shogunate in the "Genroku" era, which forbade portrayal of current events, the names were changed. While the version given by the playwrights may have come to be accepted as historical fact by some, the first "Chūshingura" was written some 50 years after the event, and numerous historical records about the actual events that predate the "Chūshingura" survive.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: The "bakufu"'s censorship laws had relaxed somewhat 75 years after the events in question in the late 18th century when Japanologist Isaac Titsingh first recorded the story of the forty-seven "rōnin" as one of the significant events of the "Genroku" era. To this day, the story remains popular in Japan, and each year on 14 December, Sengakuji Temple, where Asano Naganori and the "rōnin" are buried, holds a festival commemorating the event.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: The event is known in Japan as the , sometimes also referred to as the "Akō vendetta". The participants in the revenge are called the or in Japanese, and are usually referred to as the "forty-seven rōnin" or "forty-seven leaderless samurai" in English. Literary accounts of the events are known as the .


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: For many years, the version of events retold by A. B. Mitford in "Tales of Old Japan" (1871) was generally considered authoritative. The sequence of events and the characters in this narrative were presented to a wide popular readership in the West. Mitford invited his readers to construe his story of the forty-seven rōnin as historically accurate; and while his version of the tale has long been considered a standard work, some of its details are now questioned. Nevertheless, even with plausible defects, Mitford's work remains a conventional starting point for further study.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Mitford appended what he explained were translations of Sengaku-ji documents the author had examined personally. These were proffered as "proofs" authenticating the factual basis of his story. These documents were:


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: In 1701, two "daimyō", Asano Takumi-no-Kami Naganori, the young "daimyō" of the Akō Domain (a small fiefdom in western Honshū), and Lord Kamei Korechika of the Tsuwano Domain, were ordered to arrange a fitting reception for the envoys of Emperor Higashiyama at Edo Castle, during their "sankin-kōtai" service to the "shōgun".


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Asano and Kamei were to be given instruction in the necessary court etiquette by Kira Kozuke-no-Suke Yoshinaka, a powerful official in the hierarchy of Tokugawa Tsunayoshi's shogunate. He allegedly became upset at them, either because of the insufficient presents they offered him (in the time-honored compensation for such an instructor), or because they would not offer bribes as he wanted. Other sources say that he was naturally rude and arrogant or that he was corrupt, which offended Asano, a devoutly moral Confucian. By some accounts, it also appears that Asano may have been unfamiliar with the intricacies of the shogunate court and failed to show the proper amount of deference to Kira. Whether Kira treated them poorly, insulted them, or failed to prepare them for fulfilling specific "bakufu" duties, offence was taken.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Initially, Asano bore all this stoically, while Kamei became enraged and prepared to kill Kira to avenge the insults. However, Kamei's quick-thinking counselors averted disaster for their lord and clan (for all would have been punished if Kamei had killed Kira) by quietly giving Kira a large bribe; Kira thereupon began to treat Kamei nicely, which calmed Kamei.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: However, Kira allegedly continued to treat Asano harshly because he was upset that the latter had not emulated his companion. Finally, Kira insulted Asano, calling him a country boor with no manners, and Asano could restrain himself no longer. At the "Matsu no Ōrōka", the main grand corridor that interconnects the "Shiro-shoin" (白書院) and the "Ōhiroma" of the "Honmaru Goten" (本丸御殿) residence, Asano lost his temper and attacked Kira with a dagger, wounding him in the face with his first strike; his second missed and hit a pillar. Guards then quickly separated them.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Kira's wound was hardly serious, but the attack on a shogunate official within the boundaries of the "shōgun"s residence was considered a grave offence. Any kind of violence, even the drawing of a katana, was completely forbidden in Edo Castle. The "daimyō" of Akō had removed his dagger from its scabbard within Edo Castle, and for that offence, he was ordered to kill himself by "seppuku". Asano's goods and lands were to be confiscated after his death, his family was to be ruined, and his retainers were to be made "rōnin" (leaderless).


