title: Battle of New Orleans

text: After the battle, claims emerged from American participants in the engagement that Pakenham's troops had used "Beauty and Booty" as a watchword, a claim which was emphatically denied by British officers which had fought in the battle. A Creole planter reportedly visited a British military camp a few days prior to the battle, being welcomed in after claiming that he was supportive of a possible British takeover of the region. While dining at dinner with a group of British officers, the planter claimed he heard one officer offer the toast of "Beauty and Booty". After gathering information on Pakenham's battle plans, the planter left the camp the next day and reported the information he had gathered to Jackson; the rumor that the British were offering toasts to "Beauty and Booty" soon spread throughout New Orleans, in particular among the upper-class women of the city. In 1833, five British officers who had fought in the battle, Keane, Lambert, Thornton, Blakeney and Dickson, after having been informed the rumor from an English traveller who had visited New Orleans, published a rebuttal in "The Times":


title: Battle of New Orleans

text: The Louisiana Historical Association dedicated its Memorial Hall facility to Jackson on January 8, 1891, the 76th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. The Federal government established a national historical park in 1907 to preserve the Chalmette Battlefield, which also includes the Chalmette National Cemetery. It features the 100-foot-tall Chalmette Monument and is part of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. The monument was supposed to be at least 150 feet tall but the very soft and wet soil limited it to 100 feet. A five-cent stamp in 1965 commemorated the sesquicentennial of the Battle of New Orleans and 150 years of peace with Britain. The bicentennial was celebrated in 2015 with a Forever stamp depicting United States troops firing on British soldiers along Line Jackson.


title: Battle of New Orleans

text: Prior to the twentieth century the British government commonly commissioned and paid for statues of fallen generals and admirals during battles to be placed inside St Paul's Cathedral in London as a memorial to their sacrifices. Major Generals Pakenham and Gibbs were both memorialized in a statue at St Paul's that was sculpted by Sir Richard Westmacott.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The Volkswagen Golf Mk6 (code named "Typ 5K") is a compact car, the sixth generation of the Volkswagen Golf and the successor to the Volkswagen Golf Mk5. It was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 2008 for the 2009 model year. Volkswagen released pictures and information on August 6, 2008, prior to the official unveiling. The vehicle was released to the European market in the winter of 2008. Volkswagen claimed investments were made in production efficiency, with a claimed productivity improvement at launch of nearly 20% in comparison with the previous model, with further gains planned for the first twelve months of production.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: Although billed as the Mk6, the new model was largely based on its predecessor, the Golf Mk5, and was effectively a re-engineered facelift of the previous model. In January 2013, it was superseded by the Volkswagen Golf Mk7, which was built on the newly assembled MQB platform.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: Like its predecessor, the Mk6 Golf is based on the Volkswagen Group A5 (PQ35) platform. It is effectively a reskin of the Mk5 rather than an all-new design; it was developed with engineering improvements to shorten the previous model's assembly time to save costs. Additionally, it answered criticisms of that model's cheapened interior quality compared to that of the Mk4 and Mk3 Golf.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: Improvements in equipment level on the domestic market Golfs include—for the first time in a Golf—air conditioning as standard.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The company spoke confidently of launching a BlueMotion low emissions Golf in Germany, back in 2009. They've also mentioned utilizing alternative fuels in later products.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: With safety features such as seven standard airbags (up to nine in Europe, up to eight in the US) and standard Electronic Stability Programme (ESP), the Golf Mk6 has scored 36 out of 37 possible points for occupant protection, giving it a five-star rating by the Euro NCAP crash test agency. It was one of the safest vehicles in its class at the time of its release.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The Volkswagen Golf Cabriolet was presented at the 2011 Geneva International Motor Show. The four-seater has a soft top with an electro-hydraulic drive that opens the Golf's top in 9.5 seconds. The top can also be opened or closed during driving at speeds of up to . After nine years without a convertible Golf, it was the first Cabriolet model under the Golf family since 2002.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The VW Golf Cabriolet's styling follows that of its hard-top three-door counterpart, but it differs somewhat with a rear section, lower profile roofline and more swept-back angle of its front windscreen frame. Bi-xenon headlights are an option. Unlike the regular Golf, the Cabriolet has LED rear lights, which are only available for the R and GTI versions of the hardtop. Safety features include the automatically deploying roll-over bar, front airbags, side head/thorax airbags, knee airbag for the driver and ESP.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: There are six turbocharged direct-injection engines whose power outputs range from to . Four of the petrol engines (TSI) and one diesel (TDI) are available with the DSG dual-clutch gearbox; while three of the engines are available with energy-saving BlueMotion Technology.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In February 2012, Volkswagen announced that they would build a Cabriolet version of the GTI, powered by a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: As of October 2016, VW announced that the Golf cabriolet will no longer be sold in the UK due to financial reasons.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: A facelifted variant Mk5 Golf Variant model was introduced in 2009 as the Mk6, despite carrying the front fascia, interior styling, and the powertrain from the new Golf, the body shell and underpinnings are based on its fifth-generation predecessor. It is sold in the US as the Jetta SportWagen, in Mexico and Canada as the Golf Wagon and in South America as the Jetta Variant or Vento Variant.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In December 2008, a face-lifted version of the Golf Plus was revealed at the Bologna Motor Show, featuring a revised front end, similar to the Golf Mk6, but still largely retaining the design of the rear end and the interior of the Mk5 based vehicle. In 2014, the Golf Plus was replaced by the MQB-based Golf Sportsvan, which was originally shown as the Sportsvan concept.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn announced Golf Twin Drive plug-in hybrid concept based on Mk5 Golf, which uses 2.0 L I4 turbodiesel and electric motor with lithium-ion batteries. The car can run about 50 kilometres on battery power. The combined power is .


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: Volkswagen developed the Twin Drive system with eight German partners, and is planning a trial fleet of 20 Golfs outfitted with the system in 2010.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The production version was expected to be based on new Mk6 Golf, featuring a 1.5 L turbodiesel engine and electric motor, with estimated arrival date of 2015.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The Golf GTI "Wörthersee 09" is a concept car based on the Golf GTI. 2.0-liter TSI. Its engine is rated at , with a 0–100 km/h (0-62 mph) acceleration time of 6.9 seconds and a top speed of . It features a Firespark Metallic red body color with GTI stripes, high-gloss black 19-inch alloy spoke wheels, smoked LED taillights, a lowered chassis and a new sport exhaust. Changes to the interior include aluminum tread plates, brushed aluminum trim and glossy black painted frames around the air vents, red bordered floor mats and black Nappa leather sport seats with red accents and "Berry White" leather piping.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: There was much speculation about this vehicle, with uncertainty surrounding its name. Golf R20 was the most common name used prior to the Frankfurt Motor Show. Once finally unveiled by Volkswagen at the Frankfurt IAA on 15 September 2009, it was confirmed the R32 replacement would simply be called the Golf R.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The Golf R is powered by a FSI turbocharged Inline-four engine that produces at 6000 rpm and at 2500-5000 rpm of torque. VW claims the car can get from 0– in 5.5 seconds for DSG equipped models, or 5.7 seconds for cars fitted with a manual transmission. It employs a revised (5th-generation) Haldex 4motion all-wheel drive system.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In Australia, Japan, China, America and South Africa the Golf R engine is detuned to suit hotter climate conditions, from to and from to .


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: On 9 December 2010 Volkswagen announced that the Golf R will be available in the United States beginning in 2012, in both two- and four-door versions were offered, but without the DSG transmission, and with a slightly detuned engine producing and . A Canadian version was announced for early 2012, but only as a four-door version with six-speed manual transmission.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: Following Volkswagen's 30th anniversary edition GTI, the 35th anniversary was celebrated with the GTI Edition 35. Its engine was an updated version of the Mk5 GTI engine (also used in the Mk6 Golf R), with 232 bhp (compared to 266 for the R). Acceleration from 0-62 mph is in 6.6 seconds.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In the United States and Canada, the car was sold as the Volkswagen Golf when it arrived in showrooms in October 2009, dropping the "Rabbit" badge that was used for the Golf Mk5. The wagon, a restyled version of the Mk5 and the only Golf model made in Mexico, is sold in Canada as "Golf Wagon", but in the United States retains the "Jetta SportWagen" designation (while wearing Golf front sheetmetal). North American Golfs will carry over the same engines as the Mk5 (the same 2.5L five-cylinder from the Mk5, the 2.0TDI and the 2.0T) and, while the GTI and TDI continue to offer the six-speed manual transmission, the 2.5 L will re-use the five-speed manual (automatic will be a six-speed tiptronic). The new Golf is also available in Mexico but for the time being only in the wagon configuration that is marketed as Golf SportWagen that became available in early October replacing the Bora Sportwagen with the new Golf's front end.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: The Australian public got their first taste of the new Mk6 at the Melbourne International Motor Show, which began on 27 February 2009. The new Golf was launched around the country at the same time. The Mk6 GTI went on sale from 30 October 2009. On 19 January 2010 the Golf was awarded the 2009 Wheels Car of the Year title, which is acknowledged as the country's most prestigious car award. It was the first time the Golf had been awarded the title since 1976. VW Australia launched the new base model golf with 1.2-litre engine same as the new Polo in September 2010 and went on sale in 2011.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In South Africa the new Mk6 Golf went on sale in April 2009. The South African version of the GTI went on sale in July 2009.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In Japan the new Mk6 Golf went on sale in April 2009. The Japanese version of the GTI went on sale in August 2009.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In China, the Golf Mk6 was made by FAW-VW commencing production for the 2009 model year, succeeding the Mk4 Golf and China-exclusive Bora HS as the Mk5 variant was not produced in China. The sixth generation GTI began to be built locally for first time in March 2010 and used a different engine compared to Golf GTI model sold internationally, where a 2-litre TSI unit producing was available as standard, less than the original one. This engine is also used by the VW Magotan. Other engines include a 1.4 TSI and a 1.6 naturally aspirated engine producing and , respectively. The 5 speed manual and 7 speed dual clutch gearbox was standard on TSI models while the 1.6 litre units were paired to a 5 speed manual and 6 speed automatic gearbox. Pricing for the 1.4 TSI ranged between 135,800 and 166,800 yuan with three trims ($20,820 to $25,575 US - April 2021 exchange rate), 118,800 yuan to 156,800 yuan with five trims for the 1.6 ($18,215 to $24,040 US - April 2021 exchange rate) and 235,800 yuan ($36,154 US - April 2021 exchange rate) for the Golf GTI model. Production for this generation ended in 2013, where it was replaced the Golf Mk7.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In Mexico, the only two versions available until August 2011 were the German-imported 3-door GTI in both 6-speed manual and 6-speed DSG transmissions, and the Mexican-produced Golf SportWagen with a 170 bhp 2.5 L inline 5-cylinder with a 6-speed Tiptronic transmission. In September 2012, a 5-door version in Comfortline trim, with 1.4 L TSI engine with 177 hp and 6-speed manual gearbox imported from Germany was added. Since the end of production is imminent, it will be limited to 4,000 units.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In Chile, the Golf Mk6 was presented in October 2010 at the XI Salón del Automóvil de Santiago, starting sales immediately. Chile is the first country in South America to sell the Mk6, as a restyled version of the Mk4 is still in production in Brazil for Latin America. The Mk6 is available in Chile with the 1.6 L Petrol engine (101 hp) both in five-speed manual and seven-speed DSG transmissions.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In India, the Golf Mk6 was rumored to be introduced in 2011 but in a recent interview, Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer said that the plans for introducing a Golf have been suspended, to preserve the success of VW Vento in the Indian market. The Golf, if released, would be similarly priced as the Vento and VW does not want Vento sales to slip. He also stated they may bring in a more localized Golf with the same engine choices as the Vento when numbers stabilize in the near future.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: In auto racing, APR Motorsport has led two MKVI VW GTIs to victory in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Street Tuner (ST) class.


