title: Quantitative easing

text: QE was primarily designed as an instrument of monetary policy. The mechanism required the Bank of England to purchase government bonds on the secondary market, financed by the creation of new central bank money. This would have the effect of increasing the asset prices of the bonds purchased, thereby lowering yields and dampening longer term interest rates and making it cheaper for businesses to raise capital. The aim of the policy was initially to ease liquidity constraints in the sterling reserves system, but evolved into a wider policy to provide economic stimulus. Another side effect is that investors will switch to other investments, such as shares, boosting their price and thus encouraging consumption. In 2012 the Bank estimated that quantitative easing had benefited households differentially according to the assets they hold; richer households have more assets.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In February 2022 the Bank of England announced its intention to commence winding down the QE portfolio. Initially this would be achieved by not replacing tranches of maturing bonds, and would later be accelerated through active bond sales.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In August 2022 the Bank of England reiterated its intention to accelerate the QE wind down through active bond sales. This policy was affirmed in an exchange of letters between the Bank of England and the UK Chancellor of the Exchequer in September 2022. Between February 2022 and September 2022, a total of £37.1bn of government bonds matured, reducing the outstanding stock from £875.0bn at the end of 2021 to £837.9bn. In addition, a total of £1.1bn of corporate bonds matured, reducing the stock from £20.0bn to £18.9bn, with sales of the remaining stock planned to begin on 27 September.


title: Quantitative easing

text: On 28 September 2022 the Bank of England issued a Market Notice announcing its intention to "carry out purchases of long dated gilts in a temporary and targeted way". This was in response to market conditions in which the sterling exchange rate and bond asset pricing were significantly disrupted following a UK government fiscal statement. The Bank stated its announcement would apply to conventional gilts of residual maturity greater than 20 years in the secondary market. The existing constraints applicable to QE bond purchases would continue to apply. The funding of the purchases would be met from central bank reserves, but would be segregated in a different portfolio from existing asset purchases. The Bank also announced that its annual £80bn target to reduce the existing QE portfolio remained unchanged but, in the light of current market conditions, the beginning of gilt sale operations would be postponed to 31 October 2022.


title: Quantitative easing

text: The European Central Bank engaged in large-scale purchase of covered bonds in May 2009, and purchased around €250 billion worth of sovereign bonds from targeted member states in 2010 and 2011 (the SMP Programme). However, until 2015 the ECB refused to openly admit they were doing quantitative easing.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In a dramatic change of policy, following the new Jackson Hole Consensus, on 22 January 2015 Mario Draghi, President of the European Central Bank, announced an "expanded asset purchase programme", where €60 billion per month of euro-area bonds from central governments, agencies and European institutions would be bought.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Beginning in March 2015, the stimulus was planned to last until September 2016 at the earliest with a total QE of at least €1.1 trillion. Mario Draghi announced the programme would continue: "until we see a continued adjustment in the path of inflation", referring to the ECB's need to combat the growing threat of deflation across the eurozone in early 2015.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In March 2016, the ECB increased its monthly bond purchases to €80 billion from €60 billion and started to include corporate bonds under the asset purchasing programme and announced new ultra-cheap four-year loans to banks. From November 2019, the ECB resumed buying up eurozone government bonds at a rate of €20 billion in an effort to encourage governments to borrow more and spend in domestic investment projects. In March 2020, to help the economy absorb the shock of the COVID-19 crisis, the ECB announced a €750 billion Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme (PEPP). The aim of the stimulus package (PEPP) was to lower borrowing costs and increase lending in the euro area.


title: Quantitative easing

text: At the beginning of 2013, the Swiss National Bank had the largest balance sheet relative to the size of its economy. It was responsible for, at close to 100% of Switzerland's national output. A total of 12% of its reserves were in foreign equities. By contrast, the US Federal Reserve's holdings equalled about 20% of US GDP, while the European Central Bank's assets were worth 30% of GDP.


title: Quantitative easing

text: The SNB's balance sheet has increased massively due to its QE programme, to the extent that in December 2020, the US treasury accused Switzerland of being a "currency manipulator". The US administration recommended Switzerland to increase the retirement age for Swiss workers to reduce saving assets by the Swiss Social Security administration, in order to boost domestic demand and reduce the necessity to maintain QE to stabilize the parity between the dollar and the Swiss franc.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Sveriges Riksbank launched quantitative easing in February 2015, announcing government bond purchases of nearly US$1.2 billion. The annualised inflation rate in January 2015 was -0.3%, and the bank implied that Sweden's economy could slide into deflation.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In early October 2010, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) announced that it would examine the purchase of ¥5 trillion (US$60 billion) in assets. This was an attempt to push down the value of the yen against the US dollar to stimulate the domestic economy by making Japanese exports cheaper; however, it was ineffective.


title: Quantitative easing

text: On 4 August 2011 the BOJ announced a unilateral move to increase the commercial bank current account balance from ¥40 trillion (US$504 billion) to a total of ¥50 trillion (US$630 billion). In October 2011, the bank expanded its asset purchase program by ¥5 trillion ($66bn) to a total of ¥55 trillion.


title: Quantitative easing

text: On 4 April 2013, the Bank of Japan announced that it would expand its asset purchase program by ¥60 trillion to ¥70 trillion per year. The bank hoped to banish deflation and achieve an inflation rate of 2% within two years. This would be achieved through a QE programme worth US$1.4 trillion, an amount so large it is expected to double the money supply. This policy has been named Abenomics, a portmanteau of economic policies from Shinzō Abe, the former Prime Minister of Japan.


title: Quantitative easing

text: On 31 October 2014, the BOJ announced the expansion of its bond buying program, to purchase ¥80 trillion of bonds a year.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In addition to purchases of bonds, Governor Masaaki Shirakawa also directed the BOJ to begin purchasing corporate shares as well as debt securities in October 2010. The BOJ came up with a policy to purchase index ETFs as part of the 2010 Comprehensive Monetary Easing program, which initially placed a cap of ¥450 billion shares with a termination in December 2011. However, later Governor Haruhiko Kuroda replaced the program with the Quantitative and Qualitative Monetary Easing policy which empowered the BOJ to buy ETFs with no cap or termination date, with an increased annual target of ¥1 trillion. The cap was raised multiple times to over ¥19 trillion by March 2018. And in March 16, 2020, following the Covid pandemic, the BOJ doubled its annual ETF purchase target to ¥12 trillion.


title: Quantitative easing

text: The effectiveness of quantitative easing is the subject of an intense dispute among researchers as it is difficult to separate the effect of quantitative easing from other contemporaneous economic and policy measures, such as negative rates.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan calculated that as of July 2012, there was "very little impact on the economy". Bank deposits in the Fed increased by nearly $4 trillion during QE1-3, closely tracking Fed bond purchases. A different assessment has been offered by Federal Reserve Governor Jeremy Stein, who has said that measures of quantitative easing such as large-scale asset purchases "have played a significant role in supporting economic activity".


title: Quantitative easing

text: While the literature on the topic has grown over time, it has also been shown that central banks' own research on the effectiveness of quantitative easing tends to be optimistic in comparison to research by independent researchers, which could indicate a conflict of interest or cognitive bias in central bank research.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Several studies published in the aftermath of the crisis found that quantitative easing in the US has effectively contributed to lower long term interest rates on a variety of securities as well as lower credit risk. This boosted GDP growth and modestly increased inflation. A predictable but unintended consequence of the lower interest rates was to drive investment capital into equities, thereby inflating the value of equities relative to the value of goods and services, and increasing the wealth gap between the wealthy and working class.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In the Eurozone, studies have shown that QE successfully averted deflationary spirals in 2013–2014, and prevented the widening of bond yield spreads between member states. QE also helped reduce bank lending cost. However, the real effect of QE on GDP and inflation remained modest and very heterogeneous depending on methodologies used in research studies, which find on GDP comprised between 0.2% and 1.5% and between 0.1 and 1.4% on inflation. Model-based studies tend to find a higher impact than empirical ones.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In Japan, focusing on equity purchases, studies have shown that QE successfully boosted stock prices, but appear to have not been successful in stimulating corporate investment.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Quantitative easing may cause higher inflation than desired if the amount of easing required is overestimated and too much money is created by the purchase of liquid assets. On the other hand, QE can fail to spur demand if banks remain reluctant to lend money to businesses and households. Even then, QE can still ease the process of deleveraging as it lowers yields. However, there is a time lag between monetary growth and inflation; inflationary pressures associated with money growth from QE could build before the central bank acts to counter them. Inflationary risks are mitigated if the system's economy outgrows the pace of the increase of the money supply from the easing. If production in an economy increases because of the increased money supply, the value of a unit of currency may also increase, even though there is more currency available. For example, if a nation's economy were to spur a significant increase in output at a rate at least as high as the amount of debt monetized the inflationary pressures would be equalized. This can only happen if member banks actually lend the excess money out instead of hoarding the extra cash. During times of high economic output, the central bank always has the option of restoring reserves to higher levels through raising interest rates or other means, effectively reversing the easing steps taken.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Economists such as John Taylor believe that quantitative easing creates unpredictability. Since the increase in bank reserves may not immediately increase the money supply if held as excess reserves, the increased reserves create the danger that inflation may eventually result when the reserves are loaned out.