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: This news was carried to Ōishi Kuranosuke Yoshio, Asano's principal counsellor, who took command and moved the Asano family away before complying with "bakufu" orders to surrender the castle to the agents of the government.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Of Asano's over 300 men, 47, especially their leader Ōishi, refused to allow their lord to go unavenged, even though revenge had been prohibited in the case. They banded together, swearing a secret oath to avenge their master by killing Kira, even though they knew that they would be severely punished for doing so.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Kira was well guarded, however, and his residence had been fortified to prevent just such an event. The "rōnin" saw that they would have to lull the suspicions of Kira and other shogunate authorities, so they dispersed and became tradesmen and monks.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Ōishi took up residence in Kyoto and began to frequent brothels and taverns, as if nothing were further from his mind than revenge. Kira still feared a trap and sent spies to watch Asano's former retainers.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: One day, as Ōishi was returning home drunk, he fell down in the street and went to sleep, and all the passers-by laughed at him. A Satsuma man was so infuriated by this behaviour on the part of a samurai—by his lack of courage to avenge his master as well as his current debauched behaviour—that he abused and insulted Ōishi, kicking him in the face (to even touch the face of a samurai was a great insult, let alone strike it) and spitting on him.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Not too long after, Ōishi divorced his loyal wife of twenty years so that no harm would come to her when the "rōnin" took their revenge. He sent her away with their two younger children to live with her parents; he gave their eldest boy, Chikara, the choice to stay and fight or to leave. Chikara remained with his father.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Ōishi began to act oddly and very unlike the composed samurai. He frequented geisha houses (particularly Ichiriki Chaya), drank nightly, and acted obscenely in public. Ōishi's men bought a geisha, hoping she would calm him. This was all a ruse to rid Ōishi of his spies.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Kira's agents reported all this to Kira, who became convinced that he was safe from Asano's retainers, that they must all be bad samurai indeed, without the courage to avenge their master after a year and a half. Thinking them harmless and lacking funds from his "retirement", he then reluctantly let down his guard.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: The rest of the faithful "rōnin" now gathered in Edo, and in their roles as workmen and merchants gained access to Kira's house, becoming familiar with the layout of the house and the character of all within. One of the retainers (Okano Kinemon Kanehide) went so far as to marry the daughter of the builder of the house, to obtain the house's design plans. All of this was reported to Ōishi. Others gathered arms and secretly transported them to Edo, another offence.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: After two years, when Ōishi was convinced that Kira was thoroughly off his guard, and everything was ready, he fled from Kyoto, avoiding the spies who were watching him, and the entire band gathered at a secret meeting place in Edo to renew their oaths.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: The Ako Incident occurred on 31 January 1703 when the "rōnin" of Asano Naganori stormed the residence of Kira Yoshinaka in Edo. (While the attack was carried out on 31 January, the event is commemorated annually on 14 December in Japan). According to a carefully laid-out plan, they split up into two groups and attacked, armed with swords and bows. One group, led by Ōishi, was to attack the front gate; the other, led by his son, Ōishi Chikara, was to attack the house via the back gate. A drum would sound the simultaneous attack, and a whistle would signal that Kira was dead.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Once Kira was dead, they planned to cut off his head and lay it as an offering on their master's tomb. They would then turn themselves in and wait for their expected sentence of death. All this had been confirmed at a final dinner, at which Ōishi had asked them to be careful and spare women, children, and other helpless people.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Ōishi had four men scale the fence and enter the porter's lodge, capturing and tying up the guard there. He then sent messengers to all the neighboring houses, to explain that they were not robbers but retainers out to avenge the death of their master, and that no harm would come to anyone else: the neighbors were all safe. One of the "rōnin" climbed to the roof and loudly announced to the neighbors that the matter was an act of revenge (katakiuchi, 敵討ち). The neighbors, who all hated Kira, were relieved and did nothing to hinder the raiders.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: After posting archers (some on the roof) to prevent those in the house (who had not yet awakened) from sending for help, Ōishi sounded the drum to start the attack. Ten of Kira's retainers held off the party attacking the house from the front, but Ōishi Chikara's party broke into the back of the house.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Kira, in terror, took refuge in a closet in the veranda, along with his wife and female servants. The rest of his retainers, who slept in barracks outside, attempted to come into the house to his rescue. After overcoming the defenders at the front of the house, the two parties led by father and son joined up and fought the retainers who came in. The latter, perceiving that they were losing, tried to send for help, but their messengers were killed by the archers posted to prevent that eventuality.


title: Forty-seven rōnin

text: Eventually, after a fierce struggle, the last of Kira's retainers were subdued; in the process, the "rōnin" killed 16 of Kira's men and wounded 22, including his grandson. Of Kira, however, there was no sign. They searched the house, but all they found were crying women and children. They began to despair, but Ōishi checked Kira's bed, and it was still warm, so he knew he could not be far away.