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: To commemorate the 35th Anniversary of the Golf GTI, Volkswagen Motorsport entered the 2011 24 Hours Nürburgring with the "Golf24". This Golf was equipped with a


title: Volkswagen Golf Mk6

text: 2,500 cc five-cylinder turbo engine with and , permanent 4WD and a sequential six-speed gearbox. In the third VLN race of 2011, the Golf24 finished sixth overall, with its best lap only nine seconds slower than the fastest race lap, which was clocked by a Ferrari 458. For the 24 Hours, the team hoped for rain, and jokingly considered wetting the track by aerial firefighting. Eventually, though, neither of the three Golf24s finished the race, with one of them suffering a pit-entry accident and another blowing a gearbox. When the gearbox of the remaining Golf24 started overheating, VW decided to retire it to find out the cause of the gearbox trouble.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: NASA continued the mission of the "Juno" spacecraft at Jupiter, conducting a flyby of Europa on 29 September 2022.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: In Mars exploration, the European Space Agency (ESA) had partnered with Roscosmos to launch the "Rosalind Franklin" rover using the "Kazachok" lander as part of ExoMars 2022. In March 2022, the launch was cancelled in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent suspension of ESA–Roscosmos cooperation on ExoMars.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 3 October 2022, the Indian Space Research Organisation released a statement that all attempts to revive their Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), also called Mangalyaan, had failed and officially declared it dead citing the loss of fuel and battery power to the probe's instruments.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: Artemis 1, the first flight of NASA's Space Launch System (SLS) and the first lunar mission for Orion, was launched on November 16, 2022. Artemis 1 transported as secondary payloads many small lunar research spacecraft. Japan launched the OMOTENASHI lunar lander as a secondary payload of the Artemis 1 mission; contact with OMOTENASHI was lost and the mission failed before the landing sequence to lunar surface had begun.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: The United States planned to also launch a number of commercial lunar landers and rovers. As part of NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program, the launch of Astrobotic Technology's "Peregrine" lander and Intuitive Machines' "Nova-C" lander was scheduled. However, all the launches of US commercial lunar landers and rovers planned for 2022 were delayed to 2023.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 4 August 2022, South Korea's first lunar orbiter Danuri was launched into space by a Falcon 9 rocket. The orbiter took several months to enter lunar orbit; lunar orbit insertion happened on 16 December 2022 (UTC).


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 11 December 2022 a Falcon 9 rocket launched the Hakuto-R Mission 1, a private Moon mission by the Japanese company ispace. Onboard the Hakuto-R lunar lander were the Lunar Excursion Vehicle 1 (LEV-1, also called Transformable Lunar Robot) lunar rover from Japan and the Rashid lunar rover flying the Emirates Lunar Mission. Landing to Moon was planned to occur in April 2023.The NASA lunar orbiter, Lunar Flashlight, was launched as piggyback payload.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: China finished the construction of the Tiangong space station with the addition of the Wentian and Mengtian lab modules. Wentian was successfully launched and docked to the space station on 24 July 2022, while Mengtian was launched on 31 October 2022 and was docked to the space station later that day.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 19 May 2022, Boeing launched the almost six-day (landing 25 May 2022) second uncrewed test flight of its Starliner space capsule. The test flight was successful and led the way for Starliner's first crewed test flight in 2023.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: Blue Origin's New Shepard launched six passengers each on a suborbital trajectory in three flights, NS-20 on 31 March, NS-21 on 4 June and NS-22 on 4 August. The failure of the uncrewed flight NS-23 in September paused launches of the system.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 8 April 2022, SpaceX's Crew Dragon space capsule was launched by a Falcon 9 rocket for the first American space tourist mission to the International Space Station. The crew on board the Axiom Space-operated mission included one professional astronaut (space vehicle commander) and three tourists. The mission, known as Axiom Mission 1, lasted a little over 17 days and was the first wholly commercially operated crewed mission to the ISS.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: Arianespace's Ariane 6 was expected to make its long-delayed maiden flight, targeting a per-satellite launch cost similar to a Falcon 9, but was delayed to 2023.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: After suborbital tests in 2020 and 2021, SpaceX plans to conduct the first orbital test flight of the fully reusable Starship launch vehicle.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: The maiden flight of Vulcan Centaur was planned for 2022. The launch vehicle is designed by United Launch Alliance to gradually replace Atlas V and Delta IV Heavy at lower costs. However, the maiden flight was delayed to 2023.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries's H3 launch vehicle, scheduled to enter service in 2022, will cost less than half that of its predecessor H-IIA.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 21 January 2022, the Atlas V 511 launched for the first time. This was the only planned flight of the Atlas V in the 511 configuration. The launch was successful.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 2 May 2022, Rocket Lab attempted first mid-air helicopter capture of the first stage of their Electron rocket. Attempt was successful at initially grabbing the rocket, but the vehicle was dropped in order to ensure the safety of the helicopter and its pilot.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 13 July 2022, Vega-C had its debut flight during which it delivered the LARES 2 and six other satellites from French Guiana to orbit.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 27 July 2022, CAS Space's ZK-1A rocket performed its maiden launch, successfully sending six satellites into orbit.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 7 August 2022, SSLV had its debut flight. However, due to the final VTM stage failure, the stage as well as the two satellite payloads were injected into an unstable elliptical orbit measuring 356 km x 76 km and subsequently destroyed upon reentry. According to the ISRO, the mission software failed to identify and correct a sensor fault in the VTM stage.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 16 November 2022, Artemis 1 saw the debut flight of NASA's Space Launch System, which is designed to return humans to the Moon in the Artemis program.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 9 December 2022, Jielong-3 performed its maiden launch from the Yellow Sea, successfully sending fourteen satellites into orbit.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: On 14 December 2022, Zhuque-2 had its debut flight, but failed to reach orbit due to the early shutdown of the second stage engine. It was the world's first launch attempt of a methane-fueled launch vehicle.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: According to a space monitoring company, in January a Chinese satellite, SJ-21, grabbed an unused satellite and "threw" it into an orbit with a lower risk for the space debris to collide. In March, the IAU announced the "Centre for the Protection of the Dark and Quiet Sky from Satellite Constellation Interference" to coordinate or aggregate measures to mitigate the detrimental effects of satellite constellations on astronomy. On March 4, for the first time, human space debris – most likely a spent rocket body, Long March 3C third stage from the 2014 Chang'e 5 T1 mission – unintentionally hit the lunar surface, creating an unexpected double crater.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022, a large number of countries imposed further international sanctions against individuals, businesses and officials from Russia, Crimea and Belarus. Russia responded with sanctions against a number of countries.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of orbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the launch vehicle, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. For example, Soyuz launches by Arianespace in Kourou are counted under Russia because Soyuz-2 is a Russian launch vehicle.


title: 2022 in spaceflight

text: For the purposes of this section, the yearly tally of suborbital launches by country assigns each flight to the country of origin of the rocket, not to the launch services provider or the spaceport. Flights intended to fly below are omitted.


title: Smelling salts

text: Smelling salts, also known as ammonia inhalants, spirit of hartshorn or sal volatile, are chemical compounds used as stimulants to restore consciousness after fainting.


title: Smelling salts

text: The usual active compound is ammonium carbonate—a colorless-to-white, crystalline solid ((NH)CO). Because most modern solutions are mixed with water, they should properly be called "aromatic spirits of ammonia". Modern solutions may also contain other products to perfume or act in conjunction with the ammonia, such as lavender oil or eucalyptus oil.


title: Smelling salts

text: Historically, smelling salts have been used on people feeling faint, or who have fainted. They are usually administered by others, but may be self-administered.


title: Smelling salts

text: Smelling salts are often used on athletes (particularly boxers) who have been dazed or knocked unconscious to restore consciousness and mental alertness. Smelling salts are now banned in most boxing competitions.


title: Smelling salts

text: They are also used as a form of stimulant in athletic competitions (such as powerlifting, strong man and ice hockey) to "wake up" competitors to perform better. In 2005, Michael Strahan estimated that 70–80% of National Football League players were using smelling salts as stimulants.


