title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: PGP supports message authentication and integrity checking. The latter is used to detect whether a message has been altered since it was completed (the "message integrity" property) and the former, to determine whether it was actually sent by the person or entity claimed to be the sender (a "digital signature"). Because the content is encrypted, any changes in the message will fail the decryption with the appropriate key. The sender uses PGP to create a digital signature for the message with either the RSA or DSA algorithms. To do so, PGP computes a hash (also called a message digest) from the plaintext and then creates the digital signature from that hash using the sender's private key.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Both when encrypting messages and when verifying signatures, it is critical that the public key used to send messages to someone or some entity actually does 'belong' to the intended recipient. Simply downloading a public key from somewhere is not a reliable assurance of that association; deliberate (or accidental) impersonation is possible. From its first version, PGP has always included provisions for distributing user's public keys in an 'identity certification', which is also constructed cryptographically so that any tampering (or accidental garble) is readily detectable. However, merely making a certificate that is impossible to modify without being detected is insufficient; this can prevent corruption only after the certificate has been created, not before. Users must also ensure by some means that the public key in a certificate actually does belong to the person or entity claiming it. A given public key (or more specifically, information binding a user name to a key) may be digitally signed by a third-party user to attest to the association between someone (actually a user name) and the key. There are several levels of confidence that can be included in such signatures. Although many programs read and write this information, few (if any) include this level of certification when calculating whether to trust a key.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The web of trust protocol was first described by Phil Zimmermann in 1992, in the manual for PGP version 2.0:


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The web of trust mechanism has advantages over a centrally managed public key infrastructure scheme such as that used by S/MIME but has not been universally used. Users have to be willing to accept certificates and check their validity manually or have to simply accept them. No satisfactory solution has been found for the underlying problem.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In the (more recent) OpenPGP specification, "trust signatures" can be used to support creation of certificate authorities. A trust signature indicates both that the key belongs to its claimed owner and that the owner of the key is trustworthy to sign other keys at one level below their own. A level 0 signature is comparable to a web of trust signature since only the validity of the key is certified. A level 1 signature is similar to the trust one has in a certificate authority because a key signed to level 1 is able to issue an unlimited number of level 0 signatures. A level 2 signature is highly analogous to the trust assumption users must rely on whenever they use the default certificate authority list (like those included in web browsers); it allows the owner of the key to make other keys certificate authorities.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: PGP versions have always included a way to cancel ('revoke') public key certificates. A lost or compromised private key will require this if communication security is to be retained by that user. This is, more or less, equivalent to the certificate revocation lists of centralised PKI schemes. Recent PGP versions have also supported certificate expiration dates.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The problem of correctly identifying a public key as belonging to a particular user is not unique to PGP. All public key/private key cryptosystems have the same problem, even if in slightly different guises, and no fully satisfactory solution is known. PGP's original scheme at least leaves the decision as to whether or not to use its endorsement/vetting system to the user, while most other PKI schemes do not, requiring instead that every certificate attested to by a central certificate authority be accepted as correct.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: To the best of publicly available information, there is no known method which will allow a person or group to break PGP encryption by cryptographic, or computational means. Indeed, in 1995, cryptographer Bruce Schneier characterized an early version as being "the closest you're likely to get to military-grade encryption." Early versions of PGP have been found to have theoretical vulnerabilities and so current versions are recommended. In addition to protecting data in transit over a network, PGP encryption can also be used to protect data in long-term data storage such as disk files. These long-term storage options are also known as data at rest, i.e. data stored, not in transit.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The cryptographic security of PGP encryption depends on the assumption that the algorithms used are unbreakable by direct cryptanalysis with current equipment and techniques.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In the original version, the RSA algorithm was used to encrypt session keys. RSA's security depends upon the one-way function nature of mathematical integer factoring. Similarly, the symmetric key algorithm used in PGP version 2 was IDEA, which might at some point in the future be found to have previously undetected cryptanalytic flaws. Specific instances of current PGP or IDEA insecurities (if they exist) are not publicly known. As current versions of PGP have added additional encryption algorithms, their cryptographic vulnerability varies with the algorithm used. However, none of the algorithms in current use are publicly known to have cryptanalytic weaknesses.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: New versions of PGP are released periodically and vulnerabilities fixed by developers as they come to light. Any agency wanting to read PGP messages would probably use easier means than standard cryptanalysis, e.g. rubber-hose cryptanalysis or black-bag cryptanalysis (e.g. installing some form of trojan horse or keystroke logging software/hardware on the target computer to capture encrypted keyrings and their passwords). The FBI has already used this attack against PGP in its investigations. However, any such vulnerabilities apply not just to PGP but to any conventional encryption software.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In 2003, an incident involving seized Psion PDAs belonging to members of the Red Brigade indicated that neither the Italian police nor the FBI were able to decrypt PGP-encrypted files stored on them.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: A second incident in December 2006, (see "In re Boucher"), involving US customs agents who seized a laptop PC that allegedly contained child pornography, indicates that US government agencies find it "nearly impossible" to access PGP-encrypted files. Additionally, a magistrate judge ruling on the case in November 2007 has stated that forcing the suspect to reveal his PGP passphrase would violate his Fifth Amendment rights i.e. a suspect's constitutional right not to incriminate himself. The Fifth Amendment issue was opened again as the government appealed the case, after which a federal district judge ordered the defendant to provide the key.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Evidence suggests that , British police investigators are unable to break PGP, so instead have resorted to using RIPA legislation to demand the passwords/keys. In November 2009 a British citizen was convicted under RIPA legislation and jailed for nine months for refusing to provide police investigators with encryption keys to PGP-encrypted files.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: PGP as a cryptosystem has been criticized for complexity of the standard, implementation and very low usability of the user interface including by recognized figures in cryptography research. It uses an ineffective serialization format for storage of both keys and encrypted data, which resulted in signature-spamming attacks on public keys of prominent developers of GNU Privacy Guard. Backwards compatibility of the OpenPGP standard results in usage of relatively weak default choices of cryptographic primitives (CAST5 cipher, CFB mode, S2K password hashing). The standard has been also criticized for leaking metadata, usage of long-term keys and lack of forward secrecy. Popular end-user implementations have suffered from various signature-striping, cipher downgrade and metadata leakage vulnerabilities which have been attributed to the complexity of the standard.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Phil Zimmermann created the first version of PGP encryption in 1991. The name, "Pretty Good Privacy" was inspired by the name of a grocery store, "Ralph's Pretty Good Grocery", featured in radio host Garrison Keillor's fictional town, Lake Wobegon. This first version included a symmetric-key algorithm that Zimmermann had designed himself, named BassOmatic after a "Saturday Night Live" sketch. Zimmermann had been a long-time anti-nuclear activist, and created PGP encryption so that similarly inclined people might securely use BBSs and securely store messages and files. No license fee was required for its non-commercial use, and the complete source code was included with all copies.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In a posting of June 5, 2001, entitled "PGP Marks 10th Anniversary", Zimmermann describes the circumstances surrounding his release of PGP:


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: PGP found its way onto the Internet and rapidly acquired a considerable following around the world. Users and supporters included dissidents in totalitarian countries (some affecting letters to Zimmermann have been published, some of which have been included in testimony before the US Congress), civil libertarians in other parts of the world (see Zimmermann's published testimony in various hearings), and the 'free communications' activists who called themselves cypherpunks (who provided both publicity and distribution); decades later, CryptoParty activists did much the same via Twitter.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Shortly after its release, PGP encryption found its way outside the United States, and in February 1993 Zimmermann became the formal target of a criminal investigation by the US Government for "munitions export without a license". At the time, cryptosystems using keys larger than 40 bits were considered munitions within the definition of the US export regulations; PGP has never used keys smaller than 128 bits, so it qualified at that time. Penalties for violation, if found guilty, were substantial. After several years, the investigation of Zimmermann was closed without filing criminal charges against him or anyone else.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Zimmermann challenged these regulations in an imaginative way. He published the entire source code of PGP in a hardback book, via MIT Press, which was distributed and sold widely. Anybody wishing to build their own copy of PGP could cut off the covers, separate the pages, and scan them using an OCR program (or conceivably enter it as a type-in program if OCR software was not available), creating a set of source code text files. One could then build the application using the freely available GNU Compiler Collection. PGP would thus be available anywhere in the world. The claimed principle was simple: export of "munitions"—guns, bombs, planes, and software—was (and remains) restricted; but the export of "books" is protected by the First Amendment. The question was never tested in court with respect to PGP. In cases addressing other encryption software, however, two federal appeals courts have established the rule that cryptographic software source code is speech protected by the First Amendment (the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Bernstein case and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Junger case).


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: US export regulations regarding cryptography remain in force, but were liberalized substantially throughout the late 1990s. Since 2000, compliance with the regulations is also much easier. PGP encryption no longer meets the definition of a non-exportable weapon, and can be exported internationally except to seven specific countries and a list of named groups and individuals (with whom substantially all US trade is prohibited under various US export controls).