title: Quantitative easing

text: QE benefits debtors; since the interest rate has fallen, there is less money to be repaid. However, it directly harms creditors as they earn less money from lower interest rates. Devaluation of a currency also directly harms importers and consumers, as the cost of imported goods is inflated by the devaluation of the currency.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In the European Union, World Pensions Council (WPC) financial economists have also argued that artificially low government bond interest rates induced by QE will have an adverse impact on the underfunding condition of pension funds, since "without returns that outstrip inflation, pension investors face the real value of their savings declining rather than ratcheting up over the next few years". In addition to this, low or negative interest rates create disincentives for saving. In a way this is an intended effect, since QE is intended to spur consumer spending.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In Europe, central banks operating corporate quantitative easing (i.e., QE programmes that include corporate bonds) such as the European Central Bank or the Swiss National Bank, have been increasingly criticized by NGOs for not taking into account the climate impact of the companies issuing the bonds. In effect, Corporate QE programmes are perceived as indirect subsidy to polluting companies. The European Parliament has also joined the criticism by adopting several resolutions on the matter, and has repeatedly called on the ECB to reflect climate change considerations in its policies.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Central banks have usually responded by arguing they had to follow the principle of "market neutrality" and should therefore refrain from making discretionary choices when selecting bonds on the market. The notion that central banks can be market neutral is contested, as central banks always make choices that are not neutral for financial markets when implementing monetary policy. Furthermore, research has demonstrated that, in the case of the ECB's corporate bond purchase programme, the principle of market neutrality is not a practical reality, as the ECB's purchases are concentrated on economic sectors that are not representative of the wider economy, and tend to be skewed towards carbon-intensive firms.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Following this criticism, in 2020, several top level ECB policymaker such as Christine Lagarde, Isabel Schnabel, Frank Elderson and others have pointed out the contradiction in the market neutrality logic. In particular, Schnabel argued that "In the presence of market failures, market neutrality may not be the appropriate benchmark for a central bank when the market by itself is not achieving efficient outcomes"


title: Quantitative easing

text: Since 2020, several central banks (including the ECB, Bank of England and the Swedish central banks) have announced their intention to incorporate climate criteria in their QE programmes. The Network for Greening the Financial System has identified different possible measures to align central banks' collateral frameworks and QE with climate objectives.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Critics frequently point to the redistributive effects of quantitative easing. For instance, British Prime Minister Theresa May openly criticized QE in July 2016 for its regressive effects: "Monetary policy – in the form of super-low interest rates and quantitative easing – has helped those on the property ladder at the expense of those who can't afford to own their own home." Dhaval Joshi of BCA Research wrote that "QE cash ends up overwhelmingly in profits, thereby exacerbating already extreme income inequality and the consequent social tensions that arise from it". Anthony Randazzo of the Reason Foundation wrote that QE "is fundamentally a regressive redistribution program that has been boosting wealth for those already engaged in the financial sector or those who already own homes, but passing little along to the rest of the economy. It is a primary driver of income inequality".


title: Quantitative easing

text: Those criticisms are partly based on some evidence provided by central banks themselves. In 2012, a Bank of England report showed that its quantitative easing policies had benefited mainly the wealthy, and that 40% of those gains went to the richest 5% of British households.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In May 2013, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said that cheap money has made rich people richer, but has not done quite as much for working Americans.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Answering similar criticisms expressed by MEP Molly Scott Cato, the President of the ECB Mario Draghi once declared: Some of these policies may, on the one hand, increase inequality but, on the other hand, if we ask ourselves what the major source of inequality is, the answer would be unemployment. So, to the extent that these policies help – and they are helping on that front – then certainly an accommodative monetary policy is better in the present situation than a restrictive monetary policy.In July 2018, the ECB published a study showing that its QE programme increased the net wealth of the poorest fifth of the population by 2.5 percent, compared with just 1.0 percent for the richest fifth. The study's credibility was however contested.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Quantitative easing (QE) policies can have a profound effect on Forex rates, since it changes the supply of one currency compared to another. For instance, if both the US and Europe are using quantitative easing to the same degree then the currency pair of US/EUR may not fluctuate. However, if the US treasury uses QE to a higher degree, as evidenced in the increased purchase of securities during an economic crisis, but India does not, then the value of the USD will decrease relative to the Indian rupee. As a result, quantitative easing has the same effect as purchasing foreign currencies, effectively manipulating the value of one currency compared to another.


title: Quantitative easing

text: BRIC countries have criticized the QE carried out by the central banks of developed nations. They share the argument that such actions amount to protectionism and competitive devaluation. As net exporters whose currencies are partially pegged to the dollar, they protest that QE causes inflation to rise in their countries and penalizes their industries.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In a joint statement leaders of Russia, Brazil, India, China and South Africa, collectively BRICS, have condemned the policies of western economies saying "It is critical for advanced economies to adopt responsible macro-economic and financial policies, avoid creating excessive liquidity and undertake structural reforms to lift growth" as written in the Telegraph.


title: Quantitative easing

text: According to Bloomberg reporter David Lynch, the new money from quantitative easing could be used by the banks to invest in emerging markets, commodity-based economies, commodities themselves, and non-local opportunities rather than to lend to local businesses that are having difficulty getting loans.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Another criticism prevalent in Europe, is that QE creates moral hazard for governments. Central banks’ purchases of government securities artificially depress the cost of borrowing. Normally, governments issuing additional debt see their borrowing costs rise, which discourages them from overdoing it. In particular, market discipline in the form of higher interest rates will cause a government like Italy's, tempted to increase deficit spending, to think twice. Not so, however, when the central bank acts as bond buyer of last resort and is prepared to purchase government securities without limit. In such circumstances, market discipline will be incapacitated.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Richard W. Fisher, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, warned in 2010 that QE carries "the risk of being perceived as embarking on the slippery slope of debt monetization. We know that once a central bank is perceived as targeting government debt yields at a time of persistent budget deficits, concern about debt monetization quickly arises." Later in the same speech, he stated that the Fed is monetizing the government debt: "The math of this new exercise is readily transparent: The Federal Reserve will buy $110 billion a month in Treasuries, an amount that, annualized, represents the projected deficit of the federal government for next year. For the next eight months, the nation's central bank will be monetizing the federal debt."


title: Quantitative easing

text: Ben Bernanke remarked in 2002 that the US government had a technology called the printing press (or, today, its electronic equivalent), so that if rates reached zero and deflation threatened, the government could always act to ensure deflation was prevented. He said, however, that the government would not print money and distribute it "willy nilly" but would rather focus its efforts in certain areas (e.g., buying federal agency debt securities and mortgage-backed securities).


title: Quantitative easing

text: According to economist Robert McTeer, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, there is nothing wrong with printing money during a recession, and quantitative easing is different from traditional monetary policy "only in its magnitude and pre-announcement of amount and timing".


title: Quantitative easing

text: In response to concerns that QE is failing to create sufficient demand, particularly in the Eurozone, some have called for "QE for the people" or "helicopter money". Instead of buying government bonds or other securities by creating bank reserves, as the Federal Reserve and Bank of England have done, some suggest that central banks could make payments directly to households (in a similar fashion as Milton Friedman's helicopter money).


title: Quantitative easing

text: Economists Mark Blyth and Eric Lonergan argue in "Foreign Affairs" that this is the most effective solution for the Eurozone, particularly given the restrictions on fiscal policy. They argue that based on the evidence from tax rebates in the United States, less than 5% of GDP transferred by the ECB to the household sector in the Eurozone would suffice to generate a recovery, a fraction of what it intends to be done under standard QE. Oxford economist John Muellbauer has suggested that this could be legally implemented using the electoral register.


title: Quantitative easing

text: On 27 March 2015, 19 economists including Steve Keen, Ann Pettifor, Robert Skidelsky, and Guy Standing have signed a letter to the "Financial Times" calling on the European Central Bank to adopt a more direct approach to its quantitative easing plan announced earlier in February. In August 2019, prominent central bankers Stanley Fischer and Philip Hildebrand co-authored a paper published by BlackRock in which they propose a form of helicopter money.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Carbon quantitative easing (CQE) is an untested form of QE that is featured in a newly proposed international climate policy, called a global carbon reward. A major goal of CQE is to finance the global carbon reward by managing the exchange rate of a new representative currency, called a carbon currency. The carbon currency will act as an international unit of account and a store of value, because it will represent the mass of carbon that is mitigated and rewarded under the global carbon reward policy.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Keynesian economics became popular after the Great Depression. The idea is that in an economy with low inflation and high unemployment (especially technological unemployment), demand side economics will stimulate consumer spending, which increases business profits, which increases investment. Keynesians promote methods like public works, infrastructure redevelopment, and increases in the social safety net to increase demand and inflation.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Quantitative easing has been nicknamed "money printing" by some members of the media, central bankers, and financial analysts.


title: Quantitative easing

text: However, QE is a very different form of money creation than it is commonly understood when talking about "money printing" (otherwise called monetary financing or debt monetization). Indeed, with QE the newly created money is usually used to buy financial assets beyond just government bonds (corporate bonds etc.) and QE is usually implemented in the secondary market.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In most developed nations (e.g., the United Kingdom, the United States, Japan, and the Eurozone), central banks are prohibited from buying government debt directly from the government and must instead buy it from the secondary market. This two-step process, where the government sells bonds to private entities that in turn sell them to the central bank, has been called "monetizing the debt" by many analysts.


title: Quantitative easing

text: The distinguishing characteristic between QE and debt monetization is that with the former, the central bank creates money to stimulate the economy, not to finance government spending (although an indirect effect of QE is to lower rates on sovereign bonds). Also, the central bank has the stated intention of reversing the QE when the economy has recovered (by selling the government bonds and other financial assets back into the market). The only effective way to determine whether a central bank has monetized debt is to compare its performance relative to its stated objectives. Many central banks have adopted an inflation target. It is likely that a central bank is monetizing the debt if it continues to buy government debt when inflation is above target and if the government has problems with debt financing.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Some economists such as Adair Turner have argued that outright monetary financing would be more effective than QE.


title: Quantitative easing

text: Neo-Fisherism, based on theories made by Irving Fisher reasons that the solution to low inflation is not quantitative easing, but paradoxically to increase interest rates. This is due to the fact that if interest rates continue to decline, banks will lose customers and less money will be invested back into the economy.