title: Smelling salts

text: Smelling salts have been used since Roman times and are mentioned in the writings of Pliny as "Hammoniacus sal". Evidence exists of use in the 13th century by alchemists as sal ammoniac. In the 14th-century "The Canon's Yeoman's Tale" one of Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales", an alchemist purports to use "sal armonyak". In the 17th century, the distillation of an ammonia solution from shavings of harts' (deer) horns and hooves led to the alternative name for smelling salts as spirit or salt of hartshorn.


title: Smelling salts

text: They were widely used in Victorian Britain to revive fainting women, and in some areas constables would carry a container of them for the purpose. During this time, smelling salts were commonly dissolved with perfume in vinegar or alcohol and soaked onto a sponge, which was then carried on the person in a decorative container called a vinaigrette. The "sal volatile" appears several times in Dickens' novel "Nicholas Nickleby".


title: Smelling salts

text: The use of smelling salts was widely recommended during the Second World War, with all workplaces advised by the British Red Cross and St. John Ambulance to keep smelling salts in their first aid boxes.


title: Smelling salts

text: Solid ammonium carbonate and ammonium bicarbonate salts partly dissociate to form , and vapour as follows:


title: Smelling salts

text: The smelling salts release ammonia () gas, which triggers an inhalation reflex. It causes the muscles that control breathing to work faster by irritating the mucous membranes of the nose and lungs.


title: Smelling salts

text: Fainting can be caused by excessive parasympathetic and vagal activity that slows the heart and decreases perfusion of the brain. The sympathetic irritant effect is exploited to counteract these vagal parasympathetic effects and thereby reverse the faint.


title: Smelling salts

text: Ammonia gas is toxic in large concentrations for prolonged periods and can be fatal. If a high concentration of ammonia is inhaled too close to the nostril, it might burn the nasal or oral mucosa. The suggested distance is .


title: Smelling salts

text: The use of ammonia smelling salts to revive people injured during sport is not recommended because it may inhibit or delay a proper and thorough neurological assessment by a healthcare professional, such as after concussions when hospitalization may be advisable, and some governing bodies recommend specifically against it. The irritant nature of smelling salts means that they can exacerbate any pre-existing cervical spine injury by causing reflex withdrawal away from them, although this has been found to be a result of holding the smelling salts closer to the nose than recommended.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The Deutsche Mark (; English: "German mark"), abbreviated "DM" or "D-Mark" (), was the official currency of West Germany from 1948 until 1990 and later the unified Germany from 1990 until the adoption of the euro in 2002. In English, it was typically called the "Deutschmark" (). One Deutsche Mark was divided into 100 pfennigs.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: It was first issued under Allied occupation in 1948 to replace the Reichsmark and served as the Federal Republic of Germany's official currency from its founding the following year. On 31 December 1998, the Council of the European Union fixed the irrevocable exchange rate, effective 1 January 1999, for German mark to euros as DM 1.95583 = €1. In 1999, the Deutsche Mark was replaced by the euro; its coins and banknotes remained in circulation, defined in terms of euros, until the introduction of euro notes and coins on 1 January 2002. The Deutsche Mark ceased to be legal tender immediately upon the introduction of the euro—in contrast to the other eurozone nations, where the euro and legacy currency circulated side by side for up to two months. Mark coins and banknotes continued to be accepted as valid forms of payment in Germany until 28 February 2002.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The Deutsche Bundesbank has guaranteed that all German marks in cash form may be changed into euros indefinitely, and one may do so in person at any branch of the Bundesbank in Germany. Banknotes and coins can even be sent to the Bundesbank by mail. In 2012, it was estimated that as many as 13.2 billion marks were in circulation, with one poll from 2011 showing a narrow majority of Germans favouring the currency's restoration (although only a minority believed this would bring any economic benefit). Newer polls indicate that only a minority of Germans is supportive of a reintroduction of the Deutsche Mark.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: A mark had been the currency of Germany since its original unification in 1871. Before that time, the different German states issued a variety of different currencies, the most common being the North German thaler and the South German gulden. By 1857 though both currencies have been linked to the Vereinsthaler, a silver coin containing grams of pure silver. Although the German gold mark was based on gold rather than silver (at 2.79 marks per gram of fine gold), a fixed exchange rate between the Vereinsthaler and the mark of 3 marks = 1 Vereinsthaler was used for the conversion.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The first mark, known as the "Goldmark", was introduced in 1873. With the outbreak of World War I, the mark was taken off the gold standard. The currency thus became known as the "Papiermark", especially as high inflation, then hyperinflation occurred and the currency became exclusively made up of paper money. The "Papiermark" was replaced by the "Rentenmark" (RM) from November 15, 1923, and the "Reichsmark" (ℛℳ) in 1924.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: During the first two years of occupation the occupying powers of France, United Kingdom, United States, and the Soviet Union were not able to successfully negotiate a possible currency reform in Germany. Due to the strains between the Allies each zone was governed independently as regards monetary matters. The US occupation policy was governed by the directive JCS 1067 (in effect until July 1947), which forbade the US military governor "to take any steps to strengthen German financial structure". As a consequence a separate monetary reform in the U.S. zone was not possible. Each of the Allies printed its own occupation currency.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The Deutsche Mark was officially introduced on Sunday, June 20, 1948, by Ludwig Erhard. The old Reichsmark and Rentenmark were exchanged for the new currency at a rate of DM 1 = 10 ℛℳ for the essential currency such as wages, payment of rents etc., and DM 1 = 10 ℛℳ for the remainder in private non-bank credit balances, with half frozen. Large amounts were exchanged for 10 ℛℳ to 65pf. In addition, each person received a per capita allowance of DM 60 in two parts, the first being DM 40 and the second DM 20.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: A few weeks later Erhard, acting against orders, issued an edict abolishing many economic controls which had been originally implemented by the Nazis, and which the Allies had not removed. He did this, as he often confessed, on Sunday because the offices of the American, British, and French occupation authorities were closed that day. He was sure that if he had done it when they were open, they would have countermanded the order.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The introduction of the new currency was intended to protect western Germany from a second wave of hyperinflation and to stop the rampant barter and black market trade (where cigarettes were used as currency). Although the new currency was initially only distributed in the three western occupation zones outside Berlin, the move angered the Soviet authorities, who regarded it as a threat. The Soviets promptly cut off all road, rail and canal links between the three western zones and West Berlin, starting the Berlin Blockade. In response, the U.S. and Britain launched an airlift of food and coal and distributed the new currency in West Berlin as well.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: Since the 1930s, prices and wages had been controlled, but money had been plentiful. That meant that people had accumulated large paper assets, and that official prices and wages did not reflect reality, as the black market dominated the economy and more than half of all transactions were taking place unofficially. The reform replaced the old money with the new Deutsche Mark at the rate of one new per ten old. This wiped out 90% of government and private debt, as well as private savings. Prices were decontrolled, and labor unions agreed to accept a 15% wage increase, despite the 25% rise in prices. The result was the prices of German export products held steady, while profits and earnings from exports soared and were poured back into the economy. The currency reforms were simultaneous with the $1.4 billion in Marshall Plan money coming in from the United States, which primarily was used for investment. In addition, the Marshall plan forced German companies, as well as those in all of Western Europe, to modernize their business practices, and take account of the wider market. Marshall plan funding overcame bottlenecks in the surging economy caused by remaining controls (which were removed in 1949), and opened up a greatly expanded market for German exports. Overnight, consumer goods appeared in the stores, because they could be sold for higher prices. While the availability of consumer goods is seen as a giant success story by most historians of the present, the perception at the time was a different one: prices were so high that average people could not afford to shop, especially since prices were free-ranging but wages still fixed by law. Therefore, in the summer of 1948 a giant wave of strikes and demonstrations swept over West Germany, leading to an incident in Stuttgart where strikers were met by US tanks ("Stuttgarter Vorfälle"). Only after the wage-freeze was abandoned, Deutschmark and free-ranging prices were accepted by the population.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: In the Soviet occupation zone of Germany (later the German Democratic Republic), the East German mark (also named "Deutsche Mark" from 1948 to 1964 and colloquially referred to as the "Ostmark"—literally "Eastmark") was introduced a few days afterwards in the form of Reichsmark and Rentenmark notes with adhesive stamps to stop the flooding in of Reichsmark and Rentenmark notes from the West. In July 1948, a completely new series of East German mark banknotes was issued.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: Later in 1948, the "Bank deutscher Länder" ("Bank of the German States") assumed responsibility, followed in 1957 by the Deutsche Bundesbank. The Deutsche Mark earned a reputation as a strong store of value at times when other national currencies succumbed to periods of inflation. It became a source of national pride and an anchor for the country's economic prosperity, particularly during the years of the "Wirtschaftswunder" in the 1950s.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The population in the Saar Protectorate rejected in a referendum the proposal to turn it into a "European territory". Despite French pre-referendum claims that a "no" vote would mean that the Saar would remain a French protectorate it in fact resulted in the incorporation of the Saar into the Federal Republic of Germany on January 1, 1957. The new German member state of the Saarland maintained its currency, the Saar franc, which was in a currency union at par with the French franc. On July 9, 1959, the Deutsche Mark replaced the Saar franc at a ratio of 100 francs = DM 0.8507.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The Deutsche Mark played an important role in the reunification of Germany. It was introduced as the official currency of East Germany in July 1990, replacing the East German mark ("Mark der DDR"), in preparation for unification on 3 October 1990. East German marks were exchanged for Deutsche marks at a rate of 1:1 for the first M 4,000 and 2:1 for larger amounts. Before reunification, each citizen of East Germany coming to West Germany was given "Begrüßungsgeld" (welcome money), a per capita allowance of DM 100 in cash. The government of Germany and the Bundesbank were in major disagreement over the exchange rate between the East German mark and the German mark.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: France and the United Kingdom were opposed to German reunification, and attempted to influence the Soviet Union to stop it. However, in late 1989 France extracted German commitment to the Monetary Union in return for support for German reunification.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The German mark had a reputation as one of the world's most stable currencies; this was based on the monetary policy of the "Bundesbank". The policy was "hard" in relation to the policies of certain other central banks in Europe. The "hard" and "soft" was in respect to the aims of inflation and political interference. This policy was the foundation of the European Central Bank's present policy towards the euro. The German mark's stability was greatly apparent in 1993, when speculation on the French franc and other European currencies caused a change in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. However, it should be remembered that "hard" is relative only if it is compared to other currencies, as in its 53-year history, the purchasing power of the German mark was reduced by over 70%.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The first Deutsche Mark coins were issued by the Bank deutscher Länder in 1948 and 1949. From 1950, the inscription "Bundesrepublik Deutschland" (Federal Republic of Germany) appeared on the coins. These coins were issued in denominations of 1pf, 2pf, 5pf, 10pf, and 50pf. The 1pf and 2pf coins were struck in bronze clad steel (although during some years the 2pf was issued in solid bronze) while 5pf and 10pf were brass clad steel and the 50-pfennig was in cupronickel. In 1950, cupronickel DM 1 coins were released, while a cupronickel DM 2 and a .625 silver DM 5 were released in 1951. Cupronickel replaced silver in the DM 5 in 1975. The DM 2 and DM 5 coins have often been used for commemorative themes, though typically only the generic design for the DM5 is intended for circulation. Commemorative silver DM 10 coins have also been issued which have periodically found their way into circulation. Unlike other European countries, Germany retained the use of the smallest coins (1pf and 2pf) until adoption of the euro.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: Unlike other countries (such as Australia) there was no attempt or proposal suggested for the withdrawal of the 1pf and 2pf coins. Both coins were still in circulation in 2001 and supermarkets in particular still marked prices to the nearest pfennig. This penchant for accuracy continues with the euro (while Finland or the Netherlands for example, price to the nearest 5 cents) with the 1-cent coin still encountered in Germany.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: There were a considerable number of commemorative silver DM 5 and DM 10 coins, which actually had the status of legal tender but were rarely seen outside of collectors' circles.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: On 27 December 2000, the German government enacted a law authorizing the Bundesbank to issue, in 2001, a special .999 pure gold DM 1 coin commemorating the end of the German mark. The coin had the exact design and dimensions of the circulating cupro-nickel DM 1 coin, with the exception of the inscription on the reverse, which read "Deutsche Bundesbank" (instead of "Bundesrepublik Deutschland"), as the Bundesbank was the issuing authority in this case. A total of one million gold DM 1 coins were minted (200,000 at each of the five mints) and were sold beginning in mid-2001 through German coin dealers on behalf of the Bundesbank. The issue price varied by dealer but averaged approximately US$165.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: German coins bear a mint mark, indicating where the coin was minted. D indicates Munich, F Stuttgart, G Karlsruhe and J Hamburg. Coins minted during the Second World War include the mint marks A (Berlin) and B (Vienna). The mint mark A was also used for German mark coins minted in Berlin beginning in 1990 following the reunification of Germany. These mint marks have been continued on the German euro coins.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: Between July 1, 1990 (the currency union with East Germany) and July 1, 1991, East German coins in denominations up to 50 pfennigs continued to circulate as Deutsche Mark coins at their face value, owing to a temporary shortage of small coins. These coins were legal tender only in the territory of the former East Germany.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: In colloquial German the 10pf coin was sometimes called a "groschen" (cf. groat). Likewise, "sechser" (sixer) could refer to a coin of 5pf. Both colloquialisms refer to several pre-1871 currencies of the previously independent states (notably Prussia), where a groschen was subdivided into 12 pfennigs, hence half a groschen into 6. After 1871, 12 old pfennigs would be converted into 10pf of the mark, hence 10pf coins inherited the "Groschen" name and 5pf coins inherited the "sechser" name. Both usages are only regional and may not be understood in areas where a Groschen coin did not exist before 1871. In particular, the usage of "sechser" is less widespread. In northern Germany the DM 5 coin used to be also called a "Heiermann", whereas in Bavaria the DM 2 coin was called "Zwickl" and this expression is now used for the €2 coin in the region.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: A reserve series (BBk II) was commissioned on July 1, 1960, consisting of DM 10, DM 20, DM 50 and DM 100 banknotes. 670 million BBk II banknotes in value of 25 billion marks were printed. The notes were printed between 1963 and 1974 in fear if the Eastern Bloc would start systematically counterfeiting the BBk I series of banknotes to cripple the economy, then they would quickly be replaced by emergency notes. Another reserve series for West Berlin (BBk IIa) was commissioned on July 1, 1963, consisting of DM 5, DM 10, DM 20, DM 50 and DM 100 banknotes. 115 million West Berlin banknotes were printed, total value 4 billion marks. 15 billion marks worth of the banknotes were held in Bundesbank's custom-built underground bunker in Cochem in Rheinland-Pfalz, the rest was stored in Bundesbank's vault in Frankfurt.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: In 1957, with Bank deutscher Länder and the states' central banks merging to form the Bundesbank, new banknotes were being designed, as "Bank deutscher Länder" on the previous series was no longer correct. The previous series' notes had been made out of less durable paper and had a rather short life. While previously damaged notes could be replaced from reserve stocks, this stock was also coming to an end, necessitating a reprint.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: Typical security features at the time were guilloches, a multi-level head watermark and a security thread. Note numbers that fluoresced under UV light and green, yellow, and blue. 27 fluorescent fibers embedded in the paper appeared on most banknotes; however, some specimens without these features were in circulation. Starting in 1976, banknotes were equipped with machine-readable feature - a colorless inorganic oxide mixture applied to the security thread. Banknotes featuring that were designated BBk Ia within the Bundesbank. All banknotes of the third series bore the penalty for counterfeiting and forgery on the upper right corner of the reverse, from German penal code section 146: ""Wer Banknoten nachmacht oder verfälscht, oder nachgemachte oder verfälschte sich verschafft und in Verkehr bringt, wird mit Zuchthaus/Freiheitsstrafe nicht unter zwei Jahren bestraft."" ("Who falsifies or counterfeits banknotes, or procures falsified or counterfeit banknotes and releases them into circulation, is liable to imprisonment for at least two years".