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: During this turmoil, Zimmermann's team worked on a new version of PGP encryption called PGP 3. This new version was to have considerable security improvements, including a new certificate structure that fixed small security flaws in the PGP 2.x certificates as well as permitting a certificate to include separate keys for signing and encryption. Furthermore, the experience with patent and export problems led them to eschew patents entirely. PGP 3 introduced the use of the CAST-128 (a.k.a. CAST5) symmetric key algorithm, and the DSA and ElGamal asymmetric key algorithms, all of which were unencumbered by patents.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: After the Federal criminal investigation ended in 1996, Zimmermann and his team started a company to produce new versions of PGP encryption. They merged with Viacrypt (to whom Zimmermann had sold commercial rights and who had licensed RSA directly from RSADSI), which then changed its name to PGP Incorporated. The newly combined Viacrypt/PGP team started work on new versions of PGP encryption based on the PGP 3 system. Unlike PGP 2, which was an exclusively command line program, PGP 3 was designed from the start as a software library allowing users to work from a command line or inside a GUI environment. The original agreement between Viacrypt and the Zimmermann team had been that Viacrypt would have even-numbered versions and Zimmermann odd-numbered versions. Viacrypt, thus, created a new version (based on PGP 2) that they called PGP 4. To remove confusion about how it could be that PGP 3 was the successor to PGP 4, PGP 3 was renamed and released as PGP 5 in May 1997.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In December 1997, PGP Inc. was acquired by Network Associates, Inc. ("NAI"). Zimmermann and the PGP team became NAI employees. NAI was the first company to have a legal export strategy by publishing source code. Under NAI, the PGP team added disk encryption, desktop firewalls, intrusion detection, and IPsec VPNs to the PGP family. After the export regulation liberalizations of 2000 which no longer required publishing of source, NAI stopped releasing source code.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In early 2001, Zimmermann left NAI. He served as Chief Cryptographer for Hush Communications, who provide an OpenPGP-based e-mail service, Hushmail. He has also worked with Veridis and other companies. In October 2001, NAI announced that its PGP assets were for sale and that it was suspending further development of PGP encryption. The only remaining asset kept was the PGP E-Business Server (the original PGP Commandline version). In February 2002, NAI canceled all support for PGP products, with the exception of the renamed commandline product. NAI, now known as McAfee, continued to sell and support the product under the name McAfee E-Business Server until 2013.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In August 2002, several ex-PGP team members formed a new company, PGP Corporation, and bought the PGP assets (except for the command line version) from NAI. The new company was funded by Rob Theis of Doll Capital Management (DCM) and Terry Garnett of Venrock Associates. PGP Corporation supported existing PGP users and honored NAI's support contracts. Zimmermann served as a special advisor and consultant to PGP Corporation while continuing to run his own consulting company. In 2003, PGP Corporation created a new server-based product called PGP Universal. In mid-2004, PGP Corporation shipped its own command line version called PGP Command Line, which integrated with the other PGP Encryption Platform applications. In 2005, PGP Corporation made its first acquisition: the German software company Glück & Kanja Technology AG, which became PGP Deutschland AG. In 2010, PGP Corporation acquired Hamburg-based certificate authority TC TrustCenter and its parent company, ChosenSecurity, to form its PGP TrustCenter division.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: After the 2002 purchase of NAI's PGP assets, PGP Corporation offered worldwide PGP technical support from its offices in Draper, Utah; Offenbach, Germany; and Tokyo, Japan.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: On April 29, 2010, Symantec Corp. announced that it would acquire PGP for $300 million with the intent of integrating it into its Enterprise Security Group. This acquisition was finalized and announced to the public on June 7, 2010. The source code of PGP Desktop 10 is available for peer review.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Also in 2010, Intel Corporation acquired McAfee. In 2013, the McAfee E-Business Server was transferred to Software Diversified Services, which now sells, supports, and develops it under the name SDS E-Business Server.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: For the enterprise, Townsend Security currently offers a commercial version of PGP for the IBM i and IBM z mainframe platforms. Townsend Security partnered with Network Associates in 2000 to create a compatible version of PGP for the IBM i platform. Townsend Security again ported PGP in 2008, this time to the IBM z mainframe. This version of PGP relies on a free z/OS encryption facility, which utilizes hardware acceleration. Software Diversified Services also offers a commercial version of PGP (SDS E-Business Server) for the IBM z mainframe.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In May 2018, a bug named EFAIL was discovered in certain implementations of PGP which from 2003 could reveal the plaintext contents of emails encrypted with it. The chosen mitigation for this vulnerability in PGP Desktop is to mandate the use SEIP protected packets in the ciphertext, which can lead to old emails or other encrypted objects to be no longer decryptable after upgrading to the software version that has the mitigation.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: On August 9, 2019, Broadcom Inc. announced they would be acquiring the Enterprise Security software division of Symantec, which includes PGP Corporation.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: While originally used primarily for encrypting the contents of e-mail messages and attachments from a desktop client, PGP products have been diversified since 2002 into a set of encryption applications that can be managed by an optional central policy server. PGP encryption applications include e-mails and attachments, digital signatures, full disk encryption, file and folder security, protection for IM sessions, batch file transfer encryption, and protection for files and folders stored on network servers and, more recently, encrypted or signed HTTP request/responses by means of a client-side (Enigform) and a server-side (mod openpgp) module. There is also a WordPress plugin available, called wp-enigform-authentication, that takes advantage of the session management features of Enigform with mod_openpgp.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The PGP Desktop 9.x family includes PGP Desktop Email, PGP Whole Disk Encryption, and PGP NetShare. Additionally, a number of Desktop bundles are also available. Depending on the application, the products feature desktop e-mail, digital signatures, IM security, whole disk encryption, file, and folder security, encrypted self-extracting archives, and secure shredding of deleted files. Capabilities are licensed in different ways depending on the features required.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The PGP Universal Server 2.x management console handles centralized deployment, security policy, policy enforcement, key management, and reporting. It is used for automated e-mail encryption in the gateway and manages PGP Desktop 9.x clients. In addition to its local keyserver, PGP Universal Server works with the PGP public keyserver—called the PGP Global Directory—to find recipient keys. It has the capability of delivering e-mail securely when no recipient key is found via a secure HTTPS browser session.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: With PGP Desktop 9.x managed by PGP Universal Server 2.x, first released in 2005, all PGP encryption applications are based on a new proxy-based architecture. These newer versions of PGP software eliminate the use of e-mail plug-ins and insulate the user from changes to other desktop applications. All desktop and server operations are now based on security policies and operate in an automated fashion. The PGP Universal server automates the creation, management, and expiration of keys, sharing these keys among all PGP encryption applications.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The Symantec PGP platform has now undergone a rename. PGP Desktop is now known as Symantec Encryption Desktop (SED), and the PGP Universal Server is now known as Symantec Encryption Management Server (SEMS). The current shipping versions are Symantec Encryption Desktop 10.3.0 (Windows and macOS platforms) and Symantec Encryption Server 3.3.2.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Also available are PGP Command-Line, which enables command line-based encryption and signing of information for storage, transfer, and backup, as well as the PGP Support Package for BlackBerry which enables RIM BlackBerry devices to enjoy sender-to-recipient messaging encryption.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: New versions of PGP applications use both OpenPGP and the S/MIME, allowing communications with any user of a NIST specified standard.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: Within PGP Inc., there was still concern surrounding patent issues. RSADSI was challenging the continuation of the Viacrypt RSA license to the newly merged firm. The company adopted an informal internal standard that they called "Unencumbered PGP" which would "use no algorithm with licensing difficulties". Because of PGP encryption's importance worldwide, many wanted to write their own software that would interoperate with PGP 5. Zimmermann became convinced that an open standard for PGP encryption was critical for them and for the cryptographic community as a whole. In July 1997, PGP Inc. proposed to the IETF that there be a standard called OpenPGP. They gave the IETF permission to use the name OpenPGP to describe this new standard as well as any program that supported the standard. The IETF accepted the proposal and started the OpenPGP Working Group.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: OpenPGP is on the Internet Standards Track and is under active development. Many e-mail clients provide OpenPGP-compliant email security as described in RFC 3156. The current specification is RFC 4880 (November 2007), the successor to RFC 2440. RFC 4880 specifies a suite of required algorithms consisting of ElGamal encryption, DSA, Triple DES and SHA-1. In addition to these algorithms, the standard recommends RSA as described in PKCS #1 v1.5 for encryption and signing, as well as AES-128, CAST-128 and IDEA. Beyond these, many other algorithms are supported. The standard was extended to support Camellia cipher by RFC 5581 in 2009, and signing and key exchange based on Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) (i.e. ECDSA and ECDH) by RFC 6637 in 2012. Support for ECC encryption was added by the proposed RFC 4880bis in 2014.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The Free Software Foundation has developed its own OpenPGP-compliant software suite called GNU Privacy Guard, freely available together with all source code under the GNU General Public License and is maintained separately from several graphical user interfaces that interact with the GnuPG library for encryption, decryption, and signing functions (see KGPG, Seahorse, MacGPG). Several other vendors have also developed OpenPGP-compliant software.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: The development of an open source OpenPGP-compliant library, OpenPGP.js, written in JavaScript and supported by the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme of the European Union, has allowed web-based applications to use PGP encryption in the web browser.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: OpenPGP's encryption can ensure the secure delivery of files and messages, as well as provide verification of who created or sent the message using a process called digital signing. The open source office suite LibreOffice implemented document signing with OpenPGP as of version 5.4.0 on Linux. Using OpenPGP for communication requires participation by both the sender and recipient. OpenPGP can also be used to secure sensitive files when they are stored in vulnerable places like mobile devices or in the cloud.


title: Pretty Good Privacy

text: In October 2017, the ROCA vulnerability was announced, which affects RSA keys generated by buggy Infineon firmware used on Yubikey 4 tokens, often used with PGP. Many published PGP keys were found to be susceptible. Yubico offers free replacement of affected tokens.


title: Alvin York

text: Alvin Cullum York (December 13, 1887 – September 2, 1964), also known as Sergeant York, was one of the most decorated United States Army soldiers of World War I. He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German machine gun nest, gathering 35 machine guns, killing at least 25 enemy soldiers and capturing 132 prisoners. York's Medal of Honor action occurred during the United States-led portion of the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France, which was intended to breach the Hindenburg line and force the Germans to surrender. He earned decorations from several allied countries during WWI, including France, Italy and Montenegro.