title: Quantitative easing

text: In a situation of low inflation and high debt, customers will feel more secure holding on to cash or converting cash into commodities, which fails to stimulate economic growth. If the money supply increases from quantitative easing, customers will subsequently default in the face of higher prices, thus resetting the low inflation and worsening the low inflation issue.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: Sophie Dahl ( Holloway; born 15 September 1977) is an English author and former fashion model. Her first novel, "The Man with the Dancing Eyes", was published in 2003 followed by "Playing With the Grown-ups" in 2007. In 2009, she wrote "Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights", a cookery book which formed the basis for a six-part BBC 2 series named "The Delicious Miss Dahl". In 2011, she published her second cookery book "From Season to Season". Her first children's book, "Madame Badobedah", was released in 2019. She is the daughter of Tessa Dahl and Julian Holloway and the granddaughter of author Roald Dahl, actress Patricia Neal, and actor Stanley Holloway.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: Dahl was born in London in 1977 to the actor Julian Holloway and the writer Tessa Dahl. Dahl's parents separated shortly after her birth. Through her mother, Dahl has three half-siblings. As a child, Sophie frequently spent time at both her maternal and paternal grandparents' houses in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire and East Preston, West Sussex, respectively. Dahl has noted that her childhood was "an odd one, but with such magic". Dahl attended 10 schools and lived in 17 homes in various locations including London, New York, and India.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: At a size 16, Dahl was initially a plus-size model, referred to as "voluptuous"; losing weight during her twenties, she would subsequently model at a size some "considered too thin". Dahl considered her initial size "puppy fat", and considered it "funny ... that there has always been such a fuss made about" her weight loss. Dahl started modelling at the age of 18 after a meeting with Isabella Blow, who was then an editor at "British Vogue". The following year Dahl made her debut on the catwalk at Lainey Keogh's London fashion week show, modelling Autumn/Winter knitwear. She then went on to appear in advertising campaigns for Versace, Alexander McQueen, Boucheron, Pringle, Godiva, Banana Republic, Gap and Boodles amongst others. She appeared on the covers of both British and Italian "Vogue", along with the covers of Elle, "Harpers Bazaar", "Red", "Numero", and "Tatler".


title: Sophie Dahl

text: During her career as a model, Dahl worked with photographers including Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Tim Walker, Steven Klein and Steven Meisel. In 2000, Dahl became the face of Yves Saint-Laurent's Opium. The ad campaign was art-directed by Tom Ford and shot by Steven Meisel. Dahl's nude images in British advertisements caused a near-record number of complaints to the UK's Advertising Standards Authority.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: In 2003 Dahl published her first book, an illustrated novella and Times bestseller, "The Man with the Dancing Eyes" (Bloomsbury Publishing). From 2005 Dahl was a contributing editor and regular columnist at "Men's Vogue", prior to its closure in 2008. Dahl is the author of four other books: "Playing with the Grown-Ups" (2007) and two cook books, "Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights" (2009) and "From Season To Season" (2011). She was a contributor to an anthology, "Truth or Dare", edited by Justine Picardie, which included works by Zoë Heller and William Fiennes. She also provided introductions to the Puffin Classic new edition of "The Secret Garden" by Frances Hodgson Burnett, and the Virago Press re-issue of Stella Gibbons' 1938 novel "Nightingale Wood" – both released in April 2009 – and Nancy Mitford's "Don't Tell Alfred", reissued by Penguin in March 2010.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: In March and April 2010 a six-part cookery series, "The Delicious Miss Dahl", which Dahl wrote and presented, was broadcast on BBC 2. She wrote and presented a social history documentary about the Victorian cook Isabella Beeton, which was transmitted on BBC 2 on 29 September 2011.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: Dahl was a contributing editor at British magazine "Vogue" for a decade, writing about subjects from cultural identity and the journey of refugees to Britain to the Proustian response to scent, winning a Jasmine Award for her column. She is a contributing editor at Conde Nast Traveller, and has written essays for amongst others, "The Guardian", the American edition of "Vogue", "The Observer" and "The New York Times Magazine".


title: Sophie Dahl

text: It was announced in the "Bookseller" in 2019 that Dahl had been signed to a four-book deal with Walker Books. The first of these, "Madame Badoebdah", a children's picture book illustrated by Lauren O'Hara, was published in October 2019. Dahl's second book with Walker, "The Worst Sleepover in the World", illustrated by Luciano Lozano, will be published in October 2021.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: Dahl's paternal grandparents were the actor Stanley Holloway and his wife, Violet ( Lane), a former chorus dancer. Dahl's paternal lineage has been associated with the stage since at least 1850; Charles Bernard (1830–1894), a great-uncle to Stanley Holloway, was a Shakespearean actor and theatre manager in London and the English provinces. Bernard's son, Oliver Percy Bernard OBE MC (1881–1939), was an architect and scenic designer, responsible for the sets for Sir Thomas Beecham's "Ring" Cycle at Covent Garden. Through Bernard, Dahl is related to his sons, the poet and translator Oliver Bernard, the photographer Bruce Bernard, and the writer Jeffrey Bernard. Dahl's maternal grandparents were the author Roald Dahl and the American actress Patricia Neal.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: On 9 January 2010 Dahl married the singer Jamie Cullum. They had their first child, a daughter named Lyra, in March 2011. The couple had a second daughter, Margot, in March 2013. The family live in Buckinghamshire.


title: Sophie Dahl

text: Dahl is an ambassador at Place2Be, a charity who provide mental health support and advocacy in schools across the UK.


title: Hwasa

text: Ahn Hye-jin (, born July 23, 1995), known professionally by her stage name Hwasa (), is a South Korean singer, rapper, and television personality currently signed to RBW. She debuted as a member of the girl group Mamamoo in 2014. She made her debut as a solo artist in February 2019, with the digital single "Twit".


title: Hwasa

text: Ahn Hye-jin was born on July 23, 1995, in Jeonju, Jeollabuk-do, South Korea, where she lived with her parents and two elder sisters. She graduated from Wonkwang Information Arts High School. Hwasa often cites Beyoncé as her music inspiration, when she opened up in an interview and said that after hearing someone say that she is unique and good at singing but is fat and not pretty, she went home and watched videos of Beyoncé performing all night.


title: Hwasa

text: Even before her K-pop debut, a number of South Korean artists – including Solbi and the band Standing Egg – recognized her talent and featured her on their tracks when she was 18.


title: Hwasa

text: Hwasa debuted as a member of the girl group Mamamoo on June 19, 2014, being one of the leading voices with the release of the lead single "Mr. Ambiguous" from their first extended play (EP) "Hello". She wrote and composed her first solo song, "My Heart/I Do Me," from "Hello".


title: Hwasa

text: In March 2018, Hwasa released her second solo song, "Be Calm," as part of Mamamoo's sixth EP, "Yellow Flower". The music video for the song was uploaded on March 25, 2018 and has gained 7.9 million views as of August 2022. "Be Calm" charted at number 35 on the Gaon Download Chart. In April 2018, Hwasa joined the cast of KBS reality television show "Hyena on the Keyboard"; the appearance spawned a collaboration with rapper Loco titled "Don't". Hwasa took part in writing and composing the song and it topped the South Korean's Gaon Digital Chart. "Don't" was later certified Platinum for 100 million streams in January 2019 and again for 2.5 million downloads in August 2019.


title: Hwasa

text: In February 2019, Hwasa made her debut as a solo artist with the digital single, "Twit," which she participated in writing and composing. The song was a commercial success, peaking atop the Gaon Digital Chart and scored a "Triple Crown," topping the Gaon Digital, Gaon Download and Gaon Streaming charts. "Twit" also peaked at number three on "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart for the week of March 2, 2019. Hwasa released the single "In The Fall," a collaboration with South Korean hip-hop producer Woogie, in October. In December, "Twit" was featured in "Billboard" "The 25 Best K-pop Songs of 2019: Critics' Pick" list at number 8 and in "Refinery29"s list of "The Best K-Pop Songs of 2019" at number 13. Its music video was also included in "Rolling Stone India"'s article of the "10 Best K-pop Music Videos of 2019."


title: Hwasa

text: In March 2020, Hwasa collaborated with the English singer Dua Lipa for a remix of Lipa's "Physical," which features Korean lyrics. In April, it was reported that Hwasa had joined the original soundtrack lineup of the Korean drama "" and would be releasing her first solo soundtrack song, titled "Orbit." The song debuted at number 16 on "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales Chart on May 2, 2020.


title: Hwasa

text: On June 29, Hwasa released her debut EP, titled "Maria", and the lead single of the same name. The EP debuted at number seven on the "Billboard" World Albums chart and peaked at number eighty-one on the "Billboard" Top Current Albums Sales charts on July 11, 2020. Lead single "Maria" was composed by Hwasa and producer Park Woo-sang with the goal of showing her growth as a singer-songwriter. Hwasa also wrote the lyrics for "LMM" and composed "Why." For the week of September 26, 2020, "Maria" peaked at number two on "Billboard" K-pop Hot 100 and on the week of October 3, 2020, it peaked at number 79 on "Billboard" Japan Hot 100. "Maria" also debuted at number six on the "Billboard" World Digital Song Sales chart.


title: Hwasa

text: On season six of JTBC's entertainment show "Hidden Singer", Hwasa was one of the contestants for the episode airing on September 11, 2020. In the final round, Hwasa won by an overwhelming 79 votes, which ended the four consecutive losing streaks from previous contestants and earned the singer her second win as an original singer of the season. Hwasa joined the cast of MBC reality-variety show "How Do You Play?" On October 10, she debuted with Refund Sisters, the project supergroup created through "Hangout with Yoo". The group released their debut single, "Don't Touch Me." "Don't Touch Me" peaked atop the Gaon Digital Chart for two consecutive weeks.


title: Hwasa

text: At the end of 2020, "Billboard" named "Maria" the song with the second-most weeks inside the K-pop Hot 100 top 10 during the course of the year—charting for 19 consecutive weeks, while Spotify ranked Hwasa number 4 in their "2020 Most Played Female Korean K-pop Artist" list. "Maria" was ranked 2nd in "Rolling Stone India"s list of 20 Best K-pop Music Videos of the year and 27th in "Paper"s list of best K-pop song list of 40 Best K-pop Songs of 2020. The article mentioned that "Hwasa is known to many as a fearless person but her single 'Maria' deconstructs that image, casting an image of a young woman who is at once vulnerable and confident, playful and seductive — idol and human." In "Time" magazine's article documenting K-pop songs and albums that defined the year, the publication wrote "of the solo releases [the] year, Hwasa's "Maria" leaves the most searing impression". With her success, Hwasa ranked ninth on the "Top 100 Kpop Idols YouTube Worldwide Search Rankings for 2020."


title: Hwasa

text: On July 23, 2021, Hwasa launched her YouTube channel, "Hwasa Official" and posted her first video. On November 24, she released her single album "Guilty Pleasure", and its lead single "I'm a B". On July 16, 2022, it was announced that Hwasa will collaborate on a new single "Somebody" with Loco, which will be released on July 25.