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The third series banknotes entered circulation on February 10, 1961, with the DM 20 note. DM 100 and DM 50 followed next year, and DM 5 and DM 10 in 1963. High-denomination DM 1000 and DM 500 followed in 1964 and 1965, respectively.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The banknotes were printed exclusively in West Germany - in Bundesdruckerei in West Berlin and in Giesecke+Devrient in Munich.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The third series banknotes ceased to be legal tender on June 30, 1995, when the fourth series notes had been in circulation for 3–5 years.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: There were a total of five issues of the third series, main differences being the dates, and signatures of the Presidents and Vice Presidents of Bundesbank:


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The design of German banknotes remained unchanged during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. During this period, forgery technology made significant advances and so, in the late 1980s, the Bundesbank decided to issue a new series of Deutsche Mark banknotes. The colours for each denomination remained unchanged from the previous series but the designs underwent significant changes and a DM 200 denomination was introduced. Famous national artists and scientists were chosen to be portrayed on the new banknotes. Male and female artists were chosen in equal numbers. The buildings in the background of the notes' obverses had a close relationship to the person displayed (e.g., place of birth, place of death, place of work), as well as the second background picture (Lyra and the musician Schumann). The reverses of the notes refer to the work of the person on the obverse.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The new security features were: a windowed security thread (with the notes' denominations in microprinting), watermarks, microprinting, intaglio printing (viewing-angle dependent visibility as well as a Braille representation of the notes denomination), colour-shifting ink (on the DM 500 and DM 1000 denominations), a see-through registration device and ultraviolet-visible security features.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: First to be issued were the DM 100 and DM 200 denominations on 1 October 1990 (although the banknote shows "Frankfurt am Main, 2. Januar 1989"). The next denomination was DM 10 on 16 April 1991, followed by DM 50 on 30 September 1991. Next was the DM 20 note on 20 March 1992 (printed on 2 August 1991). The reason for this gradual introduction was, that public should become familiar with one single denomination, before introducing a new one. The change was finished with the introduction of the DM 5, DM 500, and DM 1000 denominations on 27 October 1992. The last two denominations were rarely seen in circulation and all were introduced in one step. With the advance of forgery technology, the Bundesbank decided to introduce additional security features on the most important denominations (DM 50, DM 100 and DM 200) as of 1996. These were a hologram foil in the center of the note's obverse, a matted printing on the note's right obverse, showing its denomination (like on the reverse of the new euro banknotes), and the EURion constellation on the note's reverse. Furthermore, the colours were changed slightly to hamper counterfeiting.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The German name of the currency is "Deutsche Mark" (, ); its plural form in standard German is the same as the singular. In German, the adjective "deutsche" (adjective for "German" in feminine singular nominative form) is capitalized because it is part of a proper name, while the noun "Mark", like all German nouns, is always capitalized. The English loanword "Deutschmark" has a slightly different spelling and one syllable fewer (possibly due to the frequency of silent e in English, or due to English's lack of adjectival endings), and a plural form in "-s".


title: Deutsche Mark

text: In Germany and other German speaking countries, the currency's name was often abbreviated as "D-Mark" (, ) or simply "Mark" () with the latter term also often used in English. Like "Deutsche Mark", "D-Mark" and "Mark" do not take the plural in German when used with numbers (like all names of units), the singular being used to refer to any amount of money (e.g. "eine (one) Mark" and "dreißig (thirty) Mark"). Sometimes, a very colloquial plural form of "Mark", "Märker" was used either as hypocoristic form or to refer to a small number of D-Mark coins or bills, e.g. "Gib mir mal ein paar Märker" ("Just give me a few marks") and "Die lieben Märker wieder" ("The lovely money again", with an ironic undertone).