title: Alvin York

text: York was born in rural Tennessee, in what is now the community of Pall Mall in Fentress County. His parents farmed, and his father worked as a blacksmith. The eleven York children had minimal schooling because they helped provide for the family, including hunting, fishing, and working as laborers. After the death of his father, York assisted in caring for his younger siblings and found work as a blacksmith. Despite being a regular churchgoer, York also drank heavily and was prone to fistfights. After a 1914 conversion experience, he vowed to improve and became even more devoted to the Church of Christ in Christian Union. York was drafted during World War I; he initially claimed conscientious objector status on the grounds that his religious denomination forbade violence. Persuaded that his religion was not incompatible with military service, York joined the 82nd Division as an infantry private and went to France in 1918.


title: Alvin York

text: In October 1918, Private First Class (Acting Corporal) York was one of a group of seventeen soldiers assigned to infiltrate German lines and silence a machine gun position. After the American patrol had captured a large group of enemy soldiers, German small arms fire killed six Americans and wounded three. Several of the Americans returned fire while others guarded the prisoners. York and the other Americans attacked the machine gun position, killing several German soldiers. The German officer responsible for the machine gun position had emptied his pistol while firing at York but failed to hit him. This officer then offered to surrender and York accepted. York and his men marched back to their unit's command post with more than 130 prisoners. York was later promoted to sergeant and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. An investigation resulted in the upgrading of the award to the Medal of Honor. York's feat made him a national hero and international celebrity among allied nations.


title: Alvin York

text: After Armistice Day, a group of Tennessee businessmen purchased a farm for York, his new wife, and their growing family. He later formed a charitable foundation to improve educational opportunities for children in rural Tennessee. In the 1930s and 1940s, York worked as a project superintendent for the Civilian Conservation Corps and managed construction of the Byrd Lake reservoir at Cumberland Mountain State Park, after which he served for several years as park superintendent. A 1941 film about his World War I exploits, "Sergeant York", was that year's highest-grossing film; Gary Cooper won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of York, and the film was credited with enhancing American morale as the US mobilized for action in World War II. In his later years, York was confined to bed by health problems. He died in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1964 and was buried at Wolf River Cemetery in his hometown of Pall Mall, Tennessee.


title: Alvin York

text: Alvin Cullum York was born in a two-room log cabin in Fentress County, Tennessee. He was the third child born to William Uriah York and Mary Elizabeth (Brooks) York. William Uriah York was born in Jamestown, Tennessee, to Uriah York and Eliza Jane Livingston, who had moved to Tennessee from Buncombe County, North Carolina. Mary Elizabeth York was born in Pall Mall to William Brooks, who took his mother's maiden name as an alias of William H. Harrington after deserting from Company A of the 11th Michigan Cavalry Regiment during the American Civil War, and Nancy Pyle, and was the great-granddaughter of Conrad "Coonrod" Pyle, an English settler who settled Pall Mall, Tennessee.


title: Alvin York

text: William York and Mary Brooks married on December 25, 1881, and had eleven children: Henry Singleton, Joseph Marion, Alvin Cullum, Samuel John, Albert, Hattie, George Alexander, James Preston, Lillian Mae, Robert Daniel, and Lucy Erma. The York family is mainly of English ancestry, with Scots-Irish ancestry as well. The family resided in the Indian Creek area of Fentress County. The family was impoverished, with William York working as a blacksmith to supplement the family's income. The men of the York family farmed and harvested their own food, while the mother made all of the family's clothing. The York sons attended school for only nine months and withdrew from education because William York needed them to help work on the family farm, hunt, and fish to help feed the family. When William York died in November 1911, his son Alvin helped his mother raise his younger siblings. Alvin was the oldest sibling still residing in the county, since his two older brothers had married and relocated. To supplement the family's income, York worked in Harriman, Tennessee, first in railroad construction and then as a logger. By all accounts, he was a skilled laborer who was devoted to the welfare of his family, and a crack shot. York was also a violent alcoholic prone to fighting in saloons. In one of the saloon fights his best friend was killed. York also accumulated several arrests within the area. His mother, a member of a pacifist Protestant denomination, tried to persuade York to change his ways.


title: Alvin York

text: Despite his history of drinking and fighting, York attended church regularly and often led the hymn singing. A revival meeting at the end of 1914 led him to a conversion experience on January 1, 1915. His congregation was the Church of Christ in Christian Union, a Protestant denomination that shunned secular politics and disputes between Christian denominations. This church had no specific doctrine of pacifism but it had been formed in reaction to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South's support of slavery, including armed conflict during the American Civil War, and it opposed all forms of violence. In a lecture later in life, York reported his reaction to the outbreak of World War I: "I was worried clean through. I didn't want to go and kill. I believed in my Bible."


title: Alvin York

text: On June 5, 1917, at the age of 29, Alvin York registered for the draft as all men between 21 and 30 years of age were required to do as a result of the Selective Service Act. When he registered for the draft, he answered the question "Do you claim exemption from draft (specify grounds)?" by writing "Yes. Don't Want To Fight." When his initial claim for conscientious objector status was denied, he appealed. During World War I, conscientious objector status did not exempt the objector from military duty. Such individuals could still be drafted and were given assignments that did not conflict with their anti-war principles. In November 1917, while York's application was considered, he was drafted and began his army service at Camp Gordon, Georgia.


title: Alvin York

text: From the day he registered for the draft until he returned from the war on May 29, 1919, York kept a diary of his activities. In his diary, York wrote that he refused to sign documents provided by his pastor seeking a discharge from the Army on religious grounds and similar documents provided by his mother asserting a claim of exemption as the sole support of his mother and siblings. Despite his initial, signed request for an exemption, he later disclaimed ever having been a conscientious objector.


title: Alvin York

text: York served in Company G, 328th Infantry, 82nd Division. Deeply troubled by the conflict between his pacifism and his training for war, he spoke at length with his company commander, Captain Edward Courtney Bullock Danforth Jr. (1894–1974) of Augusta, Georgia, and his battalion commander, Major G. Edward Buxton of Providence, Rhode Island, a devout Christian himself. Biblical passages about violence ("He that hath no sword, let him sell his cloak and buy one." "Render unto Caesar ..." "... if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight.") cited by Danforth persuaded York to reconsider the morality of his participation in the war. Granted a 10-day leave to visit home, he returned convinced that God meant for him to fight and would keep him safe, as committed to his new mission as he had been to pacifism. He served with his division in the St. Mihiel Offensive.


title: Alvin York

text: In an October 8, 1918, attack that occurred during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, York's battalion aimed to capture German positions near Hill 223 () along the Decauville railroad north of Chatel-Chéhéry, France. His actions that day earned him the Medal of Honor. He later recalled:


title: Alvin York

text: Under the command of Cpl. (Acting Sergeant) Bernard Early, four non-commissioned officers, including Acting Corporal York, and thirteen privates were ordered to infiltrate the German lines to take out the machine guns. The group worked their way behind the Germans and overran the headquarters of a German unit, capturing a large group of German soldiers who were preparing a counter-attack against the U.S. troops. Early's men were contending with the prisoners when German machine gun fire suddenly peppered the area, killing six Americans and wounding three others. Several of the Americans returned fire while others guarded the prisoners. From his advantageous position, York fought the Germans. York recalled:


title: Alvin York

text: During the assault, a German officer led several Germans to the scene of the fighting and ran into York who shot several of them with his pistol.


title: Alvin York

text: Imperial German Army First Lieutenant Paul Jürgen Vollmer, commanding the 120th Reserve Infantry Regiment's 1st Battalion, emptied his pistol trying to kill York while he was contending with the machine guns. Failing to injure York, and seeing his mounting losses, he offered in English to surrender the unit to York who accepted. At the end of the engagement, York and his seven men marched their German prisoners back to the American lines. Upon returning to his unit, York reported to his brigade commander, Brigadier General Julian Robert Lindsey, who remarked: "Well York, I hear you have captured the whole German army." York replied: "No sir. I got only 132."


title: Alvin York

text: York's actions silenced the German machine guns and were responsible for enabling the 328th Infantry to renew its attack to capture the Decauville Railroad.


title: Alvin York

text: York was promptly promoted to sergeant and received the Distinguished Service Cross. A few months later, an investigation by York's chain of command resulted in an upgrade of his Distinguished Service Cross to the Medal of Honor, which was presented by the commanding general of the American Expeditionary Forces, General John J. Pershing. The French Republic awarded him the Croix de Guerre, Medaille Militaire and Legion of Honor.


title: Alvin York

text: In addition to his French medals, Italy awarded York the Croce al Merito di Guerra and Montenegro decorated him with its War Medal. He eventually received nearly 50 decorations.


title: Alvin York

text: In attempting to explain his actions during the 1919 investigation that resulted in the Medal of Honor, York told General Lindsey "A higher power than man guided and watched over me and told me what to do." Lindsey replied "York, you are right."


title: Alvin York

text: Before leaving France, York was his division's noncommissioned officer delegate to the caucus which created the American Legion, of which York was a charter member.


title: Alvin York

text: York's heroism went unnoticed in the United States press, even in Tennessee, until the publication of the April 26, 1919, issue of the "Saturday Evening Post", which had a circulation in excess of 2 million. In an article titled "The Second Elder Gives Battle", journalist George Pattullo, who had learned of York's story while touring battlefields earlier in the year, laid out the themes that have dominated York's story ever since: the mountaineer, his religious faith and skill with firearms, patriotic, plainspoken and unsophisticated, an uneducated man who "seems to do everything correctly by intuition." In response, the Tennessee Society, a group of Tennesseans living in New York City, arranged celebrations to greet York upon his return to the United States, including a 5-day furlough to allow for visits to New York City and Washington, D.C. York arrived in Hoboken, New Jersey, on May 22, stayed at the Waldorf Astoria, and attended a formal banquet in his honor. He toured the subway system in a special car before continuing to Washington, where the House of Representatives gave him a standing ovation and he met Secretary of War Newton D. Baker and the President's secretary Joe Tumulty, as President Wilson was still in Paris.