title: Hwasa

text: Hwasa has appeared on Korea Power Celebrity 40 list placing 26th in 2019, and was featured by "Forbes" in their 30 Under 30 Asia list of 2021. She was ranked as the 16th most popular K-pop idol in 2018 and 9th in 2019 in annual surveys conducted by Gallup Korea. Also, she was ranked 9th in annual survey for Gallup Korea's Singer of the Year in 2020 under the category selected by respondents in age group 13 to 39. She also has been placed first occasionally on the Korean Business Research Institute's monthly "Individual Girl Group Members Brand Power Ranking".


title: Hwasa

text: Hwasa's appearances on reality shows, "I Live Alone" and "Let's Eat Dinner Together", has been credited for influencing restaurant habits, food recipes and increased sales of foods and accessories in South Korea.


title: Hwasa

text: In September 2018, Hwasa was selected as an ambassador for outdoor brand "The North Face". In October 2018, she became the first female model for "Lotte" Crunky Gold since its release in 1984. In March 2019, Hwasa became an endorser for Davich's 'Trevues' lenses. In March 2019, "Coca-Cola" ice tea brand Gold Peak Tea selected Hwasa as their new model. She then became the newest muse for make up brand "Rarekind" in April 2019. In June 2019, Hwasa became the new model for "Everland" Caribbean Bay. Hwasa later on was featured on the cover of "Cosmopolitan" Korea's August 2019 issue. In November, she teamed up with "Vogue" magazine and "Urban Decay" cosmetics for their "Pretty Different" and "Queen" inspired concepts. "Ottogi" revealed in November 2019 that their newest model for their Jjamppong instant noodles was Hwasa.


title: Hwasa

text: In January 2020, "The Sims 4" announced that Hwasa will be part of their advertising campaign. EA Korea released ""Play With Life"," a Sims 4 commercial film video featuring Hwasa. She then teamed up with "MCM" for the February issue of "Elle" Korea, a fashion magazine. In February of that year, Hwasa was chosen as an ambassador for sports brand "Adidas." Hwasa later on became Kiss New York's new muse in April, and the following month, she was chosen as a model for a hangover drink by "Lotte Chilsung Beverage". Hwasa was featured on the cover of "Cosmopolitan" Korea's August 2020 issue. "Tommy Jeans" released a campaign pictorial with Hwasa on September 16 for the 2020 Fall Season. In September, "Vogue" and "Gucci" had a collaboration campaign from the idea of having time with themselves. In 2021, Hwasa was featured in "Vogue"'s February 2021 issue.


title: Hwasa

text: In September 2022, Hwasa together with EXO's Kai became brand ambassadors for the South Korean health and beauty brand, Olive Young. The duo's nationwide campaign started on September 15th as featured on the company's social media.


title: Hwasa

text: All song credits are adapted from the Korea Music Copyright Association's database unless stated otherwise.


title: Halo 2

text: Halo 2 is a 2004 first-person shooter game developed by Bungie and published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox console. "Halo 2" is the second installment in the "Halo" franchise and the sequel to 2001's critically acclaimed "". The game features new weapons, enemies, and vehicles, and shipped with online multiplayer via Microsoft's Xbox Live service. In "Halo 2"s story mode, the player assumes the roles of the human Master Chief and alien Arbiter in a 26th-century conflict between the United Nations Space Command, the genocidal Covenant, and the parasitic Flood.


title: Halo 2

text: After the success of "Halo: Combat Evolved", a sequel was expected and highly anticipated. Bungie found inspiration in plot points and gameplay elements that had been left out of their first game, including online multiplayer. A troubled development and time constraints forced cuts to the scope of the game, including the wholesale removal of a more ambitious multiplayer mode, and necessitated a cliffhanger ending to the game's campaign mode. Among "Halo 2"s marketing was an early alternate reality game called "I Love Bees" that involved players solving real-world puzzles. Bungie supported the game after release with new multiplayer maps and updates to address cheating and glitches. The game was followed by a sequel, "Halo 3", in September 2007.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" was a commercial and critical success and is often listed as one of the greatest video games of all time. The game became the most popular title on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of "Gears of War" for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later. "Halo 2" is the best-selling first-generation Xbox game, with more than 8 million copies sold worldwide. The game received critical acclaim, with the multiplayer lauded; in comparison, the campaign and its cliffhanger ending was divisive. The game's online component was highly influential and cemented many features as standard in future games and online services, including matchmaking, lobbies, and clans. "Halo 2"s marketing heralded the beginnings of video games as blockbuster media. A port of the game for Windows Vista was released in 2007, followed by a high-definition remake as part of "" in 2014.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" is a shooter game. Players primarily experience gameplay from a first-person perspective, with the viewpoint shifting to third-person for vehicle segments. Players use a combination of human and Covenant weaponry and vehicles to progress through the game's levels. Certain weapons can be dual-wielded, allowing the player to trade accuracy, the use of grenades, and melee attacks for raw firepower. The player can carry two weapons at a time (or three if dual-wielding, with one weapon remaining holstered), with each weapon having strengths in different combat situations. Most Covenant weapons, for example, eschew disposable ammo magazines for a contained battery, which cannot be replaced once depleted. However, these weapons overheat if fired continuously. Human weapons are less effective at penetrating shields and require reloading ammunition, but cannot overheat due to prolonged fire. Players can hijack enemy vehicles and quickly assume control of them. The player is equipped with a damage-absorbing shield that regenerates when not taking fire; their health bar is not visible.


title: Halo 2

text: The game's "Campaign" mode offers options for both single-player and cooperative multiplayer participation. In campaign mode, the player must complete a series of levels that encompass "Halo 2"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s storyline. These levels alternate between the Master Chief and a Covenant Elite called the Arbiter, who occupy diametrically opposed roles in the story's conflict. Aside from variations in storyline, the Arbiter differs from Master Chief only in that his armor lacks a flashlight; instead, it is equipped with a short duration rechargeable form of active camouflage that disappears when the player attacks or takes damage. There are four difficulty levels in campaign mode: Easy, Normal, Heroic, and Legendary. An increase in difficulty will result in an increase in the number, rank, health, damage, and accuracy of enemies; a reduction of duration and an increase in recharge time for the Arbiter's active camouflage; a decrease in the player's health and shields; and occasional changes in dialogue. Enemy and friendly artificial intelligence is dynamic, and replaying the same encounters repeatedly will demonstrate different behavior.


title: Halo 2

text: Like "Halo: Combat Evolved", the Xbox version of "Halo 2" features a multiplayer system that allows players to compete with each other in split-screen and system link modes; in addition, it added support for online multiplayer via Xbox Live. The Xbox Live multiplayer and downloadable content features of the Xbox version of "Halo 2" were supported until the discontinuation of the service in April 2010, with the final multiplayer session concluding May 10, almost a month after the service was officially terminated. Multiplayer for the PC version of the game used Games for Windows – Live. PC multiplayer servers were taken offline in June 2013.


title: Halo 2

text: Instead of implementing multiplayer by having players manually join lobbies, as was common in games at the time, "Halo 2" used matchmaking. Players chose the general type of match they want to play, and the game selected the map and gametype and automatically found other players. This "playlist" system automated the process of finding matches to keep a steady flow of games available at all times, and combined a skill-ranking system on top.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" takes place in the 26th century. Humans, under the auspices of the United Nations Space Command or UNSC, have developed faster-than-light slipspace travel and colonized numerous worlds. Human worlds come under attack by a collective of alien races known as the Covenant. Declaring humanity an affront to their gods, the Forerunners, the Covenant begin to obliterate the humans with their superior numbers and technology. After the human planet Reach is destroyed, a single ship, "The Pillar of Autumn", follows protocol and initiates a random slipspace jump to lead the Covenant away from Earth. The crew discovers a Forerunner ringworld called Halo. Though the Covenant believe Halo's activation will lead to divine salvation, the humans discover that the rings are actually weapons, built to contain a terrifying parasite called the Flood. The human supersoldier Master Chief Petty Officer John-117 and his AI companion Cortana learn from Halo's AI monitor, 343 Guilty Spark, that activation of the Halos will destroy all sentient life in the galaxy to prevent the Flood's spread. Instead of activating the ring, Master Chief and Cortana detonate the "Pillar of Autumn"s engines, destroying the installation and preventing the escape of the Flood. Master Chief and Cortana race back to Earth to warn of an impending invasion by Covenant forces.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" opens with the trial of a Covenant Elite commander aboard the Covenant's capital city-ship of "High Charity". For his failure to stop Halo's destruction, the Elite is stripped of his rank, branded a heretic, and tortured by Tartarus, the Chieftain of the Covenant Brutes. Spared execution, the Covenant leadership—the High Prophets Truth, Regret, and Mercy—give the Elite the chance to become an Arbiter, a rank given to Elites in times of great crisis or turmoil. As the Arbiter, the Elite quells a rebellion and recovers 343 Guilty Spark.


title: Halo 2

text: On Earth, Fleet Admiral Hood commends the Master Chief and Sergeant Avery Johnson for their , with Commander Miranda Keyes accepting a medal on behalf of her deceased father, Captain Jacob Keyes. A Covenant fleet suddenly appears near Earth. In the ensuing battle, a single ship carrying the Prophet of Regret slips through Earth's defenses and besieges the African city of New Mombasa. Master Chief assists in repelling the invasion. With his fleet destroyed, Regret makes a hasty slipspace jump, and Keyes, Johnson, Cortana, and the Master Chief follow aboard the UNSC ship "In Amber Clad". The crew discovers another Halo installation; realizing the danger the ring presents, Keyes sends Master Chief to kill Regret while she and Johnson search for the Index, Halo's activation key.


title: Halo 2

text: Responding to Regret's distress call, "High Charity" and the Covenant fleet arrive at the Halo. After Master Chief kills Regret, the Covenant bombard his location; he falls into a lake, where he is dragged away by tentacles. Regret's death triggers discord among the races of the Covenant, as the Prophets give the Brutes the Elites' traditional role as their honor guard. The Arbiter subdues Johnson and Keyes and retrieves the Index. Tartarus appears and reveals that the Prophets have ordered the annihilation of the Elites, and sends the Arbiter falling down a deep chasm.