title: Deutsche Mark

text: The subdivision unit is spelled "Pfennig" (; ), which unlike "Mark" does have a commonly used plural form: "Pfennige" (), but the singular could also be used instead with no difference in meaning. (e.g.: "ein (one) Pfennig", "dreißig (thirty) Pfennige" or "dreißig (thirty) Pfennig"). The official form is singular.


title: Deutsche Mark

text: Before the switch to the euro, the Deutsche Mark was the largest international reserve currency after the United States dollar.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate to the inner city of Babylon (in the area of present-day Hillah, Babil Governorate, Iraq). It was constructed circa 575 BCE by order of King Nebuchadnezzar II on the north side of the city. It was part of a grand walled processional way leading into the city. The walls were finished in glazed bricks mostly in blue, with animals and deities in low relief at intervals, these also made up of bricks that are molded and colored differently.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: After the end of the First World War in 1918, the smaller gate was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum. The gate is 50 feet (15.2 meters) high, and the original foundations extended another 45 feet (13.7 meters) underground. The reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum is not a complete replica of the entire gate. The original structure was a double gate with a smaller frontal gate and a larger and more grandiose secondary posterior section. The only section on display in the Pergamon Museum is the smaller frontal segment.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Other panels from the facade of the gate are located in many other museums around the world, including various European countries and the United States.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: King Nebuchadnezzar II reigned 604–562 BCE, the peak of the Neo-Babylonian Empire. He is known as the biblical conqueror who captured Jerusalem. He ordered the construction of the gate and dedicated it to the Babylonian goddess Ishtar. The gate was constructed using glazed brick with alternating rows of bas-relief "mušḫuššu" (dragons), aurochs (bulls), and lions, symbolizing the gods Marduk, Adad, and Ishtar respectively.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The roof and doors of the gate were made of cedar, according to the dedication plaque. The bricks in the gate were covered in a blue glaze meant to represent lapis lazuli, a deep-blue semi-precious stone that was revered in antiquity due to its vibrancy. The blue glazed bricks would have given the façade a jewel-like shine. Through the gate ran the Processional Way, which was lined with walls showing about 120 lions, bulls, dragons, and flowers on yellow and black glazed bricks, symbolizing the goddess Ishtar. The gate itself depicted only gods and goddesses. These included Ishtar, Adad, and Marduk. During celebrations of the New Year, statues of the deities were paraded through the gate and down the Processional Way.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The gate, being part of the Walls of Babylon, was considered one of the original Seven Wonders of the World. It was replaced on that list by the Lighthouse of Alexandria from the third century BC.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The front of the gate has a low relief design with a repeated pattern of images of two of the major gods of the Babylonian pantheon. Marduk, the national deity and chief god, with his servant dragon Mušḫuššu. is depicted as a dragon with a snake-like head and tail, a scaled body of a lion, and powerful talons for back feet. Marduk was seen as the divine champion of good against evil, and the incantations of the Babylonians often sought his protection.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The second god shown in the pattern of reliefs on the Ishtar Gate is Adad (also known as Ishkur), whose sacred animal was the aurochs, a now-extinct ancestor of cattle. Adad had power over destructive storms and beneficial rain. The design of the Ishtar Gate also includes linear borders and patterns of rosettes, often seen as symbols of fertility.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The bricks of the Ishtar gate were made from finely textured clay pressed into wooden forms. Each of the animal reliefs was also made from bricks formed by pressing clay into reusable molds. Seams between the bricks were carefully planned not to occur on the eyes of the animals or any other aesthetically unacceptable places. The bricks were sun-dried and then fired once before glazing. The clay was brownish red in this bisque-fired state.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The background glazes are mainly a vivid blue, which imitates the color of the highly prized lapis lazuli. Gold and brown glazes are used for animal images. The borders and rosettes are glazed in black, white, and gold. It is believed that the glaze recipe used plant ash, sandstone conglomerates, and pebbles for silicates. This combination was repeatedly melted, cooled, and then pulverized. This mixture of silica and fluxes is called a frit. Color-producing minerals, such as cobalt, were added in the final glaze formulations. This was then painted onto the bisque-fired bricks and fired to a higher temperature in a glaze firing.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The creation of the gate out of wood and clay glazed to look like lapis lazuli could possibly be a reference to the goddess Inanna, who became syncretized with the goddess Ishtar during the reign of Sargon of Akkad. In the myth of Inanna's descent to the underworld, Inanna is described as donning seven accoutrements of lapis lazuli symbolizing her divine power. Once captured by the queen of the underworld, Inanna is described as being lapis lazuli, silver, and wood, two of these materials being key components in the construction of the Ishtar Gate. The creation of the gate out of wood and "lapis lazuli" linking the gate to being part of the Goddess herself.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: After the glaze firing, the bricks were assembled, leaving narrow horizontal seams from one to six millimeters. The seams were then sealed with a naturally occurring black viscous substance called bitumen, like modern asphalt. The Ishtar Gate is only one small part of the design of ancient Babylon that also included the palace, temples, an inner fortress, walls, gardens, other gates, and the Processional Way. The lavish city was decorated with over 15 million baked bricks, according to estimates.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The main gate led to the Southern Citadel, the gate itself seeming to be a part of Imgur-Bel and Nimitti-Bel, two of the most prominent defensive walls of Babylon. There were three primary entrances to the Ishtar Gate: the central entrance which contained the double gate structure (two sets of double doors, for a fourfold door structure), and doors flanking the main entrance to the left and right, both containing the signature double door structure.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Once per year, the Ishtar Gate and connecting Processional Way were used for a New Year's procession, which was part of a religious festival celebrating the beginning of the agricultural year. In Babylon, the rituals surrounding this holiday lasted twelve days. The New Year's celebrations started immediately after the barley harvest, at the time of the vernal equinox. This was the first day of the ancient month of Nisan, equivalent to today's date of March 20 or 21.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The Processional Way, which has been traced to a length of over half a mile (800 meters), extended north from the Ishtar Gate and was designed with brick relief images of lions, the symbol of the goddess Ishtar (also known as Inanna) the war goddess, the dragon of Marduk, the lord of the gods, and the bull of Adad, the storm god. Worshipped as the Mistress of Heaven, Ishtar represented the power of sexual attraction and was thought to be savage and determined. Symbolized by the star and her sacred animal, the lion, she was also the goddess of war and the protector of ruling dynasties and their armies. The idea of protection of the city is further incorporated into this gateway design by the use of crenelated buttresses along both sides to this entrance into the city.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Friezes with sixty ferocious lions representing Ishtar decorated each side of the Processional Way, designed with variations in the color of the fur and the manes. On the east side, they had a left foot forward, and on the west side, they had the right foot forward. Each lion was made of forty-six molded bricks in eleven rows. The lion is pictured upon a blue enameled tile background and an orange coloured border that runs along the very bottom portion of the wall. Having a white body and yellow mane, the lion of Ishtar was an embodiment of vivid naturalism that further enhanced the glory of Babylon's Procession Street.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The purpose of the New Year's holiday was to affirm the supremacy of Marduk and his representative on Earth, the king, and to offer thanks for the fertility of the land.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The Processional Way was paved with large stone pieces set in a bed of bitumen and was up to 66 feet (20.1 meters) wide at some points. This street ran from the Euphrates through the temple district and palaces and onto the Ishtar Gate.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The inscription of the Ishtar Gate is written in Akkadian cuneiform in white and blue glazed bricks and was a dedication by Nebuchadnezzar to explain the gate's purpose. On the wall of the Ishtar Gate, the inscription is 15 meters tall by 10 meters wide and includes 60 lines of writing. The inscription was created around the same time as the gate's construction, around 605–562 BCE.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon, the pious prince appointed by the will of Marduk, the highest priestly prince, beloved of Nabu, of prudent deliberation, who has learnt to embrace wisdom, who fathomed Their (Marduk and Nabu) godly being and pays reverence to their Majesty, the untiring Governor, who always has at heart the care of the cult of Esagila and Ezida and is constantly concerned with the well being of Babylon and Borsippa, the wise, the humble, the caretaker of Esagila and Ezida, the first born son of Nabopolassar, the King of Babylon, am I."