title: Alvin York

text: York proceeded to Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, where he was discharged from the service, and then to Tennessee for more celebrations. He had been home for barely a week when, on June 7, 1919, York and Gracie Loretta Williams were married by Tennessee Governor Albert H. Roberts in Pall Mall. More celebrations followed the wedding, including a week-long trip to Nashville where York accepted a special medal awarded by the state.


title: Alvin York

text: York refused many offers to profit from his fame, including thousands of dollars offered for appearances, product endorsements, newspaper articles, and movie rights to his life story. Instead, he lent his name to various charitable and civic causes. To support economic development, he campaigned for the Tennessee government to build a road to service his native region, succeeding when a highway through the mountains was completed in the mid-1920s and named Alvin C. York Highway. The Nashville Rotary organized the purchase, by public subscription, of a farm, the one gift that York accepted. However, it was not the fully equipped farm he was promised, requiring York to borrow money to stock it. He subsequently lost money in the farming depression that followed the war. Then the Rotary was unable to continue the installment payments on the property, leaving York to pay them himself. In 1921, he had no option but to seek public help, resulting in an extended discussion of his finances in the press, some of it sharply critical. Debt in itself was a trial: "I could get used to most any kind of hardship, but I'm not fitted for the hardship of owing money." Only an appeal to Rotary Clubs nationwide and an account of York's plight in the "New York World" brought in the required contributions by Christmas 1921.


title: Alvin York

text: In the 1920s, York formed the Alvin C. York Foundation with the mission of increasing educational opportunities in his region of Tennessee. Board members included the area's congressman, Cordell Hull, who later became Secretary of State under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Secretary of the Treasury William G. McAdoo, who was President Wilson's son-in-law, and Tennessee Governor Albert Roberts. Plans called for a non-sectarian institution providing vocational training to be called the York Agricultural Institute. York concentrated on fund-raising, though he disappointed audiences who wanted to hear about the Argonne when he instead explained that "I occupied one space in a fifty mile front. I saw so little it hardly seems worthwhile discussing it. I'm trying to forget the war in the interest of the mountain boys and girls that I grew up among." He fought first to win financial support from the state and county, then battled local leaders about the school's location. Refusing to compromise, he resigned and developed plans for a rival York Industrial School. After a series of lawsuits he gained control of the original institution and was its president when it opened in December 1929. As the Great Depression deepened, the state government failed to provide promised funds, and York mortgaged his farm to fund bus transportation for students. Even after he was ousted as president in 1936 by political and bureaucratic rivals, he continued to donate money.


title: Alvin York

text: In 1935 York, sensing the end of his time with the institute, began to work as a project superintendent with the Civilian Conservation Corps overseeing the creation of Cumberland Mountain State Park's Byrd Lake, one of the largest masonry projects the program ever undertook. York served as the park's superintendent until 1940. In the second half of 1930s and early 1940s, in the run-up to the America's entry in World War II, York was a forceful and public advocate for interventionism, calling for U.S. involvement in the war against Germany, Italy and Japan. At the time, U.S. public opinion was overwhelmingly in favor of the isolationist and non-interventionist approach, and York's unpopular views led to accusations that he was engaged in war-mongering. York became a relatively rare high-profile public voice for intervention. In a speech at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in May 1941, York said: "We must fight again! The time is not now ripe, nor will it ever be, to compromise with Hitler, or the things he stands for."


title: Alvin York

text: York's speeches attracted the attention of President Roosevelt, who frequently quoted York, particularly a passage from York's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier speech:


title: Alvin York

text: However, at fifty-four years of age, overweight, near-diabetic, and with evidence of arthritis, he was denied enlistment as a combat soldier. Instead, he was commissioned as a major in the Army Signal Corps and he toured training camps and participated in bond drives in support of the war effort, usually paying his own travel expenses. Gen. Matthew Ridgway later recalled that York "created in the minds of farm boys and clerks ... the conviction that an aggressive soldier, well-trained and well-armed, can fight his way out of any situation." He also raised funds for war-related charities, including the Red Cross. He served on his county draft board and, when literacy requirements forced the rejection of large numbers of Fentress County men, he offered to lead a battalion of illiterates himself, saying they were "crack shots". Although York served during the war as a Signal Corps major and as a colonel with the 7th Regiment of the Tennessee State Guard, newspapers continued to refer to him as "Sergeant York".


title: Alvin York

text: York cooperated with journalists in telling his life story twice in the 1920s. He allowed Nashville-born freelance journalist Sam Cowan to see his diary and submitted to interviews. The resulting 1922 biography focused on York's Appalachian background, describing his upbringing among the "purest Anglo-Saxons to be found today", emphasizing popular stereotypes without bringing the man to life. A few years later, York contacted a publisher about an edition of his war diary, but the publisher wanted additional material to flesh out the story. Then Tom Skeyhill, an Australian-born veteran of the Gallipoli campaign, visited York in Tennessee and the two became friends. On York's behalf, Skeyhill wrote an "autobiography" in the first person and was credited as the editor of "Sergeant York: His Own Life Story and War Diary". With a preface by Newton D. Baker, Secretary of War in World War I, it presented a one-dimensional York supplemented with tales of life in the Tennessee mountains. Reviews noted that York only promoted his life story in the interest of funding educational programs: "Perhaps York's bearing after his famous exploit in the Argonne best reveals his native greatness. ... He will not exploit himself except for his own people. All of which gives his book an appeal beyond its contents."


title: Alvin York

text: The mountaineer persona Cowan and Skeyhill promoted reflected York's own beliefs. In a speech at the 1939 New York World's Fair, he said:


title: Alvin York

text: For many years, York employed a secretary, Arthur S. Bushing, who wrote the lectures and speeches York delivered. Bushing prepared York's correspondence as well. Like the works of Cowan and Skeyhill, words commonly ascribed to York, though doubtless representing his thinking, were often composed by professional writers. York had refused several times to authorize a film version of his life story. Finally, in 1940, as York was looking to finance an interdenominational Bible school, he yielded to a persistent Hollywood producer and negotiated the contract himself. In 1941 the movie "Sergeant York", directed by Howard Hawks with Gary Cooper in the title role, told about his life and Medal of Honor action. The screenplay included much fictitious material though it was based on York's "Diary". The marketing of the film included a visit by York to the White House where FDR praised the film. Some of the response to the film divided along political lines, with advocates of preparedness and aid to Great Britain enthusiastic ("Hollywood's first solid contribution to the national defense", said "Time") and isolationists calling it "propaganda" for the administration. It received 11 Oscar nominations and won two, including the Academy Award for Best Actor for Cooper. It was the highest-grossing picture of 1941. York's earnings from the film, about $150,000 in the first two years as well as later royalties, resulted in a decade-long battle with the Internal Revenue Service. York eventually built part of his planned Bible school, which hosted 100 students until the late 1950s.


title: Alvin York

text: York originally believed in the morality of America's intervention in World War I. By the mid-1930s, he looked back more critically: "I can't see that we did any good. There's as much trouble now as there was when we were over there. I think the slogan 'A war to end war' is all wrong." He fully endorsed American preparedness, but showed sympathy for isolationism by saying that he would fight only if war came to America.


title: Alvin York

text: A consistent Democrat – "I'm a Democrat first, last, and all the time", he said – in January 1941 he praised FDR's support for Great Britain and in an address at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day of that year he attacked isolationists and said that veterans understood that "liberty and freedom are so very precious that you do not fight and win them once and stop." They are "prizes awarded only to those peoples who fight to win them and then keep fighting eternally to hold them!" At times he was blunt: "I think any man who talks against the interests of his own country ought to be arrested and put in jail, not excepting senators and colonels." Everyone knew that the colonel in question was Charles Lindbergh.


title: Alvin York

text: In the late 1940s he called for toughness in dealing with the Soviet Union and did not hesitate to recommend using the atomic bomb in a first strike: "If they can't find anyone else to push the button, I will." He questioned the failure of United Nations forces to use the atomic bomb in Korea. In the 1960s he criticized Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara's plans to reduce the ranks of the National Guard and reserves: "Nothing would please Khrushchev better."


title: Alvin York

text: York and his wife Gracie had ten children, seven sons and three daughters, most named after American historical figures: Infant son (1920, died at 4 days), Alvin Cullum, Jr. (1921–1983), George Edward Buxton (1923–2018), Woodrow Wilson (1925–1998), Samuel Huston (1928–1929), Andrew Jackson (1930–2022), Betsy Ross (born 1933), Mary Alice (1935–1991), Thomas Jefferson (1938–1972), and Infant daughter (1940, died same day).


title: Alvin York

text: York had health problems throughout his life. He had gallbladder surgery in the late 1920s and had pneumonia in 1942. Described in 1919 as a "red-haired giant with the ruddy complexion of the outdoors" and "standing more than 6 feet ... and tipping the scale at more than 200 pounds", by 1945 he weighed 250 pounds and in 1948 he had a stroke. More strokes and another case of pneumonia followed, and he was confined to bed from 1954, further impaired by failing eyesight. He was hospitalized several times during his last two years. York died at the Veterans Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee, on September 2, 1964, of a cerebral hemorrhage at age 76. After a funeral service in his Jamestown church, with Gen. Matthew Ridgway representing President Lyndon Johnson, York was buried at the Wolf River Cemetery in Pall Mall. His funeral sermon was delivered by Richard G. Humble, General Superintendent of the Churches of Christ in Christian Union. Humble also preached Mrs. York's funeral sermon in 1984.