title: Halo 2

text: The Arbiter meets the Master Chief in the bowels of the Halo, brought together by a Flood creature called the Gravemind. The Gravemind reveals to the Arbiter that the Great Journey is a lie, and sends the two soldiers to different places to stop Halo's activation. The Master Chief is teleported to "High Charity" as the Covenant falls into civil war. The Flood-infested "In Amber Clad" crashes into the city, and Cortana realizes that the Gravemind used them as a distraction. As the parasite overruns the city, the Prophet of Mercy is consumed. As for Tartarus, the Prophet of Truth consigns him to Halo with Keyes, Johnson, and Guilty Spark to activate the ring. Master Chief follows Truth aboard a Forerunner ship leaving the city; Cortana remains behind to destroy "High Charity" and Halo if Tartarus succeeds in activating the ring.


title: Halo 2

text: On the surface of Halo, the Arbiter joins forces with Johnson and confronts Tartarus in Halo's control room. When the Arbiter tries to convince Tartarus that the Prophets have betrayed them, Tartarus instead activates the ring, and a battle ensues. The Arbiter and Johnson kill Tartarus while Keyes removes the Index; the unexpected deactivation sets Halo and all the other rings on standby for remote activation from a place 343 Guilty Spark calls "the Ark." Meanwhile, Truth's ship arrives at Earth, and Master Chief informs Admiral Hood that he is "finishing this fight."


title: Halo 2

text: In a post-credits scene, Gravemind assumes control of "High Charity". Cortana agrees to answer the Flood intelligence's questions.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo" had never been planned as a trilogy, but the critical and commercial success of "Combat Evolved"—selling more than five million copies in three years—made a sequel expected. Xbox general manager J Allard confirmed "Halo 2" was in production at Electronic Entertainment Expo 2002, with a planned release in time for Holiday 2003.


title: Halo 2

text: Many at Bungie wanted to make a sequel, building on cut ideas from "Combat Evolved" with a more ambitious follow-up. The added publisher support for a sequel allowed greater leeway and the ability to return to more ambitious ideas lost during "Combat Evolved"s development. Not satisfied with merely adding back cut content to the sequel, designer Jaime Griesemer recalled that the team "tripled everything," rebuilding the game engine, changing the physics engine, and prototyping a system for stencil shadow volumes. The game's development would suffer from a lack of clear leadership. Early development discussions happened in small, unconnected teams that did not talk with each other. Bungie cofounder and project lead Jason Jones, who had been exhausted shipping "Combat Evolved", similarly burned out during "Halo 2"s production. Jones left the project to work on another Bungie game, "Phoenix", leaving fewer people to work on "Halo 2". The departure of Bungie's cofounder Alex Seropian in 2002 caused additional friction and politics in the workplace where Seropian had once mediated tensions. Writer Joseph Staten described the team's ambitions thusly:


title: Halo 2

text: Then we just plowed ahead, much like we'd done with "Halo", with one notable exception. We ordered ourselves a giant sandwich, took a bite but didn't realize exactly how big it was before we started in. And we did that across the board, technically, artistically, and story wise. But of course, we didn't figure that out until way too late.


title: Halo 2

text: Griesemer put it more bluntly: "What's the phrase? Putting ten pounds of crap into a five-pound bag? We really tried to cram it too full, and we paid the price."


title: Halo 2

text: An important feature for "Halo 2" was multiplayer using Xbox Live. Multiplayer in "Combat Evolved" was accomplished via System Link and had nearly been scrapped altogether in the rush to complete the game. Most players never played large maps, while a subset greatly enjoyed 16-player action, connecting consoles together with network cables for group play. "We looked at the small set of fans who were able to do this," said engineering lead Chris Butcher, "and just how much they were enjoying themselves, and asked ourselves if we could bring that to everybody. That would be something really special, really unique." Initially, "Combat Evolved"s multiplayer was supposed to involve larger maps and player counts than what shipped, and members of the team wanted to resurrect those plans for "Halo 2". The smaller multiplayer modes and local split-screen capabilities of the first game would have been removed. Designer Max Hoberman successfully argued against wholesale removal of a successful component from the previous game. He was put in charge of a small team to further develop the small-scale arena multiplayer, while the rest of the team developed a larger "Warfare" mode. Bungie promised in previews that the core of this multiplayer would be squad-based online battles between human Spartans and Covenant Elites, with players able to call in airstrikes. Hoberman's pitch for "Halo 2"s arena multiplayer was to bring the fun of couch multiplayer online. As Hoberman was not an excellent video game player, he wanted to make sure the game remained fun for even lower-skilled players, rather than catering to the very competitive ones. The system of playlist matchmaking and allowing friends to "party up" to play games together were crucial to creating a global community of players.


title: Halo 2

text: The story for "Halo 2" grew out of all the elements that were not seen in "Combat Evolved". Jason Jones organized his core ideas for the sequel's story and approached Staten for input. According to Staten, among the elements that did not make it to the finished game was a "horrible scene of betrayal" where Miranda Keyes straps a bomb to the Master Chief's back and throws him into a hole in revenge for her father's death; "Jason was going through a rather difficult breakup at the time and I think that had something to do with it," he said. Staten and Griesemer discussed seeing the war from the Covenant perspective, forming the idea to have part of the game told from the perspective of a Covenant warrior known as the Dervish. Late in development, the Dervish became the Arbiter, after legal teams at Microsoft were afraid the game was sending a message about Islam.


title: Halo 2

text: In February 2003, Bungie began developing a gameplay demonstration for E3 2003. The demo, which was the first gameplay seen by the public, showcased new enemies and abilities. Many elements of the trailer, however, were not game-ready; the entire graphics engine used in the footage had to be discarded, and the trailer's environment never appeared in the final game due to limitations on how big the game environments could be. Elements like vehicle hijacking were entirely scripted, and in order to keep performance at an acceptable level, a Bungie staff member deleted objects from the game as the player passed through. The restructuring of the engine meant that there was no playable build of "Halo 2" for nearly a year, and assets and environments produced by art and design teams could not be prototyped, bottlenecking development. Griesemer recalled that development was "moving backwards", and after E3 the team realized that much of what the team had worked on for the past two years would have to be scrapped.


title: Halo 2

text: In order to ship the game, Bungie began paring back their ambitions for the single- and multiplayer parts of the game. All other Bungie projects, including "Phoenix", were cancelled, with their teams folded into "Halo 2" to complete the game. The campaign was completely rethought and remained unplayable for more than a year while the multiplayer was being developed. Ultimately, a third act of the game where Master Chief and Arbiter came together on Earth to defeat the Prophets was cut entirely. Staten hoped the resulting cliffhanger would be treated like the end of "The Empire Strikes Back". Planned vehicles, such as variants of the Warthog and an all terrain vehicle, were scrapped.


title: Halo 2

text: With the single-player mode in trouble, very little had been done with the large Warfare multiplayer mode. Eventually, the entire warfare mode was cut, and Hoberman's small team project became the shipping multiplayer suite. Engineer Chris Butcher commented, "For "Halo 2" we had our sights set very high on networking. Going from having no internet multiplayer to developing a completely new online model was a big challenge to tackle all at once, and as a result we had to leave a lot of things undone in order to meet the ship date commitment that we made to our fans."


title: Halo 2

text: As one of Microsoft's tentpole games, the publisher had two full-time user experience researchers managing a team of game testers working on the title. The researchers used playtests, surveys, and usability testing to provide Bungie with input on how the game would be received. Feedback of the game's matchmaking system was very unfavorable, with the testers preferring the control offered by traditional servers. Researcher John Hopson recalled that while they suggested to Bungie they should change the matchmaking system, the developers remained steadfast their new approach would be better in the real world; Hopson later agreed with their choice, saying that his team had only narrowly avoided ruining the game. To test real-world network conditions, Bungie ran a closed alpha of the multiplayer with 1000 Microsoft employees for five weeks.


title: Halo 2

text: Outside of Bungie, "Combat Evolved"s success had become a problem for "Halo 2"s development, as the success of the Xbox platform was riding on "Halo". Microsoft originally pressured Bungie to have the game ready as a launch title for Xbox Live in November 2002, which Bungie employees told them was impossible. At one point, Microsoft executives had a vote over whether to force Bungie to ship the incomplete game, or give them another year of development time. Microsoft Studios head Ed Fries walked out of the vote and threatened to resign to get Bungie the extra time.


title: Halo 2

text: Missing the Xbox's last holiday season before its successor console, the Xbox 360, shipped was not an option. To hit its new November 9, 2004, release date, Bungie went into the "mother of all crunches" in order to finish the game. "A lot of people sacrificed themselves in ways that you should never have to for your job," design lead Paul Bertone recalled; he kenneled his dog for nearly two months and slept in the office for the final days of development. Griesemer said that this lack of a "polish" period near the end of the development cycle was the main reason for "Halo 2"s shortcomings. Butcher retrospectively described "Halo 2"s multiplayer mode as "a pale shadow of what it could and should have been" due to the tight schedule.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2"s soundtrack was composed primarily by Martin O'Donnell and his musical partner Michael Salvatori, the team that had composed the critically acclaimed music of "Halo". O'Donnell noted in composing the music for "Halo 2" that "making a sequel is never a simple proposition. You want to make everything that was cool even better, and leave out all the stuff that was weak." O'Donnell made sure that no part of the game would be completely silent, noting "Ambient sound is one of the main ways to immerse people psychologically. A dark room is spooky, but add a creaking floorboard and rats skittering in the walls and it becomes "really" creepy." "Halo 2", unlike its predecessor, was mixed to take full advantage of Dolby 5.1 Digital surround sound.


title: Halo 2

text: In the summer of 2004, producer Nile Rodgers and O'Donnell decided to release the music from "Halo 2" on two separate CDs; the first (Volume One) would contain all the themes present in the game as well as music "inspired" by the game; the second would contain the rest of the music from the game, much of which was incomplete, as the first CD was shipped before the game was released. The first CD was released on November 9, 2004, and featured guitar backing by Steve Vai. Additional tracks included various outside musicians, including Steve Vai, Incubus, Breaking Benjamin, and Hoobastank. The "Halo 2 Original Soundtrack: Volume Two" CD, containing the game music organized in suite form, was released on April 25, 2006.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" was officially announced in September 2002 with a cinematic trailer, scheduled for a Holiday 2003 release. The first major look at the game came with the E3 2003 demo in May; "Halo 2" was Microsoft's strongest showing at the event, and some journalists believed the game looked too good to be live gameplay and must have been a scripted cutscene. After delays, the game was shifted to a first-quarter 2004 release, then to Holiday 2004. The final November 9 release date was confirmed at E3 2004, where the game's multiplayer was playable on the show floor. Microsoft executive Peter Moore rolled up his sleeve to reveal the date tattooed on his bicep.