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Both gate entrances of the (city walls) Imgur-Ellil and Nemetti-Ellil following the filling of the street from Babylon had become increasingly lower. (Therefore,) I pulled down these gates and laid their foundations at the water table with asphalt and bricks and had them made of bricks with blue stone on which wonderful bulls and dragons were depicted. I covered their roofs by laying majestic cedars lengthwise over them. I fixed doors of cedar wood adorned with bronze at all the gate openings. I placed wild bulls and ferocious dragons in the gateways and thus adorned them with luxurious splendor so that Mankind might gaze on them in wonder.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: I let the temple of Esiskursiskur, the highest festival house of Marduk, the lord of the gods, a place of joy and jubilation for the major and minor deities, be built firm like a mountain in the precinct of Babylon of asphalt and fired bricks.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: A reconstruction of the Ishtar Gate and Processional Way was built at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin out of material excavated by Robert Koldewey. It includes the inscription plaque. It stands high and wide. The excavation ran from 1902 to 1914, and, during that time, of the foundation of the gate was uncovered.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Claudius Rich, British resident of Baghdad and a self-taught historian, did personal research on Babylon because it intrigued him. Acting as a scholar and collecting field data, he was determined to discover the wonders to the ancient world. C. J. Rich's topographical records of the ruins in Babylon were the first ever published, in 1815. It was reprinted in England no fewer than three times. C. J. Rich and most other 19th-century visitors thought a mound in Babylon was a royal palace, and that was eventually confirmed by Robert Koldewey's excavations, who found two palaces of King Nebuchadnezzar and the Ishtar Gate. Robert Koldewey, a successful German excavator, had done previous work for the Royal Museum of Berlin, with his excavations at Surghul (Ancient Nina) and Al-hiba (ancient Lagash) in 1887. Koldewey's part in Babylon's excavation began in 1899.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The method that the British were comfortable with was excavating tunnels and deep trenches, which was damaging the mud brick architecture of the foundation. Instead, it was suggested that the excavation team focus on tablets and other artefacts rather than pick at the crumbling buildings. Despite the destructive nature of the archaeology used, the recording of data was immensely more thorough than in previous Mesopotamian excavations. Walter Andrea, one of Koldewey's many assistants, was an architect and a draftsman, the first at Babylon. His contribution was documentation and reconstruction of Babylon, and then later, the smuggling of the remains out of Iraq and into Germany. A small museum was built at the site, and Andrea was the museum's first director.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: As the German Oriental Society had provided such large funding for the project, the German archeologists involved felt that they needed to justify the cost by smuggling much of the material back to Germany. For example, of the 120 lion friezes along the Procession Street, the Germans took 118. Walter Andrea played a key role in this endeavor using the strong links (or wasta) that he had cultivated with German intelligence officers and with local Iraqi tribal sheikhs. The Gate's ceramic pieces were disassembled according to a complex numbering system and were then packed in straw in coal barrels in order to disguise them. These barrels were then transported down the Euphrates River to Shatt al-Arab, where they were loaded onto German ships and taken to Berlin.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The rebuilding of Babylon's Ishtar Gate and Processional Way in Berlin was one of the most complex architectural reconstructions in the history of archaeology. Hundreds of crates of glazed brick fragments were carefully desalinated and then pieced together. Fragments were combined with new bricks fired in a specially designed kiln to re-create the correct color and finish. It was a double gate; the part that is shown in the Pergamon Museum today is the smaller, frontal part. The larger, back part was considered too large to fit into the constraints of the structure of the museum; it is in storage.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: Parts of the gate and lions from the Processional Way are in various other museums around the world. Only four museums acquired dragons, while lions went to several museums. The Istanbul Archaeology Museum has lions, dragons, and bulls. Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek in Copenhagen, Denmark, has one lion, one dragon and one bull. The Detroit Institute of Arts houses a dragon. The Röhsska Museum in Gothenburg, Sweden, has one dragon and one lion; the Louvre, the State Museum of Egyptian Art in Munich, the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna, the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Oriental Institute in Chicago, the Rhode Island School of Design Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and the Yale University Art Gallery in New Haven, Connecticut, each have lions. One of the processional lions was recently loaned by Berlin's Vorderasiatisches Museum to the British Museum.


title: Ishtar Gate

text: A smaller reproduction of the gate was built in Iraq under Saddam Hussein as the entrance to a museum that has not been completed. Along with the restored palace, the gate was completed in 1987. The construction was meant to emulate the techniques that were used for the original gate. The replica appears similar to the restored original but is notably smaller. The purpose of the replica's construction was an attempt to reconnect to Iraq's history. Damage to this reproduction has occurred since the Iraq War (see Impact of the U.S. military).


title: Ishtar Gate

text: The acquisition of the Ishtar Gate by the Pergamon Museum is surrounded in controversy as the gate was excavated as part of the excavation of Babylon, and immediately shipped off to Berlin where it remains to this day. The government of Iraq has petitioned the German government to return the gate many times, notably in 2002 as well as in 2009. The Ishtar Gate is frequently used as a prime example in the debate regarding repatriating artifacts of cultural significance to countries affected by war and whether these pieces of material culture are better off in a safer environment where they could be preserved. The example in the case of the Ishtar Gate is concerning its safety in the aftermath of the Iraq War, and whether or not the gate would be safer remaining at the Pergamon Museum.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Slither is a 2006 science fiction black comedy horror film written and directed by James Gunn in his directorial debut. Produced by Paul Brooks and Eric Newman, the film stars Nathan Fillion, Elizabeth Banks, Tania Saulnier, Gregg Henry, and Michael Rooker. The film is set in a small town in South Carolina that becomes invaded by a malevolent alien parasite.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: "Slither" was theatrically released in the United States on March 31, 2006, by Universal Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, who deemed it as "funny" and "creepy", while praising its premise, B-movie conventions, Gunn's direction, script and the performances of the cast, and has since become a cult film. However, it was a box office failure, grossing only $12 million worldwide against a $15 million budget.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: A meteorite brings a malevolent, sentient extraterrestrial parasite to Earth. The parasite enters the town of Wheelsy, South Carolina, where it infects wealthy resident Grant Grant by taking over his body and absorbing his mind. With the alien in control of him, Grant begins to transform into a grotesque, tentacled monstrosity. He also abducts and infects a local woman, Brenda, to serve as a breeder for his alien larvae. His wife Starla becomes suspicious over the changes in his appearance and behavior, leading to Grant attacking her. When the police arrive to rescue Starla, Grant flees.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: During their search for Grant, a posse led by police chief Bill Pardy discovers Brenda, whose body has become inhumanly bloated from the larvae growing inside her. The slug-like larvae burst from her body and infest everyone in town except Starla, Bill, mayor Jack MacReady, and teenager Kylie Strutemyer. Those infected by the larvae become part of a hive mind controlled by Grant, who intends to consume all lifeforms until only his consciousness remains. However, Grant also retains his love for his wife and seeks to be reunited with her. The survivors deduce that killing Grant will eliminate the rest of the aliens before they are attacked by the infected townspeople. Bill and Kylie escape, but Starla and Jack are captured.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Armed with a grenade to kill the monster, Bill and Kylie head to Grant's home, where the infected are being absorbed by the increasingly-mutated Grant. Jack and others are turned into breeders for more larvae, while Grant keeps Starla uninfected in the hope of regaining her love. After waking up, Starla arms herself with a sharp brush and goes downstairs to find Grant. She tricks him into believing she still loves him and stabs him with the brush. Grant becomes angry and throws her across the room while Bill tries to use the grenade, only for Grant to knock it into the pool. Grant subdues Kylie with a couch and attempts to infect Bill with his tentacles. While one of the tentacles stabs Bill in the stomach, he manages to attach the other tentacle to a propane tank. Filled with flammable gas, Grant is shot by Starla and explodes, killing the rest of the aliens in the process. With everyone else in Wheelsy dead, the three survivors head off to seek help.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: In a post-credits scene, a cat approaches Grant's remains and becomes infected by the alien parasite.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Additionally, William MacDonald and Iris Quinn portray Kylie's parents and Matreya Fedor and Amber Lee Bartlett portray her siblings Emily and Jenna. Other members of Bill's posse are played by Tom Heaton as Tourneur, Ben Cotton as Charlie, and Dee Jay Jackson as Dwight. Residents of Wheelsy include Dustin Milligan as a student in Starla's class, Lorena Gale as Starla's co-worker Janene, Darren Shahlavi as Brenda's husband, and Magda Apanowicz in an uncredited role as Kylie's friend. Troma Films co-founder Lloyd Kaufman has a cameo as a drunk man and Rob Zombie provides the voice of Grant's physician Dr. Karl. Director James Gunn makes an uncredited appearance as Hank, Starla's co-worker.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Controversy ensued over the many similarities and plot-points shared with Fred Dekker's 1986 horror-comedy "Night of the Creeps". According to journalist Steve Palopoli:


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Palopoli then goes on to directly compare "Slither" to the aforementioned "Creeps" as well as the 1975 film "Shivers". Gunn has stated that both Cronenberg's "Shivers" and his 1979 film "The Brood" were the two biggest influences on the story in "Slither", along with the 2000 manga "Uzumaki" by Junji Ito. In an interview with Jeff Schubert, Gunn also states that "Slither" was inspired by and pays homage to the horror-comedies from the 1980s.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: The film pays homage to other horror films, such as a farm being owned by Castevet in reference to the Satan-worshiping next-door neighbors in "Rosemary's Baby". Jack MacReady, the mayor of Wheelsy, is named after Kurt Russell's characters Jack Burton and R.J. MacReady from the John Carpenter films "Big Trouble in Little China" and "The Thing".


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: "Slither" was released on regular DVD and on HD DVD/DVD hybrid disc on October 24, 2006. The HD version is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen encoded at 1080p and Dolby Digital-Plus 5.1 surround. In addition to the film, the DVD contains two making-of documentaries, one being solely dedicated to the visual effects. The DVD also contains deleted and extended scenes, a blooper reel, visual effects progressions, a set tour with Fillion, and an audio commentary by Gunn and Fillion. Also included are featurettes outlining how to make edible blood, and Lloyd Kaufman's documentary discussing his day on set, and the shooting of his one line (which was eventually cut from the film). Finally, there is an added bonus entitled "Who Is Bill Pardy?" which is a joke feature made by Gunn with the sole purpose of roasting Fillion, and was shown at the film's wrap party.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Shout! Factory released a Collector's Edition on Blu-ray Disc on July 25, 2017. In addition to new case artwork illustrated by artist Justin Osbourn, it includes new special features such as a new audio commentary with James Gunn and cast members, new interviews with James Gunn and actor Gregg Henry (Jack MacReady) as well as all of the special features found on the original DVD video.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: "Slither" was "a box office flop", failing to recoup its production budget following its debut in the United States and Canada on March 31, 2006 in 1,945 theaters. In its opening weekend, the film grossed $3,880,270 and ranked #8 at the U.S. and Canadian box office. "Slither" grossed $7,802,450 in its theatrical run in the United States and Canada. "Slither" also under-performed in France, grossing $236,261 from 150 screens. The film grossed $5,032,486 as of February 6, 2008 in territories outside the United States and Canada for a worldwide gross of $12,834,936. Its box office performance was substantially less than its total budget of $29.5 million, including marketing costs; the production budget taking up about $15 million of the total.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Paul Brooks, president of the film's production company, Gold Circle Films, said the company was "crushingly disappointed" by the gross. Universal distanced itself from "Slither"s poor box office performance, citing their distribution of the film as merely part of a deal with Gold Circle. "The Hollywood Reporter" speculated that "Slither"s performance "might have killed off the horror-comedy genre for the near future." Producer Paul Brooks offered this explanation about why "Slither" failed to catch on with filmgoers:


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 87% of 141 reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.9/10. The site's critics consensus reads, "A slimy, B-movie homage oozing with affection for low-budget horror films, "Slither" is creepy and funny — if you've got the stomach for it." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 69 out of 100, based on 27 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: The movie was featured in the April 14, 2006 issue of "Entertainment Weekly" as #1 on "The Must List"; "Ten Things We Love This Week". Guest critic Michael Phillips named "Slither" his DVD pick of the week on the television show "Ebert & Roeper". "Slither" was listed as one of the "Top 25 DVDs of the Year" by Peter Travers in "Rolling Stone" magazine.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: Among the critics who did not like the film, Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper gave "Slither" a "two thumbs down" rating on their television show, with Roeper saying he was "all zombied out" after reviewing a wave of zombie-themed films from the year before.


title: Slither (2006 film)

text: "Slither" picked up the 2006 "Fangoria" "Chainsaw Award" for the "Highest Body Count", and garnered nominations in the categories of "Relationship From Hell", "Dude You Don<nowiki>'</nowiki>t Wanna Mess With", and "Looks That Kill". Additionally, the horror magazine "Rue Morgue" named "Slither" the "Best Feature Film of the Year".


title: Butterfly knife

text: A butterfly knife, also known as a Balisong, fan knife or Batangas knife, is a type of folding pocketknife that originated in the Philippines. Its distinct features are two handles counter-rotating around the tang such that, when closed, the blade is concealed within grooves in the handles. A latch holds the handles together, typically mounted on the one facing the cutting edge (the "bite handle").


title: Butterfly knife

text: The balisong was commonly used by Filipinos, especially those in the Tagalog region, as a self-defense and pocket utility knife. Hollow-grind balisongs were also used as straight razors before conventional razors were available in the Philippines. In the hands of a trained user, the knife blade can be brought to bear quickly using one hand. Manipulations, called "flipping", are performed for art or amusement. Blunt "trainer" versions of these knives are available and can be used to practice tricks without the risk of injury.


title: Butterfly knife

text: The knife is now illegal or restricted in some countries, often under the same laws and for the same reasons that switchblades or concealed weapons are restricted. Within the Philippines, it is no longer as common in urban areas as in the past.


title: Butterfly knife

text: The name "balisong" is derived from barangay (village) Balisong, part of the municipality of Taal, Batangas province, which along with the neighboring barangay Pandayan, were the original manufacturing centers of the knives in the Philippines. The two barangays were home to a blacksmith industry that also produced other bladed implements such as bolo knives. It is also claimed that the meaning of the term "balisong" is derived from the Tagalog words "baling sungay" (literally, "broken/folding horn") as the hilt of the blade were traditionally made from carved carabao and deer horn, as well as bones. The traditional balisong is also known as "veinte y nueve," or "twenty-nine," in the Philippines, because they are long when opened. Other names for the knives in English include "fan knives" and "butterfly knives" from the motion, and "click clacks" from the sound they make when they are opened and closed..


title: Butterfly knife

text: The origin of the knives is unclear. Oral histories claim that the knives were first created in the Philippines in 800 AD. However, there is no documentation or archeological evidence to back this. Balisong mass production in the Philippines can only be attested to the early 1900s. Another claim is that balisong were originally an adaptation of a French measuring tool called the "pied du roi" ("foot of the king"), invented between the 1500s to the late 1700s. However, how it was introduced to the Philippines is unknown. There are theories that it may have been introduced by sailors in the Spanish Empire, which was then allied to France.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Regardless of origin, the modern balisong was perfected in the Philippines, where it became much larger and was predominantly used as a weapon, not just a tool. The quick opening techniques ("flipping") were also developed in the Philippines. In contrast, the French "pied du roi" was primarily a folding ruler, with the knife only included in some specimens as a novelty. They were cumbersome to open and unlikely to be used for self-defense, especially since they also commonly included a metal tang at a right angle from the end of the handle to aid in measuring. There were also very similar designs to the balisong produced in England in the late 19th century, presumably also derived from the "pied du roi". But like the latter they were primarily utilitarian tools.


title: Butterfly knife

text: There are two main types of balisong construction: "sandwich construction" and "channel construction".


title: Butterfly knife

text: Sandwich constructed balisong knives are assembled in layers that are generally pinned or screwed together. They allow the pivot pins to be adjusted more tightly without binding. When the knife is closed, the blade rests between the layers.


title: Butterfly knife

text: For a channel constructed balisong, the main part of each handle is formed from one piece of material. In this handle, a groove is created (either by folding, milling, or being integrally cast) in which the blade rests when the knife is closed. This style is regarded as being stronger than sandwich construction.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Additionally, the two constructions can be combined to form the "chanwich construction", which involves two halves of a channel handle screwed together. Although rare, this construction generally keeps the best elements of both constructions and discards the worst, as it retains the better handle shape channel construction is known for, while still allowing adjustment of the tightness the handles are held together with to some extent, as well as easier access to the inside of the handle for cleaning. One notable example would be the Tsunami from Squid Industries.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Bearing operated balisongs have small ball bearings housed in a circular concavity around the hole in the pivot. These bearings allow the handles of the balisong to rotate.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Bushing operated balisongs have a small metal bushing slightly thicker than the tang in each pivot hole with a usually bronze disc known as a washer on each side. These washers clamp down on the bushing, but not on the tang, when the pivot screw is tightened, allowing the handle to rotate around the tang.


title: Butterfly knife

text: There are also washer-only operated balisongs which are usually much cheaper and lower quality than the other kinds, as they don't need bushings, but the handles will always bind to the tang when the screws are tightened enough and the washers, tang and handles all wear themselves down much faster due to the increased friction.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Some of the blades of traditional butterfly knives in the Philippines were made from steel taken from railroad tracks thus giving them a decent amount of durability and toughness, while others are made from the recycled leaf springs of vehicles.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Most modern balisongs, such as the Benchmade 51, do not use Tang Pins. Instead, they use "Zen Pins", which are two small pins embedded in the top of the handles of the balisong which make contact with the bottom of the blade. A balisong with zen pins negates the problem of having the tang pins fall out (as is typical of some cheaper models).


title: Butterfly knife

text: The balisong has been outlawed in several countries, mainly due to its easy utility in crimes and ability to be easily concealed for the same purpose. In some jurisdictions its criminal use is considered a knife crime.


title: Butterfly knife

text: Balisong trainers feature a special blunt and unsharpened "blade" and are legal in some areas where balisongs are not.


title: Apostle (film)

text: Apostle is a 2018 period folk horror film written, directed and edited by Gareth Evans, and starring Dan Stevens, Lucy Boynton, Mark Lewis Jones, Bill Milner, Kristine Froseth, Paul Higgins and Michael Sheen. It had its world premiere at Fantastic Fest in September 2018, and began streaming on Netflix on October 12, 2018. The story follows a British man as he attempts to rescue his sister from a cult on a remote island. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.


title: Apostle (film)

text: In 1905, Thomas Richardson travels to a remote Welsh island to rescue his sister, Jennifer, who has been kidnapped and held for ransom by a mysterious cult. Posing as a convert, Thomas encounters the leader, Malcolm Howe, who founded the cult with two other convicts, Frank and Quinn. They claim that the barren island was rendered fertile through blood sacrifice. Thomas discovers Frank's son Jeremy and Quinn's daughter Ffion sneaking home after a tryst. He forces Jeremy to admit that Jennifer was kidnapped for ransom, as the cult does not have the resources to pay for the continuous animal sacrifices needed to maintain the island's fertility.


title: Apostle (film)

text: One of the newcomers attempts to assassinate Malcolm, but Thomas intervenes and is wounded. The same night, Malcolm parades Jennifer through the village, claiming she will be killed if her co-conspirator does not come forward. Thomas flees from an old woman who chases him, and escapes to a beach cave covered in markings, indicating the presence of a deity. Malcolm visits a barn where the old woman, who is in fact the island's deity, is imprisoned in tree roots; he reprimands her for appearing to Thomas before feeding her his blood, causing the vegetation imprisoning her to bloom. Thomas tells Malcolm's daughter Andrea that he was a Christian missionary who was persecuted in Peking during the Boxer Rebellion for introducing Christianity to China, and lost his faith as a result. She takes him to a shack in a wheat field to hide.


title: Apostle (film)

text: Ffion reveals to Jeremy that she is pregnant and the pair decide to elope. However, Quinn murders Ffion in a forced abortion. Jeremy stabs Quinn and guards capture him. Quinn frames Jeremy for Ffion's murder and uses a "purification" ritual to murder him. Quinn calls Malcolm a false prophet and demands that he prove himself by killing Thomas. Frank, enraged by the death of his son, attacks Quinn, allowing Thomas to escape.


title: Apostle (film)

text: Frank and Thomas flee and arrive at the barn where The Goddess is being held. Frank enters, intent on killing The Goddess, but is killed by a masked figure, The Grinder, whom Thomas witnesses force-feeding Jeremy’s body to The Goddess. Sneaking past, he finds Jennifer alive but strung up in a sack. As he releases her, he is knocked unconscious. He finds himself tethered to a meat-grinding table by hooks embedded into his hands and legs. He escapes and kills The Grinder.


title: Apostle (film)

text: Quinn reveals to a captive Jennifer and Andrea that he imprisoned The Goddess after he and Malcolm realized her powers. He plans to repeatedly impregnate them and use their offspring as blood sacrifices. The Goddess shows Thomas her history with the cult, and begs him to set her free; he grants her wish by immolating her. The village also begins to catch fire and the villagers flee to boats. Thomas, Andrea, and Jennifer overpower and kill Quinn, with Thomas sustaining heavy stab wounds. He escorts Jennifer and Andrea to the boats before he collapses, bidding Jennifer and Andrea farewell as they escape. His faith now restored, Thomas is discovered by an injured Malcolm. As he bleeds onto the ground, the vegetation around him grows and infuse within his body. His eyes then turn the same shape and color as the goddess's, signifying his rebirth as the new guardian of the island.


title: Apostle (film)

text: On November 2, 2016, it was announced that Gareth Evans was working on a new project that he would write and direct. Dan Stevens was confirmed to be cast in the lead role. In March 2017, the film was picked up by Netflix. Later that month, it was announced that Michael Sheen, Lucy Boynton, Bill Milner and Kristine Froseth had joined the cast. Filming started in April 2017. The film was largely shot on a set built at Margam Park in Neath Port Talbot, Wales.


title: Apostle (film)

text: The film premiered at Fantastic Fest in September 2018. It began streaming on Netflix on October 12, 2018.


title: Apostle (film)

text: On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film has a rating of , based on reviews, with an average rating of . The site's consensus reads, ""Apostle" resists easy scares in favor of a steady, slow-building descent into dread led by a commanding central performance from Dan Stevens." Metacritic reports a score of 62 out of 100, based on 17 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". "Variety", echoing other reviews, referred to the film as an homage to "The Wicker Man". "The Hollywood Reporter" stated that "while climactic battles are violent, they never really thrill," concluding that "fans of "The Raid" [Evans' previous film series] should look elsewhere for their thrills." Collider and "The A.V. Club" gave "Apostle" more favorable reviews with a B and B minus respectively.


title: Otis Williams

text: Otis Williams (born Otis Miles Jr.; October 30, 1941) is an American baritone singer. He is occasionally also a songwriter and a record producer.


title: Otis Williams

text: Williams is the founder and last surviving original member of the Motown vocal group The Temptations, a group in which he continues to perform; he also owns the rights to the Temptations name.


title: Otis Williams

text: Williams was born Otis Miles, Jr. in Texarkana, Texas, to Otis Miles and Hazel Louise Williams. The couple separated shortly after their son's birth. While he was still a toddler, his mother married and moved to Detroit, Michigan, leaving the younger Otis Miles to be raised by both of his grandmothers in Texarkana. Hazel Williams moved her son to Detroit when he was ten years old, where he lived with his mother and his stepfather.


title: Otis Williams

text: Becoming interested in music as a teenager, Otis Miles, Jr. adopted his mother's maiden name for his stage name, and as "Otis Williams" put together a number of singing groups. These groups included Otis Williams and the Siberians, the El Domingoes, and the Distants. In 1959, The Distants scored a local hit, co-written by Williams and their manager/producer Johnnie Mae Matthews, called "Come On", with lead vocals by Richard Street. Later Distants recordings were not as successful, and after an offer from Berry Gordy of Motown Records, Williams and his friends/bandmates Elbridge "Al" Bryant and Richard Street quit the Distants. Eddie Kendricks and Paul Williams from The Primes later joined Williams, Bryant, and Franklin to create the Elgins, who signed to Motown in March 1961 as "The Temptations", after being told another group was already using that name.


title: Otis Williams

text: The Temptations became one of the most successful acts in soul music over the course of nearly five decades, during which singers such as David Ruffin, Dennis Edwards, former Distant Richard Street, Damon Harris, Ron Tyson, Ali-Ollie Woodson, Theo Peoples, Ray Davis and former Spinners singer G. C. Cameron have all been members. The group's lineup changes were so frequent, stressful and troublesome that Williams and Melvin Franklin promised each other they would never quit the group. Franklin would remain in the group until 1994, when he became physically incapable of continuing. Franklin died on February 23, 1995, leaving Otis Williams, then 53, as the last surviving original member of the quintet.


title: Otis Williams

text: Williams is the co-author, with Patricia Romanowski, of "Temptations", a 1988 book that served as both his autobiography and a history of the group. Ten years later, the book was adapted into an NBC television miniseries "The Temptations". Williams was portrayed by actor Charles Malik Whitfield.


title: Otis Williams

text: Although he has served the longest tenure in the Temptations, Williams rarely sings lead, focusing instead on his role as the group's leader and organizer, and as the background "baritone in the middle". Some examples are:


title: Otis Williams

text: In 1989, Otis Williams was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of The Temptations. Williams received an honorary doctorate from Stillman College in May 2006.


title: Otis Williams

text: Williams married Josephine Rogers in 1961; the couple's son, Otis Lamont Miles, was born the same year. He and Josephine divorced in 1964. Otis Lamont Miles was a construction worker who died from falling off a building in a workplace accident in Detroit in 1985.


title: Otis Williams

text: Williams was engaged to Patti LaBelle. She ended the engagement when he asked her to quit music and become a housewife.


title: Otis Williams

text: Williams was married to Ann Cain from 1967 to 1973. He married his third wife, Arleata "Goldie" Williams (née Carter), in 1983. Arleata Williams' daughter Elan Carter became 1994's "Playboy"'s Playmate of the Month for June 1994.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Loki Laufeyson, known by adoption as Loki Odinson and by his title as the God of Mischief, is a fictional character portrayed by Tom Hiddleston in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) media franchise, based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name and the Norse mythological god of the same name. Loki was introduced as the main antagonist of both "Thor" (2011) and "The Avengers" (2012), and has since become an important recurring figure of the MCU; following the original Loki's death in "" (2018), a variant of him from an alternate timeline is introduced in "" (2019), diverging from the events of "The Avengers" (2012), headlining the television series "Loki" (2021) alongside Sylvie, a female variant of him who he works with in the series.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: , the character has appeared in seven films, takes the lead role in the live-action series "Loki" (2021), with a number of alternate timeline variants appearing in "Loki", the animated series "What If...?" (2021), and in "The Good, the Bart, and the Loki" (2021), an animated short film that serves as a crossover with "The Simpsons" franchise, including Classic Loki, Kid Loki, Boastful Loki, Alligator Loki, President Loki and more.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Loki's character has borrowed a number of characteristics and storylines from across the history of the character in Marvel Comics. As in the comics, Loki has generally been a villain in the MCU, variously attempting to conquer Asgard or Earth, and having allied himself with more powerful villains to achieve his aims. He has particular antagonism for his adoptive brother Thor, and is known to variously ally with and then betray Thor and others, and to regularly return from apparent death. In his development through the series, he becomes less of a supervillain and more of an antihero.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: The mythical figure Loki preceded Thor in making his first Marvel Comics appearance, depicted in the science fiction/fantasy anthology title Timely Comics' publication "Venus" No. 6 (August 1949) as a member of the Olympian gods exiled to the Underworld. However, the current version of Loki made his first official Marvel appearance was in "Journey into Mystery" No. 85 (October 1962), where Loki was reintroduced as Thor's sworn enemy. The modern age Loki was introduced by brothers and co-writers Stan Lee and Larry Lieber and he was redesigned by Jack Kirby. As one of Thor's arch-nemeses, Loki frequently made appearances in Thor-related titles like "Journey into Mystery" and "Thor", as well as other Marvel Universe titles such as "The Avengers" and "X-Men," as well as brief appearances in the "Spider-Man" and "Defenders" comic series.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Live-action film adaptations of characters in the "Thor" comic books were proposed at various times, but did not come to fruition. In the mid-2000s, Kevin Feige realized that Marvel still owned the rights to the core members of the Avengers, which included Thor. Feige, a self-professed "fanboy", envisioned creating a shared universe just as creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby had done with their comic books in the early 1960s. In 2006, the film was announced as a Marvel Studios production. In December 2007, Protosevich described his plans for it "to be like a superhero origin story, but not one about a human gaining super powers, but of a god realizing his true potential. It's the story of an Old Testament god who becomes a New Testament god". In 2008, Guillermo del Toro entered talks to direct the film. Del Toro was a fan of Jack Kirby's work on the comics, and said that he loved the character of Loki, but wished to incorporate more of the original Norse mythology into the film, including a "really dingy Valhalla, [with] Vikings and mud". However, del Toro ultimately turned down "Thor" to direct "The Hobbit". Kenneth Branagh entered into negotiations to direct, and by December 2008, Branagh confirmed that he had been hired. He described it as "a human story right in the center of a big epic scenario."


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Several actors were reportedly considered for the part, including Josh Hartnett, and Jim Carrey. In May 2009, Marvel announced that Tom Hiddleston, who had worked with Branagh before and had initially been considered to portray the lead role, had been cast as Loki. In June 2009, Feige confirmed that both Chris Hemsworth and Hiddleston had signed on.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Tom Hiddleston stated that "Loki's like a comic book version of Edmund in "King Lear", but nastier". Hiddleston stated that he had to keep a strict diet before the start of filming because director Kenneth Branagh "wants Loki to have a lean and hungry look, like Cassius in "Julius Caesar". Physically, he can't be posing as Thor". Hiddleston also looked at Peter O'Toole as inspiration for Loki, explaining, "Interestingly enough, [Kenneth Branagh] said to look at Peter O'Toole in two specific films, "The Lion in Winter" and "Lawrence of Arabia". What's interesting about ... his performance [as King Henry] is you see how damaged he is. There's a rawness [to his performance]; it's almost as if he's living with a layer of skin peeled away. He's grandiose and teary and, in a moment, by turns hilarious and then terrifying. What we wanted was that emotional volatility. It's a different acting style, it's not quite the same thing, but it's fascinating to go back and watch an actor as great as O'Toole head for those great high hills". Ted Allpress portrays a young Loki.


title: Loki (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: About his character's evolution from "Thor" to "The Avengers", Hiddleston said, "I think the Loki we see in "The Avengers" is further advanced. You have to ask yourself the question: How pleasant an experience is it disappearing into a wormhole that has been created by some kind of super nuclear explosion of his own making? So I think by the time Loki shows up in "The Avengers", he's seen a few things." About Loki's motivations, Hiddleston said, "At the beginning of "The Avengers", he comes to Earth to subjugate it and his idea is to rule the human race as their king. And like all the delusional autocrats of human history, he thinks this is a great idea because if everyone is busy worshipping him, there will be no wars so he will create some kind of world peace by ruling them as a tyrant. But he is also kind of deluded in the fact that he thinks unlimited power will give him self-respect, so I haven't let go of the fact that he is still motivated by this terrible jealousy and kind of spiritual desolation." Hiddleston also filmed scenes for "", but his scenes were omitted from the theatrical cut because director Joss Whedon didn't want the movie to feel "overstuffed".