title: Alvin York

text: Beginning soon after York's return to the United States at the end of the war, doubt and controversy periodically surfaced over whether the events detailed in his Medal of Honor documents had taken place as officially described, and whether other soldiers in York's unit should also have been recognized for their heroism. Otis Merrithew (William Cutting) and Bernard Early were among those who argued against the official version. Of the 17 American soldiers who were involved in York's Medal of Honor action, six were killed. York received the Medal of Honor, and over the years, three of the others who lived through that day's fighting also received valor awards, including the Distinguished Service Cross for Early in 1929, and the Silver Star for Merrithew in 1965.


title: Alvin York

text: In October 2006, United States Army Colonel Douglas Mastriano, head of the Sergeant York Discovery Expedition (SYDE), conducted research to locate the York battle site. Among the Mastriano expedition's finds were 46 American rifle rounds. In addition, his research located pieces of German ammunition and weaponry. Without the official support of the French government, Mastriano excavated the site and bulldozed the area in order to build two monuments and a historic trail. Mastriano's research has been strongly disputed by other historians who point out numerous errors in the history dissertation and subsequent book that he published on York.


title: Alvin York

text: Another team led by Dr. Tom Nolan, head of the Sergeant York Project and a geographer at the R.O. Fullerton Laboratory for Spatial Technology at Middle Tennessee State University, placed the site 600 meters south of the location identified by Mastriano. Nolan's research relied on contemporary army graves registration Forms, the 82nd Division's wartime history, and maps drawn by Colonel G. Edward Buxton Jr. and Captain Edward C. B. Danforth, both of whom walked the ground with York during the Medal of Honor investigation.


title: Alvin York

text: Many places and monuments throughout the world have been named in honor of York, most notably his farm in Pall Mall, which is now open to visitors as the Sgt. Alvin C. York State Historic Park.


title: Alvin York

text: Several government buildings have been named for York, including the Alvin C. York Veterans Hospital located in Murfreesboro.


title: Alvin York

text: The Alvin C. York Institute was founded in 1926 as an agricultural high school by York and residents of Fentress County and continues to serve as Jamestown's high school.


title: Alvin York

text: Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Penn Warren used York as the model for characters in two of his novels, both explorations of the burden of fame faced by battlefield heroes in peacetime. In "At Heaven's Gate" (1943), a Tennessee mountaineer who was awarded the Medal of Honor in World War I returns from combat, becomes a state legislator, and then a bank president. Others exploit his decency and fame for their own selfish ends as the novel explores the real-life experience of an old-fashioned hero in a cynical world. In "The Cave" (1959), a similar hero from a similar background has aged and become an invalid. He struggles to maintain his identity as his real self diverges from the robust legend of his youth.


title: Alvin York

text: A statue of York by sculptor Felix de Weldon was placed on the grounds of the Tennessee State Capitol in 1968.


title: Alvin York

text: In the 1980s, the United States Army named its DIVAD weapon system "Sergeant York"; the project was cancelled because of technical problems and cost overruns.


title: Alvin York

text: In 1993, York was among 35 Medal of Honor recipients whose portraits were painted and biographies included in a boxed set of "Congressional Medal of Honor Trading Cards," issued by Eclipse Enterprises under license from the Medal of Honor Society. The text is by Kent DeLong, the paintings by Tom Simonton, and the set edited by Catherine Yronwode.


title: Alvin York

text: On May 5, 2000, the United States Postal Service issued the "Distinguished Soldiers" stamps, one of which honored York.


title: Alvin York

text: The riderless horse in the 2004 funeral procession of President Ronald Reagan was named Sergeant York.


title: Alvin York

text: In 2007, the 82nd Airborne Division's movie theater at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, was named York Theater.


title: Alvin York

text: The traveling American football trophy between UT Martin, Austin Peay, Tennessee State, and Tennessee Tech is called the Alvin C. York trophy.


title: Alvin York

text: The U.S. Army ROTC's Sergeant York Award is presented to cadets who excel in the program and devote additional time and effort to maintaining and expanding it.


title: Alvin York

text: A memorial to graduates of the East Tennessee State University ROTC program who have given their lives for their country carries a quotation from York.


title: Alvin York

text: Swedish power metal band Sabaton's 2019 album "The Great War" contained a track titled "82nd All the Way" (What Sergeant York achieved that day, echoed from France to the USA, its 82nd all the way. Death from above is what they now say.) , a tribute to York's Medal of Honor action.


title: Abdominal pain

text: Abdominal pain, also known as a stomach ache, is a symptom associated with both non-serious and serious medical issues.


title: Abdominal pain

text: Common causes of pain in the abdomen include gastroenteritis and irritable bowel syndrome. About 15% of people have a more serious underlying condition such as appendicitis, leaking or ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, diverticulitis, or ectopic pregnancy. In a third of cases the exact cause is unclear.


title: Abdominal pain

text: Given that a variety of diseases can cause some form of abdominal pain, a systematic approach to the examination of a person and the formulation of a differential diagnosis remains important.


title: Abdominal pain

text: The most frequent reasons for abdominal pain are gastroenteritis (13%), irritable bowel syndrome (8%), urinary tract problems (5%), inflammation of the stomach (5%) and constipation (5%). In about 30% of cases, the cause is not determined. About 10% of cases have a more serious cause including gallbladder (gallstones or biliary dyskinesia) or pancreas problems (4%), diverticulitis (3%), appendicitis (2%) and cancer (1%). More common in those who are older, ischemic colitis, mesenteric ischemia, and abdominal aortic aneurysms are other serious causes.


title: Abdominal pain

text: Acute abdomen can be defined as severe, persistent abdominal pain of sudden onset that is likely to require surgical intervention to treat its cause. The pain may frequently be associated with nausea and vomiting, abdominal distention, fever and signs of shock. One of the most common conditions associated with acute abdominal pain is acute appendicitis.


title: Abdominal pain

text: The location of abdominal pain can provide information about what may be causing the pain. The abdomen can be divided into four regions called quadrants. Locations and associated conditions include:


title: Abdominal pain

text: Abdominal pain can be referred to as visceral pain or peritoneal pain. The contents of the abdomen can be divided into the foregut, midgut, and hindgut. The foregut contains the pharynx, lower respiratory tract, portions of the esophagus, stomach, portions of the duodenum (proximal), liver, biliary tract (including the gallbladder and bile ducts), and the pancreas. The midgut contains portions of the duodenum (distal), cecum, appendix, ascending colon, and first half of the transverse colon. The hindgut contains the distal half of the transverse colon, descending colon, sigmoid colon, rectum, and superior anal canal.


title: Abdominal pain

text: Each subsection of the gut has an associated visceral afferent nerve that transmits sensory information from the viscera to the spinal cord, traveling with the autonomic sympathetic nerves. The visceral sensory information from the gut traveling to the spinal cord, termed the visceral afferent, is non-specific and overlaps with the somatic afferent nerves, which are very specific. Therefore, visceral afferent information traveling to the spinal cord can present in the distribution of the somatic afferent nerve; this is why appendicitis initially presents with T10 periumbilical pain when it first begins and becomes T12 pain as the abdominal wall peritoneum (which is rich with somatic afferent nerves) is involved.


title: Abdominal pain

text: A thorough patient history and physical examination is used to better understand the underlying cause of abdominal pain.


title: Abdominal pain

text: After gathering a thorough history, one should perform a physical exam in order to identify important physical signs that might clarify the diagnosis, including a cardiovascular exam, lung exam, thorough abdominal exam, and for females, a genitourinary exam.


title: Abdominal pain

text: If diagnosis remains unclear after history, examination, and basic investigations as above, then more advanced investigations may reveal a diagnosis. Such tests include:


title: Abdominal pain

text: The management of abdominal pain depends on many factors, including the etiology of the pain. In the emergency department, a person presenting with abdominal pain may initially require IV fluids due to decreased intake secondary to abdominal pain and possible emesis or vomiting. Treatment for abdominal pain includes analgesia, such as non-opioid (ketorolac) and opioid medications (morphine, fentanyl). Choice of analgesia is dependent on the cause of the pain, as ketorolac can worsen some intra-abdominal processes. Patients presenting to the emergency department with abdominal pain may receive a "GI cocktail" that includes an antacid (examples include omeprazole, ranitidine, magnesium hydroxide, and calcium chloride) and lidocaine. After addressing pain, there may be a role for antimicrobial treatment in some cases of abdominal pain. Butylscopolamine (Buscopan) is used to treat cramping abdominal pain with some success. Surgical management for causes of abdominal pain includes but is not limited to cholecystectomy, appendectomy, and exploratory laparotomy.


title: Abdominal pain

text: Abdominal pain is the reason about 3% of adults see their family physician. Rates of emergency department (ED) visits in the United States for abdominal pain increased 18% from 2006 through to 2011. This was the largest increase out of 20 common conditions seen in the ED. The rate of ED use for nausea and vomiting also increased 18%.


title: Androgen

text: An androgen (from Greek "andr-", the stem of the word meaning "man") is any natural or synthetic steroid hormone that regulates the development and maintenance of male characteristics in vertebrates by binding to androgen receptors. This includes the embryological development of the primary male sex organs, and the development of male secondary sex characteristics at puberty. Androgens are synthesized in the testes, the ovaries, and the adrenal glands.


title: Androgen

text: Androgens increase in both males and females during puberty. The major androgen in males is testosterone. Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) and androstenedione are of equal importance in male development. DHT "in utero" causes differentiation of the penis, scrotum and prostate. In adulthood, DHT contributes to balding, prostate growth, and sebaceous gland activity.