title: Halo 2

text: Microsoft intended to market "Halo 2" not just as a video game, but as a cultural event. Part of its widespread appeal would come from the social nature of the game's multiplayer, but Microsoft also heavily promoted and marketed the game. A trailer for the game was shown in movie theaters, making "Halo 2" the first video game so advertised. Hype for the title was fueled by the press, with Microsoft telling one journalist that their "Halo 2" review would be the most consequential of their career. The marketing heavily focused on Master Chief and the defense of earth, leaving the reveal of the Arbiter as a playable character a surprise.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" s release was preceded with promotions and product tie-ins. There was a "Halo 2" Celebrity Pre-Release Party at E3 2004, in which a private home was transformed to replicate the world of "Halo", complete with camouflaged Marines and roaming Cortanas. Launch events were held worldwide, with players waiting for hours in a line that stretched two blocks in Times Square, New York City. The French version of the game leaked on the internet in October, and circulated widely.


title: Halo 2

text: In addition to more traditional forms of promotion, "Halo 2" was also part of an elaborate Alternate Reality Game project titled "I Love Bees". Microsoft approached 42 Entertainment's Elan Lee, who had helped launch the Xbox with Microsoft, on producing a tie-in game. "I Love Bees" cost an estimated one million dollars. The game centered on a hacked website, supposedly a site about beekeeping, where an AI from the future was residing. The project garnered significant attention, drawing attention away from the ongoing 2004 Presidential Election. The game won an award for creativity at the 5th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and was nominated for a Webby award. Ultimately, nearly 3 million people participated in the game.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" was sold in a standard edition and "Limited Collector's Edition". The Collector's Edition includes the game, packaged in a metal case. It also includes bonus content on an extra DVD, such as a making-of documentary, art gallery, and audio tests. The instructional booklet is also written from the Covenant point of view rather than from the UNSC point of view used in the regular edition.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" first released on November 9, 2004, in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. Anticipation for the game was high; a record 1.5 million copies were pre-ordered three weeks before release. Massive lines formed at midnight releases of the game at more than 7000 stores across North America and attracted significant media attention. This was followed by releases on November 10, 2004, in France and parts of Europe, and November 11 in the UK, Japan, and elsewhere; the game released in eight languages and a total of 27 countries.


title: Halo 2

text: The game sold 2.4 million copies and earned up to US$125 million in its first 24 hours on store shelves, outgrossing the film "" as the highest-grossing release in entertainment history. The game sold 260,000 units in the United Kingdom in its first week, making it the third fastest-selling title in that territory. It ultimately received a "Double Platinum" sales award from the Entertainment and Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA), indicating sales of at least 600,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It was the second best-selling game of 2004 in the United States (after ""), where it sold copies that year.


title: Halo 2

text: On release, "Halo 2" was the most popular video game on Xbox Live, holding that rank until the release of "Gears of War" for the Xbox 360 nearly two years later. In the first ten weeks of release, players collectively logged 91 million hours playing the game; by June 2006, more than 500 million games of "Halo 2" had been played, and more than 710 million hours logged on Xbox Live. Over five million players had played by 2007. "Halo 2" is the best-selling first-generation Xbox game with at least 6.3 million copies sold in the United States and 8.46 million copies in total.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" received critical acclaim upon release. On review aggregate site Metacritic, the Xbox version has an overall score of 95 out of 100. Critics judged it a worthy successor to the acclaimed "Combat Evolved". "GameSpot"s Greg Kasavin wrote that the game successfully built on its predecessor's foundation, and despite shortcomings, the game's breadth of content made it one of the best action games available.


title: Halo 2

text: The game's audiovisual presentation was praised. Multiplayer especially was noted in being the best on Xbox Live at the time. "Game Informer", along with numerous other publications, rated it higher than "Halo: Combat Evolved", citing enhanced multiplayer and less repetitive gameplay. Most critics noted that "Halo 2" stuck with the formula that made its predecessor successful, and was alternatively praised and faulted for this decision. "Edge"<nowiki>'</nowiki>s review concluded that "Halo 2" could be summed up with a line from its script: "It's not a new plan. But we know it'll work."


title: Halo 2

text: The game's campaign mode received some criticism for being too short, and for featuring an abrupt cliffhanger ending. GameSpot noted that although the story's switching between the Covenant and human factions made the plot more intricate, it distracted the player from Earth's survival and the main point of the game; while "Edge" labeled the plot "a confusing mess of fan-fiction sci-fi and bemusing ""-style politics."


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" won multiple awards from the Interactive Achievement Awards, including "Console Game of the Year", "Console First Person Action Game of the Year", "Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay" and "Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design", as well as a nomination for "Game of the Year". The game received more than 38 individual awards. It received runner-up placements in GameSpot's 2004 "Best Shooter", "Best Sound Effects" and "Best Original Music" categories across all platforms. The game was listed in Electronic Gaming Monthly's "The Greatest 200 Video Games of Their Time" in 2006.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2"s multiplayer suffered from widespread cheating on release. Some players used "standbying" or "lag killing" to cheat, where the player hosting the game intentionally pressed the standby button on his or her modem. This resulted in all other players freezing in place and allowed the cheater to kill other players or capture objectives. Another exploit called "BXR" allowed players to cancel melee animations and quickly attack for an instant kill. Rather than rely solely on user reports of misbehavior, Bungie leveraged its game statistics collection to proactively find cheating players, creating an automated banning system.


title: Halo 2

text: Bungie released several map packs for "Halo 2", adding new environments for multiplayer matches. The Multiplayer Map Pack, released July 5, 2005, made Xbox Live content and updates available to offline players. The disc contains the game's software update, nine new multiplayer maps, a making-of documentary, and a bonus cinematic called "Another Day on the Beach", among other features. The Blastacular Map Pack contained two additional maps and released April 2007. On July 7 Bungie made the Blastacular Map Pack free.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2" was one of the Xbox games that was backwards-compatible on the Xbox 360. On the newer console, the game runs at high-definition 720p with scene-wide anti-aliasing. The online services of the "Halo 2" were discontinued alongside other original Xbox console games in 2010.


title: Halo 2

text: In February 2006, Microsoft announced a PC port of "Halo 2", exclusively for the Windows Vista operating system. Like the Xbox version, the release of "Halo 2 Vista" was repeatedly delayed. The May 22, 2007, release date was pushed to May 31 after the discovery of partial nudity in the game's map editor—a photograph of Charlie Gough, one of the Lead Engineers, mooning Steve Ballmer during his visit to the studio, was presented as part of the ".ass" error message. Microsoft offered patches to remove the nude content and revised the box ratings. The game could be enabled to play on Windows XP through an unauthorized third-party patch. "Halo 2 Vista" was ported by a small team at Microsoft Game Studios (codenamed Hired Gun) who worked closely with Bungie. As one of the launch titles of Games for Windows – Live, the game offered Live features not available in the Xbox version, such as Guide support and Achievements. The Windows port also added two exclusive multiplayer maps and a map editor.


title: Halo 2

text: A high-definition remake of "Halo 2" titled "Halo 2 Anniversary" was released as part of "" on November 11, 2014, for the Xbox One, later being released on PC for Steam and Windows Store.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2"s release was part of a shift towards blockbuster gaming releases. In 2004, the video game industry was estimated to gross $7.76 billion in the United States, behind the $9.4 billion gross of the domestic box office. "Halo 2"s success was seen by the press as evidence of a generational shift in entertainment. The CBC's Greg Bolton remarked that prior to "Halo 2"s splashy release, "the video-game industry hadn’t yet found a recognizable public face, a universally acclaimed megastar." "The Ringer" called "Halo 2" "the birth of the video game as we know it today: a mass shared experience," and credited it with birthing modern multiplayer infrastructure and popularizing American esports.


title: Halo 2

text: "Halo 2"s matchmaking technology was one of the turning points in the gaming industry during the 2000s, setting a new standard for other games. G4's Sterling McGarvey wrote that "Bungie's sequel was a shot in the arm for Xbox Live subscriptions and previewed many of the features that would set the standard for Microsoft's online service on the next machine". Critics credited the game with bringing online multiplayer to the console masses, and as serving as Xbox Live's killer app. "The Province"s Paul Chapman wrote that games like "" would not be enjoyable if not for the ground "Halo 2" broke.


title: Flula Borg

text: Flula Borg (; born 28 March 1982) is a German actor, comedian, musician, DJ, and internet personality who is also known simply as Flula (sometimes stylized as f|u|a) or DJ Flula. He lives in Los Angeles. Borg's acting career includes roles in feature films, including notably "Pitch Perfect 2" and "The Suicide Squad", as well as in a number of television shows, including "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and "The Good Place". He has made multiple appearances on "Conan" and has participated in a number of other collaborations with Conan O'Brien.


title: Flula Borg

text: Across a wide variety of projects, he has worked with YouTube personalities such as Rhett and Link, Miranda Sings, and Smosh, as well as mainstream celebrities including Sir Mix-A-Lot, Ed Helms, and Dirk Nowitzki. In 2015, he was named one of "The Hollywood Reporter"s Top 25 Digital Stars as well as one of "Variety"s 10 Comics to Watch.


title: Flula Borg

text: In 2015, Borg co-starred in "Pitch Perfect 2" as a leader of the German a cappella group Das Sound Machine (also known as DSM). This led to appearances on talk shows such as "Last Call with Carson Daly", as well as the first of many appearances on the Comedy Central game show "@midnight". "Buddymoon", a feature film written and produced by Borg, David Giuntoli, and filmmaker Alex Simmons, and starring Borg and Giuntoli, was shown at several major film festivals in early 2016. It won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Slamdance Film Festival and was acquired by Gravitas Ventures and Orion Pictures for theatrical release. Later in 2016, Lionsgate Films announced a development deal with Borg under which he will serve as star, executive producer, and writer of two upcoming feature films. Beginning in 2017, he has done a great deal of voice acting, appearing in roles such as Hans the Horse in Blue Sky Studios' "Ferdinand" and the personal assistant Maybe in Disney's Oscar-nominated feature "Ralph Breaks the Internet". He also voices a part in "Trolls World Tour", produced by DreamWorks Animation and released in 2020.