title: Androgen

text: Although androgens are commonly thought of only as male sex hormones, females also have them, but at lower levels: they function in libido and sexual arousal. Also, androgens are the precursors to estrogens in both men and women.


title: Androgen

text: In addition to their role as natural hormones, androgens are used as medications; for information on androgens as medications, see the androgen replacement therapy and anabolic steroid articles.


title: Androgen

text: The main subset of androgens, known as adrenal androgens, is composed of 19-carbon steroids synthesized in the zona reticularis, the innermost layer of the adrenal cortex. Adrenal androgens function as weak steroids (though some are precursors), and the subset includes dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEA-S), androstenedione (A4), and androstenediol (A5).


title: Androgen

text: The ovaries and adrenal glands also produce androgens, but at much lower levels than the testes. Regarding the relative contributions of ovaries and adrenal glands to female androgen levels, in a study with six menstruating women the following observations have been made:


title: Androgen

text: During mammalian development, the gonads are at first capable of becoming either ovaries or testes. In humans, starting at about week 4, the gonadal rudiments are present within the intermediate mesoderm adjacent to the developing kidneys. At about week 6, epithelial sex cords develop within the forming testes and incorporate the germ cells as they migrate into the gonads. In males, certain Y chromosome genes, particularly SRY, control development of the male phenotype, including conversion of the early bipotential gonad into testes. In males, the sex cords fully invade the developing gonads.


title: Androgen

text: The mesoderm-derived epithelial cells of the sex cords in developing testes become the Sertoli cells, which will function to support sperm cell formation. A minor population of nonepithelial cells appear between the tubules by week 8 of human fetal development. These are Leydig cells. Soon after they differentiate, Leydig cells begin to produce androgens.


title: Androgen

text: The androgens function as paracrine hormones required by the Sertoli cells to support sperm production. They are also required for masculinization of the developing male fetus (including penis and scrotum formation). Under the influence of androgens, remnants of the mesonephron, the Wolffian ducts, develop into the epididymis, vas deferens and seminal vesicles. This action of androgens is supported by a hormone from Sertoli cells, Müllerian inhibitory hormone (MIH), which prevents the embryonic Müllerian ducts from developing into fallopian tubes and other female reproductive tract tissues in male embryos. MIH and androgens cooperate to allow for movement of testes into the scrotum.


title: Androgen

text: Before the production of the pituitary hormone luteinizing hormone (LH) by the embryo starting at about weeks 11–12, human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG) promotes the differentiation of Leydig cells and their production of androgens at week 8. Androgen action in target tissues often involves conversion of testosterone to 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT).


title: Androgen

text: At the time of puberty, androgen levels increase dramatically in males, and androgens mediate the development of masculine secondary sexual characteristics as well as the activation of spermatogenesis and fertility and masculine behavioral changes such as increased sex drive. Masculine secondary sexual characteristics include androgenic hair, voice deepening, emergence of the Adam's apple, broadening of the shoulders, increased muscle mass, and penile growth.


title: Androgen

text: During puberty, androgen, LH and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) production increase and the sex cords hollow out, forming the seminiferous tubules, and the germ cells start to differentiate into sperm. Throughout adulthood, androgens and FSH cooperatively act on Sertoli cells in the testes to support sperm production. Exogenous androgen supplements can be used as a male contraceptive. Elevated androgen levels caused by use of androgen supplements can inhibit production of LH and block production of endogenous androgens by Leydig cells. Without the locally high levels of androgens in testes due to androgen production by Leydig cells, the seminiferous tubules can degenerate, resulting in infertility. For this reason, many transdermal androgen patches are applied to the scrotum.


title: Androgen

text: Males typically have less body fat than females. Recent results indicate androgens inhibit the ability of some fat cells to store lipids by blocking a signal transduction pathway that normally supports adipocyte function. Also, androgens, but not estrogens, increase beta adrenergic receptors while decreasing alpha adrenergic receptors- which results in increased levels of epinephrine/ norepinephrine due to lack of alpha-2 receptor negative feedback and decreased fat accumulation due to epinephrine/ norepinephrine then acting on lipolysis-inducing beta receptors.


title: Androgen

text: Males typically have more skeletal muscle mass than females. Androgens promote the enlargement of skeletal muscle cells in a coordinated manner by acting on several cell types in skeletal muscle tissue. One cell type, called the myoblast, conveys androgen receptors for generating muscle. Fusion of myoblasts generates myotubes, in a process linked to androgen receptor levels. Higher androgen levels lead to increased expression of androgen receptor.


title: Androgen

text: Circulating levels of androgens can influence human behavior because some neurons are sensitive to steroid hormones. Androgen levels have been implicated in the regulation of human aggression and libido. Indeed, androgens are capable of altering the structure of the brain in several species, including mice, rats, and primates, producing sex differences.


title: Androgen

text: Numerous reports have shown androgens alone are capable of altering the structure of the brain, but identification of which alterations in neuroanatomy stem from androgens or estrogens is difficult, because of their potential for conversion.


title: Androgen

text: Evidence from neurogenesis (formation of new neurons) studies on male rats has shown that the hippocampus is a useful brain region to examine when determining the effects of androgens on behavior. To examine neurogenesis, wild-type male rats were compared with male rats that had testicular feminization mutation (TMF), a genetic disorder resulting in complete or partial insensitivity to androgens and a lack of external male genitalia.


title: Androgen

text: Neural injections of Bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) were applied to males of both groups to test for neurogenesis. Analysis showed that testosterone and dihydrotestosterone regulated adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN). Adult hippocampal neurogenesis was regulated through the androgen receptor in the wild-type male rats, but not in the TMF male rats. To further test the role of activated androgen receptors on AHN, flutamide, an antiandrogen drug that competes with testosterone and dihydrotestosterone for androgen receptors, and dihydrotestosterone were administered to normal male rats. Dihydrotestosterone increased the number of BrdU cells, while flutamide inhibited these cells.


title: Androgen

text: Researchers also examined how mild exercise affected androgen synthesis which in turn causes AHN activation of N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors.


title: Androgen

text: Researchers injected both orchidectomized (ORX) (castrated) and sham castrated male rats with BrdU to determine if the number of new cells was increased. They found that AHN in male rats is increased with mild exercise by boosting synthesis of dihydrotestosterone in the hippocampus.


title: Androgen

text: Androgen regulation decreases the likelihood of depression in males. In preadolescent male rats, neonatal rats treated with flutamide developed more depression-like symptoms compared to control rats.


title: Androgen

text: Again BrdU was injected into both groups of rats in order to see if cells were multiplying in the living tissue. These results demonstrate how the organization of androgens has a positive effect on preadolescent hippocampal neurogenesis that may be linked with lower depression-like symptoms.


title: Androgen

text: Social isolation has a hindering effect in AHN whereas normal regulation of androgens increases AHN. A study using male rats showed that testosterone may block social isolation, which results in hippocampal neurogenesis reaching homeostasis—regulation that keeps internal conditions stable. A Brdu analysis showed that excess testosterone did not increase this blocking effect against social isolation; that is, the natural circulating levels of androgens cancel out the negative effects of social isolation on AHN.


title: Androgen

text: Androgens have potential roles in relaxation of the myometrium via non-genomic, androgen receptor-independent pathways, preventing premature uterine contractions in pregnancy.


title: Androgen

text: Reduced ability of an XY-karyotype fetus to respond to androgens can result in one of several conditions, including infertility and several forms of intersex conditions.


title: Androgen

text: Yolk androgen levels in certain birds have been positively correlated to social dominance later in life. See American coot.


title: Androgen

text: 5α-Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) was 2.4 times more potent than testosterone at maintaining normal prostate weight and duct lumen mass (this is a measure of epithelial cell function stimulation). Whereas DHT was equally potent as testosterone at preventing prostate cell death after castration.


title: Androgen

text: Androgens have also been found to signal through membrane androgen receptors, which are distinct from the classical nuclear androgen receptor.


title: Androgen

text: Androgens are synthesized from cholesterol and are produced primarily in the gonads (testicles and ovaries) and also in the adrenal glands. The testicles produce a much higher quantity than the ovaries. Conversion of testosterone to the more potent DHT occurs in prostate gland, liver, brain and skin.


title: Androgen

text: A low testosterone level (hypogonadism) in men may be treated with testosterone administration. Prostate cancer may be treated by removing the major source of testosterone: testicle removal (orchiectomy); or agents which block androgens from accessing their receptor: antiandrogens.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Uriah Alexander Hall (born July 31, 1984) is a Jamaican-American retired mixed martial artist, professional boxer, and a former kickboxer. He fought in the Middleweight division for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was the runner up on "". Prior to his appearance on "TUF", Hall competed in Bellator MMA and Ring of Combat, where he saw success in winning the ROC Championship. He is also the first UFC fighter in history to win a fight without throwing a single strike.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Uriah Hall was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica but moved to the New York City borough of Queens in the United States at the age of 13. Upon his arrival in the US, he was bullied at school but found refuge in martial arts at the age of 16. He is a second degree blackbelt in Tiger Schulmann's Mixed Martial Arts under Tiger Schulmann and also competed as a kickboxer in the World Combat League.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall started his career 3–0, including a TKO victory over Edwin Aguilar at Bellator 11, before fighting for the vacant Ring of Combat Middleweight title. Hall missed weight by 0.25 lbs and paid $100 penalty to his opponent. Despite missing weight, the fight remained a title fight. Hall won by first-round submission.


title: Uriah Hall

text: In September 2010, Hall suffered his first professional loss as he was defeated by future UFC champion Chris Weidman by TKO.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall would get back to his winning ways, collecting 3 consecutive victories over Aung La Nsang, Daniel Akinyemi and Nodar Kudukhashvili. He won the vacant Ring of Combat Middleweight Championship against Kudukhashvili.


title: Uriah Hall

text: On January 9, 2013, it was announced that Hall had been selected as a fighter for the seventeenth season of The Ultimate Fighter with coaches Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen.


title: Uriah Hall

text: In the opening round to get into the house, Hall took on Andy Enz and won via decision. Hall was the number two fighter selection for Team Sonnen.


title: Uriah Hall

text: In episode 3 Hall faced Adam Cella from Team Jones. With just ten seconds left in the first round, Hall unleashed a devastating spinning hook kick to Cella's head that knocked him unconscious. The knockout was declared the most vicious knockout seen by Dana White over The Ultimate Fighter's eight-year history.


title: Uriah Hall

text: With the win, Hall advanced on to the quarter-finals and took on Bubba McDaniel of Team Jones. Hall knocked McDaniel out with a right straight counter-punch just as he was advancing forwards in the first round. That one punch broke McDaniel's face in three places. This led to Dana White stating that Hall was the "most dangerous" fighter in TUF history and Chael Sonnen to say he will be a contender in the middleweight division.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall faced Dylan Andrews in the semi-finals. He displayed a more technical approach, utilizing a jab through a majority of the first round. Taken down in the second round by Andrews, Hall attempted a kimura submission before throwing strikes from the bottom position that severely hurt Andrews and forced him to lose his top control and caused Hall to land massive ground & pound to secure the TKO victory for Hall.


title: Uriah Hall

text: With his successful 4–0 run on the show, Uriah gathered a lot of attention from the public. Hall then faced fellow Team Sonnen fighter Kelvin Gastelum in the finals at . Kelvin Gastelum, in an impressive upset, won the fight via split decision. Although Hall appeared in good spirits after the loss, the fight was not without controversy. While Gastelum had visible control of the fight in all three rounds, Hall fans have used FIGHTMETRIC scores to highlight the statistical dominance held by Hall in the second and third rounds. When asked about his performance in the post-fight conference, Hall stated that his emotional side, stemming from liking and training with Kelvin had gotten the best of him. He went on to say "Kelvin is a great guy, he's a tough kid you know, I think he's going to go really far in this sport and I'm happy for him."


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was expected to fight Nick Ring on August 17, 2013 at UFC Fight Night 26. However, Ring was pulled from the bout and replaced by Hall's fellow The Ultimate Fighter 17 alumni Josh Samman. However, on July 17, it was announced that Samman was out of the bout and that Hall would face returning UFC fighter John Howard. He lost the fight via split decision.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall faced Chris Leben on December 28, 2013 at UFC 168. Leading up to the fight UFC President Dana White said that it was a must-win for Hall if he wanted to keep his UFC-contract. Hall immediately landed a knee on Leben and landed multiple punches throughout the fight. Eventually, Hall dropped Leben with a punch in the first round, though Leben was saved by the round ending. Leben asked his trainer "Did I get knocked out?" He then stated "I'm done, man" and the fight was ended between the first and second round.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall fought through an injured toe against Thiago Santos at UFC 175 on July 5, 2014, to a win through unanimous decision.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was expected to face Costas Philippou on January 18, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 59, a rematch of their previous fight in 2011. However, Philippou would be forced out of the bout due to injury. Hall was expected to face Strikeforce veteran Louis Taylor at the event, On January 11, it was announced that Taylor pulled out of the fight due to a pulled muscle in his back and had his contract terminated as a result. In turn, Hall faced promotional newcomer Ron Stallings, whom he defeated via TKO in the first round. Hall knocked Stallings down with a punch and followed up with several more on the ground. When Stallings returned to his feet, referee Herb Dean stopped the fight to check a cut that had opened up on Stallings' face, and the ringside doctor declared the cut too severe for Stallings to continue.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall lost via split decision against Rafael Natal on May 23, 2015 at UFC 187. Hall was expected to face Krzysztof Jotko on June 20, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 69, replacing an injured Derek Brunson. However, three days after the booking, Hall was removed due to an alleged visa issue. In turn, Jotko was removed from the card entirely. Hall was expected to face Joe Riggs on August 8, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 73, but Riggs pulled out of the fight in late July citing injury. Riggs was replaced by promotional newcomer Oluwale Bamgbose, whom Hall defeated by TKO in the first round.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall faced Gegard Mousasi on September 27, 2015 at UFC Fight Night 75, filling in for Roan Carneiro. After being taken down and dominated on the ground throughout the first round, Hall stunned Mousasi with a spinning kick followed by a flying knee and earned the TKO stoppage with a flurry of punches on the ground in the opening seconds of the second round. A significant underdog prior to the fight, Hall was awarded a "Performance of The Night" bonus.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall made a quick return to the cage as he faced Robert Whittaker on November 15, 2015 at UFC 193, replacing an injured Michael Bisping. Hall lost the fight by unanimous decision.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was expected to face Anderson Silva on May 14, 2016 at UFC 198. However, Silva pulled out of the bout on May 10 after requiring a surgery to remove his gallbladder. As a result, Hall did not compete at the event.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall next faced Derek Brunson on September 17, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 94. Hall lost the fight by TKO in the first round.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall next faced Gegard Mousasi in a rematch on November 19, 2016 at UFC Fight Night 99. He lost the fight via TKO in the first round after being taken down and hit with multiple right hands.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall faced Krzysztof Jotko on September 16, 2017 at UFC Fight Night 116. After being rocked and mounted in the first round, Hall rallied in the second round and won via TKO due to punches. The win also earned Hall his second "Performance of the Night" bonus award.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was expected to face Vitor Belfort on January 14, 2018 at . However, on January 13, 2018, it was announced that Hall did not make it to weigh-in as he fainted en route to the weight-ins and the bout was cancelled.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was expected to face Paulo Costa on April 21, 2018 at UFC Fight Night 128. However, Costa pulled out of the fight in mid-March with an arm injury. In turn, promotion officials elected to pull Hall from that event entirely and reschedule the pairing for July 7, 2018 at UFC 226. Hall lost the fight via technical knockout in round two.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall next faced newcomer Bevon Lewis on December 29, 2018 at UFC 232. He won the fight via knockout in the third round.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall faced Antônio Carlos Júnior on September 14, 2019 at UFC on ESPN+ 16. Hall won the fight via split decision.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was scheduled to face Ronaldo Souza on April 14, 2020 at UFC 249. However, on April 9, Dana White, the president of UFC announced that this event was postponed and the bout was scheduled on May 9, 2020. On May 8, Souza withdrew from the fight after testing positive for COVID-19.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was scheduled to face Yoel Romero on August 22, 2020 at UFC on ESPN 15. However, Romero pulled out of the fight on August 11 for undisclosed reasons. In turn, Hall was removed from the card and will be rescheduled for a future event.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall faced Anderson Silva on October 31, 2020, at UFC Fight Night 181. He won the fight via technical knockout in round four.


title: Uriah Hall

text: A rematch with Chris Weidman was expected to take place on February 13, 2021 at UFC 258 However, Weidman was pulled from the event due to a positive COVID-19 test and the bout was cancelled, The rematch took place at UFC 261 on April 24, 2021. At the start of the first round, Weidman threw a heavy outside low kick which Hall checked with his left knee. This check snapped Weidman's left fibula and tibia on contact. Weidman immediately fell to the mat, forcing referee Herb Dean to stop the fight and declare Hall the winner via technical knockout. This win made Hall the first fighter in UFC history to win a fight without throwing a single strike.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was expected to face Sean Strickland on August 7, 2021 at UFC 265. However on June 4, 2021, the bout was moved to headline on July 31, 2021. Hall lost the fight via unanimous decision.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was scheduled to face André Muniz on April 16, 2022, at UFC Fight Night 206. However, Hall withdrew due to undisclosed reasons. The bout with Muniz was rescheduled for UFC 276 on July 2. He lost the bout via unanimous decision.


title: Uriah Hall

text: Hall was announced to make his boxing debut on a four-round cruiserweight fight against former American football player Le'Veon Bell as an undercard of the Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva event on October 29, 2022 at the Desert Diamond Arena in Arizona. Hall won the fight via Unanimous Decision (40-36 x3)


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Gerald Patrick Mathers (born June 2, 1948) is an American actor best known for his role in the television sitcom "Leave It to Beaver", originally broadcast from 1957 to 1963, in which he played the protagonist Theodore "Beaver" Cleaver, the younger son of the suburban couple June and Ward Cleaver (Barbara Billingsley and Hugh Beaumont, respectively) and the younger brother of Wally Cleaver (Tony Dow).


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers was born in Sioux City, Iowa, in 1948, the son of a high school principal, and grew up in the San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California. Mathers has one sister and two brothers, including Jimmy Mathers.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers began his career at the age of 2 when he appeared as a child model for a department store ad. Soon after, he starred in a commercial for PET Milk opposite vaudeville comedian Ed Wynn.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: His early movies included "This is My Love" (1954), "Men of the Fighting Lady" (1954), "The Seven Little Foys" (1955) and Alfred Hitchcock's black comedy "The Trouble with Harry" (1955), in which he plays Arnie, the son of Shirley MacLaine's character, and finds Harry's body in the nearby forest.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers states that he got the role of Beaver Cleaver after telling the show's producers he would rather be at his Cub Scout meeting than to audition for the part. The producers found his candor appealing and perfect for the role. Mathers played the Beaver for six years, appearing in all 234 episodes of the series. He was the first child actor to have ever had a deal made on his behalf to get a percentage of the merchandising revenue from a television show. "Leave It to Beaver" still generates revenue, more than a half century after its original production run.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: The original sitcom has been shown in over 80 countries in 40 languages. Mathers noted that the "Leave It to Beaver" phenomenon is worldwide. "I can go anywhere in the world, and people know me," Mathers has said. "In Japan, the show's called 'The Happy Boy and His Family.' So I'll be walking through the airport in Japan, and people will come up and say, 'Hi, Happy Boy!'"


title: Jerry Mathers

text: When asked in a 2014 television interview whether he had known at the time of the filming of the "Leave it to Beaver" series that the show was special, and would be in perpetual syndication, Mathers responded: "No, not at all. I had worked since I was two years old. I did movies. I didn't do any other series, but I had done a lot of movies and things like that so, in fact, every year it was a question whether we would come back for the next year 'cause you had to be picked up. So you would do 39 shows and then we would go to New York and meet all the press, and then we'd go to Chicago to meet the ad people, then we'd come back and take about five to six weeks off, and if we got picked up, then we'd start again. So we did that for six years because that was the length of the contracts at those times. So that's why there are 39 [episodes] for six years, and then it was off the air. Not off the air, but we didn't film any new ones [after that.]"