title: Flula Borg

text: In addition to his film work, Borg has acted in a number of TV series, including "Curb Your Enthusiasm", "Workaholics", "Silicon Valley", "Counterpart", and "The Good Place". In 2015, he co-hosted E!'s "Live from the Red Carpet" pre-show at the Billboard Music Awards. He has been a guest on the TBS talk show "Conan" several times, including an episode in which he served as Conan O'Brien's informal guide to Germany when the show traveled to Berlin for a week. In 2017, Borg's own social action special "Flulanthropy" premiered on the streaming channel Seeso. He has also done voice acting in several series, including "Archer", "The Mr. Peabody & Sherman Show", and "". Borg voices a leading role as Mega Fat CEO Baby in the DreamWorks Animation/Netflix series "". In 2022 Borg guest starred on the TV series "The Rookie" as Skip-Tracer Randy.


title: Flula Borg

text: Borg has posted over 350 videos on his YouTube channel since its launch in 2007. Some of his most popular videos are his vlogs, most notably "Jennifer is a Party Pooper", "Flula in Germany", and his AutoTunes series, in which he records cover songs live in a car. His AutoTunes video with YouTube celebrity Chester See, a cover of "No Diggity" by Blackstreet, has over four million views and was nominated for a Streamy Award in 2014. He is also known for his celebrity interviews, and for creating EDM tracks from sound clips gathered during many of those interviews. Celebrities interviewed on Borg's YouTube channel include Will Ferrell and the cast of "Anchorman 2", Vince Vaughn, Tina Fey, Anna Kendrick and the cast of "Pitch Perfect 2", Larry King, and Michael Phelps.


title: Flula Borg

text: In addition to his own channel, Borg has appeared on many other popular YouTube channels, including Miranda Sings, Grace Helbig, Smosh, vlogbrothers, and Madilyn Bailey. His comedic video with Flynt Flossy of Turquoise Jeep, "Taste You Like Yogurt" has over 2 million views. In 2014, Borg's YouTube channel was listed on New Media Rockstars' Top 100 Channels and he won the 2015 Streamy Award for Comedy in recognition of his humorous contributions on YouTube.


title: Flula Borg

text: In 2018, Borg launched his podcast, BoomTime, which is produced by Cadence 13. It is directed by his frequent collaborator Alex Simmons. Notable guests have included Ed Helms, Kristen Schaal, Reggie Watts, Hanson, and "Weird Al" Yankovic.


title: Flula Borg

text: From his beginnings as a Schuhplattler dancer in Bavaria, Germany and through many years of live performance and YouTube content, Borg has always been deeply involved in music. After winning the Scion Hypeman Contest in late 2008 as its only non-American participant, he began releasing more of his own music. His 2011 single "Sweet Potato Casserole" was listed at No. 3 on Billboard's Next Big Sound chart. In the same year, his single "Dirk Nowitzki, German Moses" coincided with the Dallas Mavericks' NBA championship run and was picked up by ESPN and other mainstream outlets. In 2014, he composed the theme song for Grace Helbig's podcast, "Not Too Deep", and the following year he was chosen to create the theme song for "The Grace Helbig Show" on E! Entertainment Television.


title: Flula Borg

text: Also in 2015, Borg released a five-track EP titled "I Want to Touch You". Videos for all of the tracks were posted to his YouTube channel. In early 2016, he released a full-length album called "Animalbum", so named because all of the songs on the album are related to animals, both real and mythological. It was produced by comedian and producer of "The Bachelor", Elan Gale. In 2019, Borg released a single titled 'Self Care Sunday', featuring the American comedic music group Ninja Sex Party, to Spotify.


title: Flula Borg

text: Borg regularly performs live music and comedy. From 2009 to 2012 he was the host and MC for College Battle of the Bands and he hosted the Chegg Textbooks & Tickets Tour in 2011. From 2013 through 2015, he hosted Bedrocktoberfest, a music festival held in Los Angeles to coincide with Oktoberfest. As a result of his success on YouTube, he has been featured four times – in 2013, 2016, 2017, and 2018 – on the main stage at VidCon. He is active on the comedy festival circuit, appearing at Just for Laughs festivals in Montreal, Toronto, and Vancouver; at SF Sketchfest in San Francisco; and at the Blue Whale Comedy Festival in Oklahoma. He has also done solo shows in a number of cities, including Seattle, Portland, and Los Angeles. In late 2018 Borg served as Conan O'Brien's DJ, opening act, and sidekick on O'Brien's 18-city comedy tour, "Team Coco Presents Conan & Friends: An Evening of Stand-Up and Investment Tips."


title: House of Bonaparte

text: The House of Bonaparte (originally "Buonaparte") is a former imperial and royal European dynasty of Italian (Genoese) origin. It was founded in 1804 by Napoleon I, the son of Corsican nobleman Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Buonaparte (née Ramolino). Napoleon was a French military leader who rose to power during the French Revolution and who, in 1804, transformed the First French Republic into the First French Empire, five years after his "coup d'état" of November 1799 (18 Brumaire). Napoleon and the "Grande Armée" had to fight against every major European power (except for the ones he was allied with, including Denmark-Norway) and dominated continental Europe through a series of military victories during the Napoleonic Wars. He installed members of his family on the thrones of client states, expanding the power of the dynasty.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: The House of Bonaparte formed the Imperial House of France during the French Empire, together with some non-Bonaparte family members. In addition to holding the title of Emperor of the French, the Bonaparte dynasty held various other titles and territories during the Napoleonic Wars, including the Kingdom of Italy, the Kingdom of Spain, the Kingdom of Westphalia, the Kingdom of Holland, and the Kingdom of Naples. The dynasty held power for around a decade until the Napoleonic Wars began to take their toll. Making very powerful enemies, such as Austria, Britain, Russia, and Prussia, as well as royalist (particularly Bourbon) restorational movements in France, Spain, the Two Sicilies, and Sardinia, the dynasty eventually collapsed due to the final defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo and the restoration of former dynasties by the Congress of Vienna.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: During the reign of Napoleon I, the Imperial Family consisted of the Emperor's immediate relations – his wife, son, siblings, and some other close relatives, namely his brother-in-law Joachim Murat, his uncle Joseph Fesch, and his stepson Eugène de Beauharnais.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Between 1852 and 1870, there was a Second French Empire, when a member of the Bonaparte dynasty again ruled France: Napoleon III, the youngest son of Louis Bonaparte. However, during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871, the dynasty was again ousted from the Imperial Throne. Since that time, there has been a series of pretenders. Supporters of the Bonaparte family's claim to the throne of France are known as Bonapartists. Current head Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon, has a Bourbon mother.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: The Bonaparte (originally ) family were patricians in the Italian towns of Sarzana, San Miniato and Florence. The name derives from Italian: "buona" ("good") and "parte" ("part" or "side"). In Italian, the phrase "buona parte" is used to identify a fraction of considerable, but undefined, size in a .


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Gianfaldo Buonaparte was the first known Buonaparte at Sarzana around 1200. His descendant Giovanni Buonaparte in 1397 married Isabella , a cousin of later cardinal Filippo Calandrini. Giovanni became mayor of Sarzana and was named commissioner of the Lunigiana by Giovanni Maria Visconti in 1408. His daughter, Agnella Berni, was the great-grandmother of Italian poet Francesco Berni and their great-grandson Francesco Buonaparte was an equestrian mercenary at the service of the Genoese Bank of Saint George. In 1490, Francesco Buonaparte went to the island of Corsica, which was controlled by the bank. In 1493, he married the daughter of Guido da , representative of the Bank of Saint George in Ajaccio, Corsica. Most of their descendants during subsequent generations were members of the Ajaccio town council. Napoleon's father, Carlo Buonaparte, received a patent of nobility from the King of France in 1771.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: There also existed a Buonaparte family in Florence; however, its eventual relation with the Sarzana and San Miniato families is unknown. Jacopo Buonaparte of San Miniato was a friend and advisor to Medici Pope Clement VII. Jacopo was also a witness to and wrote an account of the sack of Rome, which is one of the most important historical documents recounting that event. Two of Jacopo's nephews, Pier Antonio Buonaparte and Giovanni Buonaparte, however, took part in the 1527 Medici rebellion, after which they were banished from Florence and later were restored by Alessandro de' Medici, Duke of Florence. Jacopo's brother Benedetto Buonaparte maintained political neutrality. The San Miniato branch extinguished with Jacopo in 1550. The last member of the Florence family was a canon named Gregorio Bonaparte, who died in 1803, leaving Napoleon as heir.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: A Buonaparte tomb lies in the Church of San Francesco in San Miniato. A second tomb, the "Chapelle Impériale", was built by Napoleon III in Ajaccio 1857.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Napoleon I is the most prominent name associated with the Bonaparte family because he conquered much of Europe during the early 19th century. Due to his indisputable popularity in France both among the people and in the army, he staged the Coup of 18 Brumaire and overthrew the Directory with the help of his brother Lucien Bonaparte, president of the Council of Five Hundred. Napoleon then oversaw the creation of a new Constitution that made him the First Consul of France on 10 November 1799. On 2 December 1804, he crowned himself Emperor of the French and ruled from 1804 to 1814, and again in 1815 during the Hundred Days after his return from Elba.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Following his conquest of most of Western Europe, Napoleon I made his elder brother Joseph king first of Naples and then of Spain, his younger brother Louis King of Holland (subsequently forcing his abdication in 1810 after his failure to subordinate Dutch interests to those of France), and his youngest brother Jérôme King of Westphalia, a short-lived realm created from several states of northwestern Germany.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Napoleon's son Napoléon François Charles Joseph was created King of Rome and was later styled as Napoléon II by loyalists of the dynasty, though he only ruled for two weeks after his father's abdication.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Louis-Napoléon, son of Louis, was President of France and then Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870, reigning as Napoleon III. His son, Napoléon, Prince Imperial, died fighting the Zulus in Natal, today the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. With his death, the family lost much of its remaining political appeal, though claimants continue to assert their right to the imperial title. A political movement for Corsican independence surfaced in the 1990s which included a Bonapartist restoration in its programme.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Carlo-Maria (Ajaccio, 1746–Montpellier, 1785) married Maria Letizia Ramolino (Ajaccio, 1750–Rome, 1836) in 1764. He was a minor official in the local courts. They had eight children:


title: House of Bonaparte

text: The arms of the Bonaparte family were: "Gules two bends sinister between two mullets or". In 1804, Napoleon I changed the arms to "Azure an imperial eagle or". The change applied to all members of his family except for his brother Lucien and his nephew, the son from Jerome's first marriage.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: According to studies by G. Lucotte and his coauthors based on DNA research since 2011, Napoleon Bonaparte belonged to Y-DNA (direct male ancestry) haplogroup E1b1b1c1* (E-M34*). This 15000-year-old haplogroup has its highest concentration in Ethiopia and in the Near East (Jordan, Yemen). According to the authors of the study, "Probably Napoléon also knew his remote oriental patrilineal origins, because Francesco Buonaparte (the Giovanni son), who was a mercenary under the orders of the Genoa Republic in Ajaccio in 1490, was nicknamed "The Maure of Sarzane"." The latest study identifies the common Bonaparte DNA markers from Carlo (Charles) Bonaparte to 3 living descendants.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Lucotte et al. published in October 2013 the extended Y-STR of Napoleon I based on descendant testing, and the descendants were E-M34, just like the emperor's beard hair tested a year before. The persons tested were the patrilineal descendants of Jérome Bonaparte, one of Napoleon's brothers, and of Alexandre Colonna-Walewski, Napoleon's illegitimate son with Marie Walewska. These three tests all yielded the same Y-STR haplotype (109 markers) confirming with 100% certainty that the first Emperor of the French belonged to the M34 branch of haplogroup E1b1b.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: STR strongly suggests that the Bonaparte belong to the Y58897 branch, which means that the ancestor 3000 years ago or a bit more lived in Anatolia, but all relatives in the database with a common ancestor with over a 1000 years are found in their own the Massa - La Spezia small area in Italy. There are at the moment no relatives in the database older than that, which means they are very rare in Europe.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: Charles, Prince Napoléon (born 1950, great-great-grandson of Jérôme Bonaparte by his second marriage), and his son Jean-Christophe, Prince Napoléon (born 1986 and appointed heir in the will of his grandfather Louis, Prince Napoléon) currently dispute the headship of the Bonaparte family. The only other male members of the family are Charles's recently married (2013) brother, Prince Jérôme Napoléon (born 1957) and Jean-Christophe's son, Prince Louis Napoléon (born 2022). There are no other legitimate descendants in the male line from Napoleon I or from his brothers.


title: House of Bonaparte

text: There are, however, numerous descendants of Napoleon's illegitimate but unacknowledged son, Count Alexandre Colonna-Walewski (1810–1868), born from Napoleon I's union with Marie, Countess Walewski. A descendant of Napoleon's sister Caroline Bonaparte was actor René Auberjonois. Recent DNA-matches with living descendants of Jérôme and Count Walewski have confirmed the existence of descendants of Lucien Bonaparte, Napoleon's brother, namely the Clovis family.


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: Elizabeth Marvel (born November 27, 1969) is an American actress. Her most prominent roles include Det. Nancy Parras on "The District", Solicitor General Heather Dunbar on "House of Cards", and President Elizabeth Keane on "Homeland". Film roles include "Burn After Reading"; "Synecdoche, New York"; "True Grit"; "Lincoln" (alongside husband Bill Camp); and "The Meyerowitz Stories". She also had a recurring role in season 2 of the FX series "Fargo" and the Netflix miniseries "Unbelievable".


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: Marvel was born in Los Angeles, California, and was raised in Mohnton, Pennsylvania. She trained at the Interlochen Arts Academy, and then the Juilliard School.


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: Marvel appeared in many stage productions throughout her career. Her first professional role was as Isabella in Measure for Measure at Canada's Stratford Festival in 1992. She has won Obie Awards for her work in "Thérèse Raquin" and "Misalliance" (1998), "A Streetcar Named Desire" (2000) and "Hedda Gabler" (2005). She returned to the role she originated Off-Broadway of Brooke Wyeth in "Other Desert Cities", which was played by Rachel Griffiths in its Broadway premiere. In 2009, for her performance in "Fifty Words", she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play.


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: Marvel first gained widespread attention on television, with her four seasons playing the regular role of Nancy Parras in the CBS series "The District" (2000–04). She played a variety of guest and recurring roles on "Lights Out", "", "Nurse Jackie", "Person of Interest", "30 Rock", "The Good Wife", and "The Newsroom".


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: In film, Marvel has appeared in "Burn After Reading" (2008), directed by the Coen brothers, and in "True Grit" (2010), as the adult Mattie Ross. She appeared in "The Bourne Legacy" (2012), "Lincoln" (2012), and "Hyde Park on Hudson" (2012).


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: In 2009 she played Louisa May Alcott in scenes from the writer's life in the documentary profile "Louisa May Alcott: The Woman Behind 'Little Women'" that aired on the PBS series "America Masters".


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: In 2013, she was cast as lead in the CW family drama pilot "Blink", opposite John Benjamin Hickey. She most recently was noted for portraying Heather Dunbar in Netflix's political drama "House of Cards". In 2016, she was cast as President-elect Elizabeth Keane for the sixth and seventh seasons of Showtime drama series "Homeland".


title: Elizabeth Marvel

text: Marvel married actor Bill Camp on September 4, 2004. The couple have one child, a son named Silas, born in 2007. Marvel revealed on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" on October 16, 2020 that she has been living with her family on a farm in Vermont.


title: Jack Wild

text: Jack Wild (30 September 1952 – 1 March 2006) was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his role as the Artful Dodger in the film "Oliver!" (1968), for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor at the age of 16, becoming the fourth-youngest nominee in the category. He also received BAFTA Award and Golden Globe Award nominations for the role.


title: Jack Wild

text: Wild also appeared in the television series "H.R. Pufnstuf" (1969) and its film adaptation "Pufnstuf" (1970), as well as in the films "Melody" (1971) and "" (1991).


title: Jack Wild

text: Wild was born into a working-class family in Royton, Lancashire, on 30 September 1952. In 1960, at the age of eight, with his parents and his elder brother Arthur, he moved to Hounslow, in Middlesex, where he got a job helping the milkman, which paid about five shillings. While playing football with his brother in the park, he was discovered by theatrical agent June Collins, mother of Phil Collins. June Collins enrolled both Jack and Arthur at the Barbara Speake Stage School, an independent school in Acton, west London.


title: Jack Wild

text: The Wild brothers sought acting roles to supplement their parents' income. In the autumn of 1964, the pair were cast in the West End theatre production of Lionel Bart's "Oliver!" – Arthur in the title role and Jack as Charley Bates, a member of Fagin's gang. Wild was chosen to play the Artful Dodger for the 1968 movie version of "Oliver!" His performance received critical acclaim and several nominations:


title: Jack Wild

text: In the spring of 1966, Wild left the stage show of "Oliver!" to make the film serial "Danny the Dragon" for the Children's Film Foundation. Wild's first speaking roles on TV were in an episode of "Out of the Unknown", and in the third part of the BBC's version of the Wesker trilogy, "I'm Talking About Jerusalem". He also appeared in episodes of "Z-Cars", "The Newcomers", and "George and the Dragon".


title: Jack Wild

text: At the 1968 premiere of "Oliver!", Wild met brothers Sid and Marty Krofft, who thought he would make a good lead for a show they were developing called "H.R. Pufnstuf". Wild starred as Jimmy in Pufnstuf's only season (1969), as well as in "H.R. Pufnstuf" segments in the second (and final) season of "The Banana Splits Adventure Hour" and in the film "Pufnstuf" (1970), which was released shortly after the show was cancelled.


title: Jack Wild

text: Wild then appeared in "Melody" (1971, with "Oliver!" co-star Mark Lester) and "Flight of the Doves" (1971, with another "Oliver!" co-star, Ron Moody). In 1972, Wild appeared as a stowaway in an episode of BBC TV's "The Onedin Line". In 1973, he played Reg in "The 14", a film directed by David Hemmings. On television, Wild appeared in a BBC adaptation of "Our Mutual Friend" in 1976. During the early 1970s, Wild was considered a teen heartthrob, alongside David Cassidy and Barry Williams. In 1999, Wild lamented, "When I first entered in the show business, of course I didn't mind playing younger roles. However, it did bug me when I would be 21 being offered the role of a 13-year-old. I'm not saying I didn't enjoy playing these roles; I had barrels of fun, I just wanted more serious and dramatic roles; it's that simple."


title: Jack Wild

text: He also embarked on a recording career, releasing "The Jack Wild Album" for Capitol Records, which contained the single "Some Beautiful". In the early 1970s, Wild also released the albums "Everything's Coming Up Roses" and "Beautiful World" for Buddah Records.


title: Jack Wild

text: Wild returned to the big screen in a few minor roles, such as in the 1991 Kevin Costner film "" and as a peddler in "Basil" (1998). For the most part, he spent the remainder of his career working in theatre. Wild's last major appearance was as the male lead, Mouse, in Tayla Goodman's rock musical "Virus". The show ran for two weeks at the Theatre Royal, Nottingham, in 1999. For his final film appearance, he had a minor role in "Moussaka & Chips" (2005), in which he once again worked with Ron Moody.


title: Jack Wild

text: Wild first met Welsh-born actress Gaynor Jones when they were around 12 years old at the Barbara Speake stage school. After he left in 1966, he did not see her again until Christmas 1970. They married on 14 February 1976. She left him in 1985 because of his chronic drinking. He met his second wife, Claire L. Harding, when he was working with her in "Jack and the Beanstalk" in Worthing. They married in Bedford in September 2005. In 2001, Wild was diagnosed with oral cancer, blaming the disease on his drinking and smoking habits. He underwent chemotherapy immediately, and had his tongue and voice box removed in July 2004, leaving him unable to speak. Wild had to communicate through his wife Claire for the rest of his life.