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers remained friends with Barbara Billingsley, who played his TV mother June Cleaver, and he remembered her after her death as "a good friend and an even better mentor. For me she was like the favorite teacher that we all had in school."


title: Jerry Mathers

text: In 1962, near the end of the run of "Leave It to Beaver", Mathers recorded two songs for a single 45 rpm: "Don't 'Cha Cry," and for the flip side, the twist ditty "Wind-Up Toy". During his high school years, Mathers had a band called Beaver and the Trappers.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: As he moved into his adolescence, Mathers retired from acting to concentrate on high school. He attended Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks, California. During this time he led a musical band called Beaver and the Trappers.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: While still in high school, Mathers joined the U.S. military. From 1966 to 1969, he was a member of the 146th Airlift Wing, nicknamed "The Hollywood Guard", of the California Air National Guard in Van Nuys, California. In 1967, while wearing his dress uniform, Mathers, along with child actress Angela Cartwright, presented an Emmy Award to Gene Kelly. In December 1969, a rumor began that Mathers was killed in action in the Vietnam War. Although the origin of the rumor is unclear, Mathers never saw action and was never stationed outside the United States. In 1980, Mathers and Dow appeared with Bill Murray on "Saturday Night Live's" "Weekend Update" segment, making fun of the Vietnam War death rumor.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1973.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: After college, Mathers worked as a commercial loan officer at a bank. He then used well-invested savings from his acting career, in which he earned a starting weekly salary of $500, to begin a career in real estate development.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: In 1978, he reentered the entertainment industry. That year, he and Tony Dow starred in a production of the comedy play "Boeing, Boeing" which ran for 10 weeks in Kansas City, Missouri. Mathers and Dow then toured the dinner theater circuit in a production of "So Long, Stanley" for 18 months.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: In 1983, Mathers reprised his role in the television reunion film "Still the Beaver", which also featured the majority of the original "Leave It to Beaver" cast. The success of the television film led to the development of a sequel series, of the same title. The series began airing on the Disney Channel in 1984, then went on to be picked up by TBS and broadcast syndication, where it was retitled "The New Leave It to Beaver" and ran until 1989.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: In the 1990s, Mathers guest starred on episodes of "Parker Lewis Can't Lose", "Vengeance Unlimited", "", and as himself on "Married... with Children". In 1998, he released his memoirs, "And Jerry Mathers as The Beaver".


title: Jerry Mathers

text: In 2001, he appeared on a special episode of "Weakest Link" titled "Child TV stars edition," where he got voted off in the first round. On June 5, 2007, he made his Broadway debut with a starring role as Wilbur Turnblad in the Tony-winning best musical "Hairspray" at the Neil Simon Theatre. In 2009, Mathers became the national spokesman for Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and their Partnership for Prescription Assistance program.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers has been married three times. He met his first wife, Diana Platt, in college. They married in 1974 and later divorced. Mathers met his second wife, Rhonda Gehring, while touring in the production of "So Long, Stanley". They have three children: Noah, Mercedes, and Gretchen. Mathers and Gehring divorced in 1997. Mathers married his third wife, Teresa Modnick, on January 30, 2011.


title: Jerry Mathers

text: Mathers was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 1996. On the advice of his doctor, Mathers enrolled in a weight loss program with Jenny Craig in May 1997 and lost over , and later became the company's first male spokesperson. He has also represented a Type 2 diabetes reversal program's publications in a television ad.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: A parallel universe, also known as a parallel dimension, alternate universe, or alternate reality, is a hypothetical self-contained plane of existence, co-existing with one's own. The sum of all potential parallel universes that constitute reality is often called a "multiverse".


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: While the four terms are generally synonymous and can be used interchangeably in most cases, there is sometimes an additional connotation implied with the term "alternate universe/reality" that implies that the reality is a variant of our own, with some overlap with the similarly named alternate history.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: Fiction has long borrowed an idea of "another world" from myth, legend and religion. Heaven, Hell, Olympus, and Valhalla are all "alternative universes" different from the familiar material realm. Plato reflected deeply on the parallel realities, resulting in Platonism, in which the upper reality is perfect while the lower earthly reality is an imperfect shadow of the heavenly.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: The concept is also found in ancient Hindu mythology, in texts such as the Puranas, which expressed an infinite number of universes, each with its own gods. Similarly in Persian literature, "The Adventures of Bulukiya," a tale in the "One Thousand and One Nights", describes the protagonist Bulukiya learning of alternative worlds/universes that are similar to but still distinct from his own.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: One of the first science fiction examples is Murray Leinster's short story, "Sidewise in Time", in which portions of alternative universes replace corresponding geographical regions in this universe. "Sidewise in Time" describes it in the manner that similar to requiring both longitude and latitude coordinates in order to mark your location on Earth, so too does time: traveling along latitude is akin to time travel moving through past, present and future, while traveling along longitude is to travel perpendicular to time and to other realities, hence the name of the short story. Thus, another common term for a parallel universe is "another dimension," stemming from the idea that if the 4th dimension is time, the 5th dimension—a direction at a right angle to the fourth—is an alternate reality.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: In modern literature, parallel universes can be roughly divided into two categories: to allow for stories where elements that would ordinarily violate the laws of nature; and to serve as a starting point for speculative fiction, asking oneself "What if [event] turned out differently?". Examples of the former include Terry Pratchett's "Discworld" and C. S. Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia", while examples of the latter include Harry Turtledove's "Worldwar" series.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: A parallel universe—or more specifically, continued interaction between the parallel universe and our own—may serve as a central plot point, or it may simply be mentioned and quickly dismissed, having served its purpose of establishing a realm unconstrained by realism. The aforementioned "Discworld", for example, only very rarely mentions our world or any other worlds, as Pratchett set the books in a parallel universe instead of "our" reality to allow for magic on the Disc. "The Chronicles of Narnia" also utilizes to a lesser extent the idea of parallel universes is brought up but only briefly mentioned in the introduction and ending, its main purpose to bring the protagonist from "our" reality to the setting of the books.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: While technically incorrect, and looked down upon by hard science-fiction fans and authors, the idea of another "dimension" has become synonymous with the term "parallel universe". The usage is particularly common in movies, television and comic books and much less so in modern prose science fiction. The idea of a parallel world was popularized in comic books with the publication of "The Flash" #123, "Flash of Two Worlds" in 1961.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: In written science fiction, "new dimension" more commonly—and more accurately—refer to additional coordinate axes, beyond the three spatial axes with which we are familiar. By proposing travel along these extra axes, which are not normally perceptible, the traveler can reach worlds that are otherwise unreachable and invisible.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: In 1884, Edwin A. Abbott wrote the seminal novel exploring this concept called "Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions". It describes a world of two dimensions inhabited by living squares, triangles, and circles, called Flatland, as well as Pointland (0 dimensions), Lineland (1 dimension), and Spaceland (three dimensions) and finally posits the possibilities of even greater dimensions. Isaac Asimov, in his foreword to the Signet Classics 1984 edition, described "Flatland" as "The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving dimensions".


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: In 1895, "The Time Machine" by H. G. Wells used time as an additional "dimension" in this sense, taking the four-dimensional model of classical physics and interpreting time as a space-like dimension in which humans could travel with the right equipment. Wells also used the concept of parallel universes as a consequence of time as the fourth dimension in stories like "The Wonderful Visit" and "Men Like Gods", an idea proposed by the astronomer Simon Newcomb, who talked about both time and parallel universes; "Add a fourth dimension to space, and there is room for an indefinite number of universes, all alongside of each other, as there is for an indefinite number of sheets of paper when we pile them upon each other."


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: There are many examples where authors have explicitly created additional spatial dimensions for their characters to travel in, to reach parallel universes. In "Doctor Who", the Doctor accidentally enters a parallel universe while attempting to repair the TARDIS console in "Inferno". Douglas Adams, in the last book of the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series, "Mostly Harmless", uses the idea of probability as an extra axis in addition to the classical four dimensions of space and time similar to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum physics, although according to the novel they were more a model to capture the continuity of space, time and probability. Robert A. Heinlein, in "The Number of the Beast", postulated a six-dimensional universe. In addition to the three spatial dimensions, he invoked symmetry to add two new temporal dimensions, so there would be two sets of three. Like the fourth dimension of H. G. Wells' "Time Traveller," these extra dimensions can be traveled by persons using the right equipment.


title: Parallel universes in fiction

text: Perhaps the most common use of the concept of a parallel universe in science fiction is the concept of hyperspace. Used in science fiction, the concept of "hyperspace" often refers to a parallel universe that can be used as a faster-than-light shortcut for interstellar travel. Rationales for this form of hyperspace vary from work to work, but the two common elements are: