title: Harold Holt

text: Holt as prime minister was sometimes criticised for a failure to be assertive on economic matters. A major drought in 1965 had led to slowdown in growth, but he was unwilling to increase public spending in case it increased inflation. The Australian dollar – a legacy of Holt's period as Treasurer – came into circulation on 14 February 1966, less than a month after his prime ministership began. In November 1967, the British government unexpectedly announced that it would be devaluing the pound sterling by 14 percent. Holt announced that the Australian government would not follow suit, effectively withdrawing Australia from the sterling area. The decision was strongly opposed by the Country Party, who feared it would disadvantage primary industry. John McEwen, the Country Party leader, issued a public statement criticising the government, which caused a breakdown in his relations with Holt and nearly led to the collapse of the Coalition. "The Bulletin" said that the withdrawal was "quite certain to mean the end of any remaining special relationship between Australia and Britain". There were no other important economic policy reforms made by the Holt Government, although Australia did become a founding member of the Asian Development Bank in 1966.


title: Harold Holt

text: As prime minister, Holt continued the liberalisation of immigration law that he had begun as Minister for Immigration. When he came to office, what remained of the White Australia policy was upheld by ministerial decree rather than by explicit legislation. In March 1966, the residency requirement for naturalisation was changed to a uniform five years; it had previously been 15 years for non-whites. Discriminatory provisions relating to family reunification were also removed. As a result, in the two years after March 1966 around 3,000 Asian immigrants were granted Australian citizenship, compared with 4,100 in the preceding two decades. Additionally, Immigration Minister Hubert Opperman announced that potential immigrants to Australia would be assessed solely "on the basis of their suitability as settlers, their ability to integrate readily, and their possession of qualifications which are in fact positively useful to Australia"; non-whites had previously had to demonstrate that they were "highly qualified and distinguished" to gain entry.


title: Harold Holt

text: Keith Wilson believed that the Holt Government's reforms ensured that "from now on there will not be in any of our laws or in any of our regulations anything that discriminates against migrants on the grounds of colour or race". However, there would not be a practical change in the composition of Australia's immigration intake for many more years. Holt maintained that "every country reserves to itself the right to decide what the composition of its people shall be", and promised "a community life free from serious minority and racial problems". He was careful to frame his changes as simply a modification of existing policy, in order to avoid alienating organised labour (historically the greatest supporters of restricting non-white immigration). The Labor Party had only removed "White Australia" from its platform in 1965, and Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell stated he was "determined to continue to oppose, for many obvious reasons, any attempt to create a multi-racial society in our midst". However, Holt was less circumspect outside Australia, telling British journalists that no White Australia policy existed and ordering Australian embassies to promote the changes to Asian governments and media outlets.


title: Harold Holt

text: In 1967, the Holt Government amended the constitution to alter section 51 (xxvi) and remove section 127. This gave the federal government the power to legislate specifically for Indigenous Australians, and also allowed indigenous people to be enumerated in the census. The constitutional amendments required a referendum before they could be enacted, which passed with over 90 percent of the vote; it remains the largest referendum majority in Australian history. Holt personally considered the amendments unnecessary and mostly symbolic, but thought they would be well received by the international community (particularly Asia). According to Barrie Dexter, he was privately shocked by the referendum result, having been uncertain whether it would even pass.


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt came to regard the referendum as indicative of a shift in the national mood. In the following months, he toured Aboriginal communities and consulted with indigenous leaders, including Charles Perkins and Kath Walker. Despite opposition from state governments, he created a new Office of Aboriginal Affairs within the Prime Minister's Department, as well as a new advisory body called the Council of Aboriginal Affairs (chaired by H. C. Coombs). According to Coombs and Paul Hasluck, Holt had little interest in indigenous affairs before becoming prime minister. Despite this, he brought about a fundamental shift in the way policy was handled, paving the way for the federal government to assume many of the powers and responsibilities that had previously been the preserve of the states. Indigenous academic Gary Foley has said that Holt's death was a setback for Aboriginal people, as his successors did not show the same commitment to the framework that he established.


title: Harold Holt

text: The Holt Government also unsuccessfully attempted to remove section 24 of the constitution (the so-called "nexus clause"), which requires the number of members in the House of Representatives to be "as nearly as practicable, twice the number of senators". The resulting referendum did not come close to passing, with only 40 percent voting in favour nationwide and only one state (New South Wales) recording a majority. All three major-party leaders campaigned for the "Yes" vote, while opposition came mainly from Coalition backbenchers and Democratic Labor Party senators. Supporters of the "No" vote successfully argued that section 24 protected the influence of the Senate, and thus the interests of less populous states and rural areas. Holt did make one other significant legal reform, albeit one that did not require a constitutional amendment. In September 1967, he announced that his government would use section 74 of the constitution to remove the potential for High Court cases to be appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. The necessary legislation was not passed until after his death.


title: Harold Holt

text: In November 1967, in one of his last major policy statements, Holt announced the establishment of the National Gallery of Australia and the Australia Council for the Arts. The National Gallery, which did not open until 1982, was the first arts-related major infrastructure project to be funded by the federal government; previous projects had been funded by state governments or by private subscription. Holt said it would "add significantly to the cultural life of Australia and the national capital". The other element of his announcement, the Australia Council for the Arts, was the first national arts council, intended to provide arms-length advice to the Prime Minister's Department on arts funding. Rupert Myer has suggested that "Holt's legacy ought to be a core belief in, and broad public demand for, the sustained support of cultural activity from all three tiers of government".


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt believed it was his responsibility as prime minister "to reflect the modern Australia to my fellow countrymen, to our allies and the outside world at large". His approach to national security emphasised opposition to international communism and the need to engage more with Asia. Holt said that the "great central fact of modern history" was "the tremendous power conflict between the communist world and the free world". He was a strong believer in the domino theory and containment, holding that communism had to be fought wherever it occurred in order to prevent it spreading to neighbouring countries. In April 1967, Holt told parliament that "geographically we are part of Asia, and increasingly we have become aware of our involvement in the affairs of Asia – our greatest dangers and our highest hopes are centred in Asia's tomorrows". Gough Whitlam said that Holt "made Australia better known in Asia and he made Australians more aware of Asia than ever before [...] this I believe was his most important contribution to our future".


title: Harold Holt

text: Personal diplomacy was Holt's strong point – he believed diplomatic ties could be strengthened by making intimate connections with other world leaders. This approach was disliked by his external affairs minister, Paul Hasluck, who in his memoirs accused him of believing in "instant diplomacy" and crediting his personal charms for advances made by diplomatic officials. As prime minister, Holt's first overseas trip was to South-East Asia in April 1966, where he visited Malaysia, Singapore, South Vietnam, and Thailand. He toured Cambodia, Laos, South Korea, and Taiwan in March and April 1967, and had planned to visit Burma, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Pakistan in 1968. Most of those countries had never before been visited by an Australian prime minister. There were also a number of reciprocal visits from East Asian leaders, including Eisaku Satō of Japan, Souvanna Phouma of Laos, and Thanom Kittikachorn of Thailand. The most controversial of those occurred in January 1967, when Prime Minister Nguyễn Cao Kỳ of South Vietnam visited on Holt's personal invitation – issued without consulting cabinet. Public sentiment was beginning to turn against the war, and Ky's visit was met with large demonstrations; opposition leader Arthur Calwell issued a statement calling him a "miserable little butcher". Ky nonetheless handled himself well, and "The Bulletin" called his visit a "personal triumph".


title: Harold Holt

text: The Vietnam War was the dominant foreign policy issue during Holt's term in office. He was a strong supporter of Australian involvement in the war, which had begun in 1962, and accused its critics of adopting a "Lotus Land" attitude. As well as citing Australia's SEATO obligations to South Vietnam, Holt justified the war on the grounds that Australia was morally obligated to "resist communist subversion and aggression" and "defend the right of every people to choose their own social and economic order". He held that "unless there is security for all small nations, there cannot be security for any small nation".


title: Harold Holt

text: In March 1966, Holt announced that the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, would be withdrawn and replaced by the 1st Australian Task Force, a self-contained brigade-sized unit based at Nui Dat. This effectively tripled the number of Australian troops in Vietnam to around 4,500, and also included 1,500 national servicemen – the first conscripts to serve in the conflict. By the final months of Holt's prime ministership, Australia had over 8,000 personnel stationed in South Vietnam, drawn from all three branches of the Australian Defence Force; the final troop increase was announced in October 1967. Holt "never deviated from his whole-hearted support for American bombing of North Vietnam and the hope that steadily increasing the number of foreign troops deployed to South Vietnam would lead to military victory and a solution to the crisis". John Gorton later said it was "ironical that, being a man of peace, he should have presided over one of the greatest build-ups of military power that Australia has found itself engaged in".


title: Harold Holt

text: The government's handling of the war initially enjoyed broad public support, and was considered a key contributor to the landslide election victory in 1966 – referred to by some as a "khaki election". By the end of the following year, however, opinion polls were showing that public sentiment had turned against the war, and previously supportive media outlets had begun to criticised Holt's decision-making. He did not live long enough to see the mass demonstrations experienced by his successors. Political opposition to the war was initially led by Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell, who promised a total withdrawal from the conflict and labelled it a "cruel, unwinnable civil war". His replacement, Gough Whitlam, adopted a more pragmatic approach, focusing on policy specifics (particularly the government's apparent lack of an exit strategy) rather than the validity of the war itself.


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt cultivated a close relationship with the United States under President Lyndon B. Johnson. He believed that "without the American shield most of us who live in Asia and the South Pacific would have a continuing sense of insecurity". Cooperation between the two countries extended beyond the Vietnam War. Holt approved the construction of several Earth stations for use by NASA and American intelligence agencies, including Pine Gap, Honeysuckle Creek, and Tidbinbilla. This made Australia "the most substantial centre for American missile and space operations outside the continental United States".


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt and Johnson developed a personal friendship. They were the same age, and had first met in 1942, when Johnson visited Melbourne as a naval officer; afterwards they shared a similar career trajectory. Holt visited the U.S. twice while in office, in June and July 1966, and on the latter visit was invited to stay at Camp David. He and Johnson reportedly played tennis, lounged by the pool, and watched movies together. In October 1966, Johnson made the first visit to Australia by an incumbent American president; Vice President Hubert Humphrey had visited in February of that year. He toured five cities, and was greeted by large crowds as well as a number of anti-war demonstrators, who disrupted the presidential motorcade. The opposition criticised the visit as a publicity stunt. Johnson later returned to Australia for Holt's memorial service, and invited his widow Zara to stay with him when she visited the United States in 1969.


title: Harold Holt

text: On his first visit to the U.S., Holt made what was widely viewed as a "faux pas" while delivering a ceremonial address at the White House. Departing from his prepared remarks, he said: "And so, sir, in the lonelier and perhaps even more disheartening moments which come to any national leader, I hope there will be a corner of your mind and heart which takes cheer from the fact that you have an admiring friend, a staunch friend that will be "all the way with LBJ"." Holt had meant it to be a "light-hearted gesture of goodwill towards a generous host", referencing the slogan used in Johnson's 1964 presidential campaign. It was interpreted as such by his immediate audience, but once it was reported back in Australia it came to be viewed as a "foolish, sycophantic and dangerous statement" that was indicative of Australian subservience. Bill Hayden said Holt's remarks "shocked and insulted many Australians [...] its seeming servility was an embarrassment and a worry". Newspaper editorials generally agreed with Holt's assertion that he had been misinterpreted, but still criticised him for making an error in judgment. His comments intensified anti-war sentiments among those who were already opposed to the war, but had little electoral impact. Nonetheless, "all the way with LBJ" is still remembered as Holt's "best-known utterance".


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt was a strong supporter of the Commonwealth of Nations, and believed its member states had moral obligations to one another – particularly Britain, as the former "mother country". However, his relationship with Harold Wilson, the British prime minister, was somewhat frosty. He repeatedly lobbied Wilson to maintain a strong British presence "East of Suez", in order to complement American efforts, and in early 1967 received assurances that no reduction was being contemplated. However, by the middle of the year Wilson had announced that Britain intended to close all of its bases in Asia by the early 1970s (except for Hong Kong). In response to Holt's concerns, it was suggested by Wilson that a British naval base could be established in Cockburn Sound. Holt rejected this outright, and felt that Wilson had deliberately misled him as to his intentions.


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt's popularity and political standing was damaged by his perceived poor handling of a series of controversies that emerged during 1967. In April, the ABC's new nightly current affairs program "This Day Tonight" ran a story which criticised the government's decision not to reappoint the Chair of the ABC Board, Sir James Darling. Holt responded rashly, questioning the impartiality of the ABC and implying political bias on the part of journalist Mike Willesee (whose father Don Willesee was an ALP Senator and future Whitlam government minister), and his statement drew strong protests from both Willesee and the Australian Journalists' Association.


title: Harold Holt

text: In May, increasing pressure from the media and within the Liberal Party forced Holt to announce a parliamentary debate on the question of a second inquiry into the 1964 sinking of to be held on 16 May. The debate included the maiden speech by newly elected NSW Liberal MP Edward St John QC, who used the opportunity to criticize the government's attitude to new evidence about the disaster. An enraged Holt interrupted St John's speech, in defiance of the parliamentary convention that maiden speeches are heard in silence; his blunder embarrassed the government and further undermined Holt's support in the Liberal Party. A few days later, Holt announced a new Royal Commission into the disaster.


title: Harold Holt

text: In October the government became embroiled in another embarrassing controversy over the alleged misuse of VIP aircraft, which came to a head when John Gorton (Government Leader in the Senate) tabled documents that showed that Holt had unintentionally misled Parliament in his earlier answers on the matter. Support for his leadership was eroded even further by his refusal to sack the Minister for Air, Peter Howson, in order to defuse the scandal, fuelling criticism from within the party that Holt was "weak" and lacked Menzies' ruthlessness. Much of the blame for the episode within the Public Service was visited upon Sir John Bunting, Secretary of the Prime Minister's Department, although other figures such as the Deputy Secretary Peter Lawler were able to protect themselves. One of John Gorton's first acts upon becoming Prime Minister in January 1968 was to sideline Bunting by creating a separate Department of the Cabinet Office with Bunting as its head, and replaced him with Lenox Hewitt.


title: Harold Holt

text: In November 1967, the government suffered a serious setback in the senate election, winning just 42.8 per cent of the vote against Labor's 45 per cent. The coalition also lost the seats of Corio and Dawson to Labor in by-elections. Alan Reid says that, within the party, the reversal was blamed on Holt's mishandling of the V.I.P. planes scandal. Disquiet was growing about his leadership style and possible health problems.


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt loved the ocean, particularly spearfishing, and had holiday homes at Portsea, Victoria, and Bingil Bay, Queensland. On 17 December 1967, while Holt was spending the weekend at Portsea, he and four companions decided to drive to Point Nepean to watch sailor Alec Rose pass through The Rip on his solo circumnavigation attempt. On their way back to Portsea, Holt convinced the group to stop at remote Cheviot Beach for a swim before lunch – he had spearfished there on many previous occasions, and claimed to "know this beach like the back of my hand." Because of the rough conditions, only one other person, Alan Stewart, joined Holt in the water. Stewart kept close to shore, but Holt swam out into deeper water and was seemingly caught up in a rip, eventually disappearing from view. One of the witnesses, Marjorie Gillespie, described it as "like a leaf being taken out [...] so quick and final."


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt's disappearance sparked "one of the largest search operations in Australian history", but no trace of his body was ever found. At 10 p.m. on 18 December, Governor-General Lord Casey announced he had terminated Holt's commission as prime minister upon his presumed death. A police report released in early 1968 made no definitive findings about Holt's death, while a coronial inquest in 2005 returned a verdict of accidental drowning. It is generally accepted that Holt overestimated his swimming ability. Some have alleged that Holt committed suicide, but those close to him rejected this as uncharacteristic of his personality. Conspiracy theories have included suggestions that Holt faked his own death, was assassinated by the CIA, or was collected by a submarine so that he could defect to China.


title: Harold Holt

text: A memorial service for Holt was held at St Paul's Cathedral, Melbourne, on 22 December, and attended by numerous world leaders. Aged 59 at the time of his death, Holt became the third Australian prime minister to die in office, after Joseph Lyons (1939) and John Curtin (1945). John McEwen, the leader of the Country Party, was sworn in as caretaker prime minister on 19 December. The Liberal Party held a leadership election on 9 January 1968, in which John Gorton defeated Paul Hasluck, Billy Snedden, and Les Bury. Gorton was a member of the Senate, and in line with constitutional convention sought and gained election to the House of Representatives at the by-election caused by Holt's death.


title: Harold Holt

text: While at university, Holt met Zara Dickins, the daughter of a Melbourne businessman; there was an "instant mutual attraction". They made plans to marry once Holt had graduated, but after a financial dispute chose to separate. Zara went on a trip to Britain, where she was introduced to James Fell, a British Indian Army officer. She accompanied Fell to India, and then in early 1935 returned to Australia where Holt again proposed marriage. She declined his offer, and married Fell a short time later, going to live with him in Jabalpur. Holt had entered parliament by that time, and was soon being profiled as "the most eligible bachelor in parliament". He briefly dated Lola Thring, the daughter of his father's business partner, F. W. Thring, but his widowed father Tom was also interested in her (to his son's "disgust"). Tom Holt married Lola in 1936, and their daughter Frances (Harold's half-sister) was born in 1940; Tom Holt died in 1945.


title: Harold Holt

text: In 1937, Zara returned to Australia to give birth to her first child, Nicholas. She had two more children, twins Sam and Andrew, in 1939. Her marriage with Fell broke down a short time later, and in late 1940 she returned to Australia permanently and resumed a relationship with Holt. Their relationship did not become public for some time, in order to avoid Holt's being implicated in Zara's divorce proceedings. They eventually married on 8 October 1946, at Zara's parents' home on St Georges Road, Toorak. They initially lived on nearby Washington Street, but in 1954 bought the St Georges Road house. Holt legally adopted Zara's three children, and as young men they changed their surname to his. According to biographer Tom Frame, it was an "open secret" that Holt was the biological father of the twins, as they shared his physical appearance and had been conceived at a time when Zara was known to have been in Melbourne.


title: Harold Holt

text: Zara Holt was a successful businesswoman, owning a chain of dress shops, and out-earned her husband even as prime minister. It was her success that allowed the couple to purchase two holiday homes, one at Portsea, Victoria, and the other at Bingil Bay, Queensland. She nonetheless made sacrifices for her husband's political career, accompanying him on all but one of his overseas trips, which could last for weeks.


title: Harold Holt

text: After her husband's death, Zara remarried in 1969 to one of his Liberal Party colleagues, Jeff Bate. She was widowed a second time in 1984, and died in 1989. In a 1988 interview with "The Sydney Morning Herald", Zara stated that her husband Harold had carried on "dozens" of extramarital affairs. In his biography of Holt, Tom Frame wrote: "I have not included the names of women with whom Holt allegedly had a sexual relationship because I was unable to confirm or deny that most of these relationships took place […] by their very nature they were always illicit and Holt was very discreet."


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt was the first Australian Prime Minister born in the twentieth century. He was an enthusiastic sportsman and avid swimmer, in stark contrast to Menzies and the majority of his predecessors and colleagues. Like later successor Bob Hawke, this resonated with positive effect within the electorate. His oratory skills were vastly superior to that of Arthur Calwell, whom Holt resoundingly beat in 1966. Holt's rhetoric was, however, considered a match to that of new Labor leader Gough Whitlam. Whitlam himself later said of Holt:


title: Harold Holt

text: Holt has been described as an "apathetic agnostic". He was baptised Anglican, attended Methodist schools, and married with Presbyterian forms, but neither he nor his wife had any interest in religion. His lack of religiosity apparently had little impact on his political prospects, and was not generally remarked upon. Alick Downer believed that Holt's thoughts "lay in this world not the next". According to his friend Simon Warrender, he "was an agnostic whose "raison d'être" was dedication to his career". Holt had a reputation as something of a fatalist, and frequently quoted from Andrew Marvell's "carpe diem" poem "To His Coy Mistress". He was also fond of Rudyard Kipling's poem "If—", which Warrender said he used as a "guiding light in his political and private life".


title: Harold Holt

text: Harold Holt is commemorated by the Harold Holt Memorial Swimming Centre in the Melbourne suburb of Glen Iris. The complex was under construction at the time of Holt's disappearance, and since he was the local member, it was named in his memory. The irony of commemorating a man who is presumed to have drowned with a swimming pool has been a source of wry amusement for many Australians. The swimming pool within the 1st Australian Support Compound in South Vietnam was also named for him.


title: Harold Holt

text: In 1968, the newly commissioned United States Navy "Knox"-class destroyer escort was named in his honour. It was launched by Holt's widow Dame Zara at the Todd Shipyards in Los Angeles on 3 May 1969, and was the first American warship to bear the name of a foreign leader.


title: Harold Holt

text: In 1969, a plaque commemorating Holt was bolted to the seafloor off Cheviot Beach after a memorial ceremony. It bears the inscription:


title: Harold Holt

text: By way of a folk memorial, he is recalled in the Australian vernacular expression "do a Harold Holt" (or "do the Harry"), rhyming slang for "do a bolt" meaning "to disappear suddenly and without explanation", although this is usually employed in the context of disappearance from a social gathering rather than a case of presumed death.


title: Harold Holt

text: In the Queen's Birthday Honours of June 1968, Holt's widow Zara was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire, becoming Dame Zara Holt DBE. She later married for a third time, to a Liberal party colleague of Holt's, Jeff Bate, and was then known as Dame Zara Bate.


title: Harold Holt

text: The mineral holtite is named in his honor. It was discovered in Greenbushes Tinfield, Western Australia and formally described in 1971.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho Group of Monuments are a group of Hindu and Jain temples in Chhatarpur district, Madhya Pradesh, India, about 175 kilometres southeast of Jhansi. They are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The temples are famous for their nagara-style architectural symbolism and a few erotic sculptures.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Most Khajuraho temples were built between 885 AD and 1000 AD by the Chandela dynasty. Historical records note that the Khajuraho temple site had 85 temples by the 12th century, spread over 20 square kilometers. Of these, only about 25 temples have survived, spread over six square kilometers. Of the surviving temples, the Kandariya Mahadeva Temple is decorated with a profusion of sculptures with intricate details, symbolism and expressiveness of ancient Indian art. The temple complex was forgotten and overgrown by the jungle until 1838 when Captain T.S. Burt, a British engineer, visited the complex and reported his findings in the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: When these monuments were built, the boys in the place lived in hermitages, by being "brahmcharis" (bachelor) until they attained manhood and these sculptures helped them to learn about the worldly role of 'householder'. The Khajuraho group of temples were built together but were dedicated to two religions, Hinduism and Jainism, suggesting a tradition of acceptance and respect for diverse religious views among Hindus and Jains in the region.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho monuments are located in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, in Chatarpur district, about southeast of New Delhi. The temples are located near a small town also known as Khajuraho, with a population of about 24,481 people (2011 Census).


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Khajuraho is served by Civil Aerodrome Khajuraho (IATA Code: HJR), with services to Delhi, Agra, Varanasi and Mumbai. The site is also linked by the Indian Railways service, with the railway station located approximately six kilometres from the entrance to the monuments.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The monuments are about ten kilometres off the east-west National Highway 75, and about 50 kilometres from the city of Chhatarpur, which is connected to the state capital Bhopal by the SW-NE running National Highway 86.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The 10th-century Bhand Deva Temple in Rajasthan was built in the style of the Khajuraho monuments and is often referred to as 'Little Khajuraho'.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho group of monuments was built during the rule of the Chandela dynasty. The building activity started almost immediately after the rise of their power, throughout their kingdom to be later known as Bundelkhand. Most temples were built during the reigns of the Hindu kings Yashovarman and Dhanga. Yashovarman's legacy is best exhibited by the Lakshmana Temple. Vishvanatha temple best highlights King Dhanga's reign. The largest and currently most famous surviving temple is Kandariya Mahadeva built in the reign of King Vidyadhara. The temple inscriptions suggest many of the currently surviving temples were complete between 970 and 1030 AD, with further temples completed during the following decades.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho temples were built about 35 miles from the medieval city of Mahoba, the capital of the Chandela dynasty, in the Kalinjar region. In ancient and medieval literature, their kingdom has been referred to as Jijhoti, Jejahoti, Chih-chi-to and Jejakabhukti.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The first documented mention of Khajuraho was made in 641 by Xuanzang, a Chinese pilgrim who described encountering several dozen inactive Buddhist monasteries and a dozen Hindu temples with a thousand worshipping brahmins. In 1022 CE, Khajuraho was mentioned by Abu Rihan-al-Biruni, the Persian historian who accompanied Mahmud of Ghazni in his raid of Kalinjar; he mentions Khajuraho as the capital of Jajahuti. The raid was unsuccessful, and a peace accord was reached when the Hindu king agreed to pay a ransom to Mahmud of Ghazni to end the attack and leave.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Khajuraho temples were in active use through the end of the 12th century. This changed in the 13th century; after the army of Delhi Sultanate, under the command of the Muslim Sultan Qutb-ud-din Aibak, attacked and seized the Chandela kingdom. About a century later, Ibn Battuta, the Moroccan traveller in his memoirs about his stay in India from 1335 to 1342 AD, mentioned visiting Khajuraho temples, calling them "Kajarra" as follows:


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The central Indian region, where Khajuraho temples are, was controlled by various Muslim dynasties from the 13th century through the 18th century. In this period, some temples were desecrated, followed by a long period when they were left in neglect. In 1495 AD, for example, Sikandar Lodi's campaign of temple destruction included Khajuraho. The remoteness and isolation of Khajuraho protected the Hindu and Jain temples from continued destruction by Muslims. Over the centuries, vegetation and forests overgrew the temples.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: In the 1830s, local Hindus guided a British surveyor, T.S. Burt, to the temples and they were thus rediscovered by the global audience. Alexander Cunningham later reported, few years after the rediscovery, that the temples were secretly in use by yogis and thousands of Hindus would arrive for pilgrimage during Shivaratri celebrated annually in February or March based on a lunar calendar. In 1852, F.C. Maisey prepared earliest drawings of the Khajuraho temples.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The name Khajuraho, or "Kharjuravāhaka", is derived from ancient Sanskrit ("kharjura", खर्जूर means date palm, and "vāhaka", वाहक means "one who carries" or bearer). Local legends state that the temples had two golden date-palm trees as their gate (missing when they were rediscovered). Desai states that Kharjuravāhaka also means scorpion bearer, which is another symbolic name for deity Shiva (who wears snakes and scorpion garlands in his fierce form).


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Cunningham's nomenclature and systematic documentation work in 1850s and 1860s have been widely adopted and continue to be in use. He grouped the temples into the Western group around "Lakshmana", Eastern group around "Javeri", and Southern group around "Duladeva".


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The temple site is within Vindhya mountain range in central India. An ancient local legend held that Hindu deity Shiva and other gods enjoyed visiting the dramatic hill formation in Kalinjar area. The center of this region is Khajuraho, set midst local hills and rivers. The temple complex reflects the ancient Hindu tradition of building temples where gods love to pray.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The temples are clustered near water, another typical feature of Hindu temples. The current water bodies include "Sib Sagar", "Khajur Sagar" (also called Ninora Tal) and "Khudar Nadi" (river). Local legends state that the temple complex had 64 water bodies, of which 56 have been physically identified by archeologists so far.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: All temples, except one (Chaturbhuja) face the sunrise – another symbolic feature that is predominant in Hindu temples. The relative layout of temples integrate masculine and feminine deities and symbols highlight the interdependence. The artworks symbolically highlight the four goals of life considered necessary and proper in Hinduism – dharma, kama, artha and moksha.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Of the surviving temples, six are dedicated to Shiva, eight to Vishnu and his affinities, one to Ganesha, one to Sun god, three to Jain Tirthankars. For some ruins, there is insufficient evidence to assign the temple to specific deities with confidence.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: An overall examination of site suggests that the Hindu symbolic mandala design principle of square and circles is present each temple plan and design. Further, the territory is laid out in three triangles that converge to form a pentagon. Scholars suggest that this reflects the Hindu symbolism for three realms or "trilokinatha", and five cosmic substances or "panchbhuteshvara". The temple site highlights Shiva, the one who destroys and recycles life, thereby controlling the cosmic dance of time, evolution and dissolution.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The temples have a rich display of intricately carved statues. While they are famous for their erotic sculpture, sexual themes cover less than 10% of the temple sculpture. Further, most erotic scene panels are neither prominent nor emphasized at the expense of the rest, rather they are in proportional balance with the non-sexual images. The viewer has to look closely to find them, or be directed by a guide. The arts cover numerous aspects of human life and values considered important in the Hindu pantheon. Further, the images are arranged in a configuration to express central ideas of Hinduism. All three ideas from Āgamas are richly expressed in Khajuraho temples – Avyakta, and .


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Beejamandal temple is under excavation. It has been identified with the Vaidyanath temple mentioned in the Grahpati Kokalla inscription.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Of all temples, the Matangeshvara temple remains an active site of worship. It is another square grid temple, with a large high and diameter lingam, placed on a diameter platform.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The most visited temple, Kandariya Mahadev, has an area of about 6,500 square feet and a shikhara (spire) that rises 116 feet.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Jain temples are located on east-southeast region of Khajuraho monuments. Chausath yogini temple features 64 yogini, while Ghantai temple features bells sculptured on its pillars.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Khajuraho temples, almost all Hindu temple designs, follow a grid geometrical design called "vastu-purusha-mandala". This design plan has three important components – "Mandala" means circle, "Purusha" is universal essence at the core of Hindu tradition, while "Vastu" means the dwelling structure.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The design lays out a Hindu temple in a symmetrical, concentrically layered, self-repeating structure around the core of the temple called garbhagriya, where the abstract principle Purusha and the primary deity of the temple dwell. The shikhara, or spire, of the temple rises above the garbhagriya. This symmetry and structure in design is derived from central beliefs, myths, cardinality and mathematical principles.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The circle of mandala circumscribe the square. The square is considered divine for its perfection and as a symbolic product of knowledge and human thought, while circle is considered earthly, human and observed in everyday life (moon, sun, horizon, water drop, rainbow). Each supports the other. The square is divided into perfect 64 sub-squares called padas.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Most Khajuraho temples deploy the 8x8 (64) padas grid Manduka Vastupurushamandala, with pitha mandala the square grid incorporated in the design of the spires. The primary deity or lingas are located in the grid's Brahma padas.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The architecture is symbolic and reflects the central Hindu beliefs through its form, structure, and arrangement of its parts. The mandapas, as well as the arts, are arranged in the Khajuraho temples in a symmetric repeating patterns, even though each image or sculpture is distinctive in its own way. The relative placement of the images are not random but together they express ideas, just like connected words form sentences and paragraphs to compose ideas. This fractal pattern that is common in Hindu temples. Various statues and panels have inscriptions. Many of the inscriptions on the temple walls are poems with double meanings, something that the complex structure of Sanskrit allows in creative compositions.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Above the vastu-purusha-mandala of each temple is a superstructure with a dome called "Shikhara" (or "Vimana", Spire). Variations in spire design come from variation in degrees turned for the squares. The temple Shikhara, in some literature, is linked to mount Kailash or Meru, the mythical abode of the gods.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: In each temple, the central space typically is surrounded by an ambulatory for the pilgrim to walk around and ritually circumambulate the Purusa and the main deity. The pillars, walls, and ceilings around the space, as well as outside have highly ornate carvings or images of the four just and necessary pursuits of life – kama, artha, dharma, and moksa. This clockwise walk around is called "pradakshina".


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Larger Khajuraho temples also have pillared halls called mandapa. One near the entrance, on the east side, serves as the waiting room for pilgrims and devotees. The mandapas are also arranged by principles of symmetry, grids, and mathematical precision. This use of same underlying architectural principle is common in Hindu temples found all over India. Each Khajuraho temple is distinctly carved yet also repeating the central common principles in almost all Hindu temples, one which Susan Lewandowski refers to as "an organism of repeating cells".


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho temples are made of sandstone, with a granite foundation that is almost concealed from view. The builders didn't use mortar: the stones were put together with mortise and tenon joints and they were held in place by gravity. This form of construction requires very precise joints. The columns and architraves were built with megaliths that weighed up to 20 tons. Some repair work in the 19th Century was done with brick and mortar; however, these have aged faster than original materials and darkened with time, thereby seeming out of place.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho and Kalinjar region is home to superior quality of sandstone, which can be carved precisely. The surviving sculpture reflect fine details such as strands of hair, manicured nails, and intricate jewelry.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: While recording the television show "Lost Worlds" (History Channel) at Khajuraho, Alex Evans recreated a stone sculpture under four feet that took about 60 days to carve in an attempt to develop a rough idea of how much work must have been involved. Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner also conducted experiments to quarry limestone which took 12 quarrymen 22 days to quarry about 400 tons of stone. They concluded that these temples would have required hundreds of highly trained sculptors.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho group of temples belong to Vaishnavism school of Hinduism, Saivism school of Hinduism and Jainism – nearly a third each. Archaeological studies suggest all three types of temples were under construction at about the same time in the late 10th century, and in use simultaneously. Will Durant states that this aspect of Khajuraho temples illustrates the tolerance and respect for different religious viewpoints in the Hindu and Jain traditions. In each group of Khajuraho temples, there were major temples surrounded by smaller temples – a grid style that is observed to varying degrees in Hindu temples in Angkor Wat, Parambaran and South India.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The largest surviving Shiva temple is Khandarya Mahadeva, while the largest surviving Vaishnava group includes Chaturbhuja and Ramachandra.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Kandariya Mahadeva Temple plan is 109 ft in length by 60 ft, and rises 116 ft above ground and 88 ft above its own floor. The central "padas" are surrounded by three rows of sculptured figures, with over 870 statues, most being half life size (2.5 to 3 feet). The spire is a self-repeating fractal structure.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho temples feature a variety of artwork, of which 10% is sexual or erotic art outside and inside the temples. Some of the temples that have two layers of walls have small erotic carvings on the outside of the inner wall. Some scholars suggest these to be tantric sexual practices. Other scholars state that the erotic arts are part of the Hindu tradition of treating kama as an essential and proper part of human life, and its symbolic or explicit display is common in Hindu temples. James McConnachie, in his history of the "Kamasutra", describes the sexual-themed Khajuraho sculptures as "the apogee of erotic art":


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: Twisting, broad-hipped and high breasted nymphs display their generously contoured and bejewelled bodies on exquisitely worked exterior wall panels. These fleshy "apsaras" run riot across the surface of the stone, putting on make-up, washing their hair, playing games, dancing, and endlessly knotting and unknotting their girdles. ... Beside the heavenly nymphs are serried ranks of griffins, guardian deities and, most notoriously, extravagantly interlocked "maithunas", or lovemaking couples.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The temples have several thousand statues and artworks, with Kandarya Mahadeva Temple alone decorated with over 870. Some 10% of these iconographic carvings contain sexual themes and various sexual poses. A common misconception is that, since the old structures with carvings in Khajuraho are temples, the carvings depict sex between deities; however, the kama arts represent diverse sexual expressions of different human beings. The vast majority of arts depict various aspects the everyday life, mythical stories as well as symbolic display of various secular and spiritual values important in Hindu tradition. For example, depictions show women putting on makeup, musicians making music, potters, farmers, and other folks in their daily life during the medieval era. These scenes are in the outer padas as is typical in Hindu temples.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: There is iconographic symbolism embedded in the arts displayed in Khajuraho temples. Core Hindu values are expressed in multitude of ways. Even the Kama scenes, when seen in combination of sculptures that precede and follow, depict the spiritual themes such as moksha. In the words of Stella Kramrisch,


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho temples represent one expression of many forms of arts that flourished in Rajput kingdoms of India from 8th through 10th century CE. For example, contemporary with Khajuraho were the publications of poems and drama such as "Prabodhacandrodaya", "Karpuramanjari", "Viddhasalabhanjika" and "Kavyamimansa". Some of the themes expressed in these literary works are carved as sculpture in Khajuraho temples. Some sculptures at the Khajuraho monuments dedicated to Vishnu include the "Vyalas", which are hybrid imaginary animals with lions' bodies, and are found in other Indian temples. Some of these hybrid mythical artwork include "Vrik Vyala" (hybrid of wolf and lion) and "Gaja Vyala" (hybrid of elephant and lion). These "Vyalas" may represent syncretic, creative combination of powers innate in the two.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The temples in Khajuraho are broadly divided into three parts: the Eastern group, the Southern Group and the Western group of temples of which the Western group alone has the facility of an audio-guided tour wherein the tourists are guided through the seven-eight temples. There is also an audio guided tour developed by the Archaeological Survey of India which includes a narration of the temple history and architecture.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho Dance Festival is held every year in February. It features various classical Indian dances set against the backdrop of the Chitragupta or Vishwanath Temples.


title: Khajuraho Group of Monuments

text: The Khajuraho temple complex offers a son et lumière (sound and light) show every evening. The first show is in English language and the second, in Hindi. It is held in the open lawns in the temple complex, and has received mixed reviews.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota () is a city in Sarasota County on the Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. The area is renowned for its cultural and environmental amenities, beaches, resorts, and the Sarasota School of Architecture. The city is located in the southern end of the Greater Tampa Bay Area and north of Fort Myers and Punta Gorda. Its official limits include Sarasota Bay and several barrier islands between the bay and the Gulf of Mexico. Sarasota is a principal city of the Sarasota metropolitan area, and is the seat of Sarasota County. According to the 2020 U.S. census, Sarasota had a population of 54,842.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Sarasota city limits contain several keys, including Lido Key, St. Armands Key, Otter Key, Casey Key, Coon Key, Bird Key, and portions of Siesta Key. Longboat Key is the largest key separating the bay from the gulf, but it was evenly divided by the new county line of 1921. The portion of the key that parallels the Sarasota city boundary that extends to that new county line along the bayfront of the mainland was removed from the city boundaries at the request of John Ringling in the mid-1920s, who sought to avoid city taxation of his planned developments at the southern tip of the key. Although they never were completed in the quickly faltering economy, those development concessions granted by the city never were reversed and the county has retained regulation of those lands.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The city limits expanded significantly with the real estate rush of the early twentieth century, reaching almost . The wild speculation boom began to crash in 1926 and the city limits began to contract, shrinking to less than a quarter of that area.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The area known today as Sarasota appeared on a sheepskin Spanish map from 1763 with the word over present-day Sarasota and Bradenton. The origin’s of the name is disputed, with some claiming that it is based on conquistador Hernando de Soto’s daughter Sara, and others claiming that it comes from “sara-de-cota,” meaning “an area of land easily observed” in the language of the Calusa indigenous tribe. Around 1883 to 1885, The Florida Mortgage And Investment Company Of Edinburgh bought 60,000 acres for development in what is now the City of Sarasota. Many Scottish people began to arrive in Sarasota in December 1885. The municipal government of Sarasota was established when it was incorporated as a town in 1902. John Gillespie was the first Mayor. When reincorporated with a city form of government, A. B. Edwards became the first mayor of the city.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota has a tropical climate with hot, humid summers and warm, drier winters. The high temperatures and high humidity in the summer regularly push the heat index over . There are distinct rainy and dry seasons, with the rainy season lasting from March to November and the dry season from December to February. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Of that population, 3.9% were under 5 years old, 14.6% were under 18 years old, and 28.0% were 65 years and older. 52.5% of the population were female persons.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: 77.7% of the population were white, 15.2% were black or African American, 0.3% were American Indian and Alaskan Native, 2.1% were Asian, 3.7% were two or more races, and 16.6% were Hispanic or Latino.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The median gross rent was $1,177. 92.5% of the households had a computer and 84.2% of the households had a broadband internet subscription.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: 90.0% of the population over 25 years were high school graduates or higher, and 37.2% of the population over 25 years had a Bachelor’s degree or higher.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The median household income was $56,093 with a per capita income of $43,387. 15.6% of the population lived below the poverty threshold.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota municipal government was incorporated in 1913, changing from a town type to adopting the city type of local government found in the United States and the title of its government changed to "City of Sarasota". Sarasota later was designated as the county seat when Sarasota County was carved out of Manatee County in 1921 during the creation of several new counties. In 1945 the commission-manager government form was adopted for the city and it is governed by a five-person commission elected by popular vote, two members of which serve in the ceremonial positions of "mayor" and "vice-mayor", as chosen by the commission every April. Two at-large commissioners are elected by all voters and the city is divided into three districts for which the residents of each elect one district representative to the five member commission.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Many aspects of the city are overseen by the county government ranging from the schools, the libraries, the bay, major waterways, county-designated roads, the airport, fire departments, property and "ad valorem" taxes, voting, the health department, extension services, stormwater control, mosquito control, the courts, and the jail. Therefore, the election of county commissioners is important to city voters.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The city's adoption of its "no lodging out-of-doors" ordinance on August 15, 2005, Ordinance No. 05-4640, made it illegal to sleep outside on public property without permission.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota has many musical, dance, theatre, circus and other performing arts venues, including the Sarasota Ballet, Sarasota Opera, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, the Players Centre for Performing Arts, the Banyan Theater Company, The Westcoast Black Theatre, the Urbanite Theatre, Sarasota Contemporary Dance, Sarasota Orchestra, La Musica, Jazz Club of Sarasota, Sarasota Youth Opera, Circus Arts Conservatory and many others.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Theatrical venues include Florida Studio Theatre, Asolo Repertory Theatre, Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, The Players Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, and the Westcoast Black Theatre Troupe.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 1925, A. B. Edwards built a theater that could be adapted for either vaudeville performances or movie screenings. Renowned stripper Sally Rand did her bubble bath and fan dance here. Tommy Dorsey, Will Rogers and Elvis Presley each performed at the Edward Theatre. It remains at the intersection of Pineapple Avenue and Second Street, having been restored and used for performances by the Sarasota Opera and others. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In the early 1950s, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art purchased a historic Italian theater, the "Asolo" (now called the Historic Asolo Theater). This theatre was originally built for Queen Caterina of Cyprus’ palace in Asolo, Italy in 1798 but was dismantled in 1931. A. Everett "Chick" Austin, the museum's first director, arranged the purchase and reassembly of the theater for performances of plays and opera.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In the 1960s philanthropists Lewis and Eugenia Van Wezel enabled the city to build a performing arts hall on the bayfront. The auditorium, the Van Wezel Performing Arts Hall, was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright's successor firm, Taliesin Associated Architects team under the direction of William Wesley Peters. Wright's widow, Olgivanna Lloyd Wright, who participated in the project, selected its purple color.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 1989, Stuart Barger, a local architect, designed and oversaw the construction of another Asolo Theater, housed in the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts. It is a multi-theater complex, located farther east on the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art property, being placed between Bay Shore Road and Tamiami Trail, and facing south toward Ringling Plaza. It was built around a rococo, historic Scottish theater previously called the Dunfermline Opera House, which had been shipped to Florida. The complex provides venues and facilities for students of Florida State University's MFA Acting program, the FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training. This was the administrative home of the Sarasota French Film Festival for several years.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Florida Studio Theatre's Keating Theatre, formerly the Sarasota Woman's Club, is amongst the oldest surviving buildings in Sarasota.  Founded in 1903, the Sarasota Woman's Club eventually set out to create a meeting place to house social events, activities, and forums. On January 1, 1915, the cornerstone was laid at the corner of Palm Avenue and Park Street (now Cocoanut). It served as the town's first library and hosted numerous clubs and public committee gatherings. The Woman's Club also maintained a census and birth registration, an area PTA, and a Red Cross Auxiliary.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Sarasota Woman's Club relocated in 1976 and the building became slated for demolition. Marian McKenna, a patron, and supporter of the arts, did not want to see the building and her memories destroyed. She purchased the building and later sold it to Florida Studio Theatre.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 1985, the Sarasota Woman's Club building was added to the National Register of Historic Places. After completing more renovations to the historic building in 2003, the theatre was renamed the Keating Theatre in honor of Ed and Elaine Keating, and in 2004, additional lobby space was built in the theatre - the Bea Friedman Room. FST's Keating Theatre now seats 173 and remains a cultural center of Sarasota.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 2003, FST purchased the Gompertz Theatre. The building was originally the Park-Seventh Movie House in the 1920s. Due to the Depression, the movie house shut its doors and became an empty venue. During its predominantly vacant period in the 1940s, the theatre hosted a variety of roadshows and performers, including Tom Mix and his Wonder Horse and the All Girls’ Orchestra. During this time it was known as the Garden Theater, and later the Art Theater, before becoming known as the Palm Tree Playhouse in 1951. The Playhouse closed again in the 1960s. In the mid-1970s, Asolo Theatre purchased the space for production purposes and their Stage Two Theatre program. It was subsequently sold to Anita Katzman and reoccupied by Siesta Key Actors Theatre and Theatre Works in the 1980s. The building was acquired by Florida Studio Theatre and renamed the Gompertz Theatre in honor of Mrs. Leila Gompertz, who made the lead gift enabling the purchase.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Other Sarasota cultural attractions include, and many other musical, dance, artistic, and theatrical venues.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is the home of the Sarasota Orchestra, which was founded by Ruth Cotton Butler in 1949 and known for years as the "Florida West Coast Symphony". It holds a three-week "Sarasota Music Festival" that is recognized internationally and boasts it attracts renowned teachers and the finest students of chamber music.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota also boasts a symphonic chorus, Key Chorale, and professional vocal ensemble, Choral Artists of Sarasota. The Jazz Club of Sarasota is one of the largest and most active jazz clubs in the United States and has promoted jazz events in Sarasota for 39 years.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Joe Perry of Aerosmith, Brian Johnson of AC/DC, Dickey Betts of the Allman Brothers Band, Donald Dunn of the Blues Brothers and Graeme Edge of the Moody Blues have all settled in Sarasota.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota and the Cultural Coast are home to fine art, film-making, and decorative arts. Fine art, fine art galleries, artist collectives, film-making, and many decorative arts are practiced in Sarasota and Cultural Coast. The Sarasota Art Museum and the Ringling Museum are both in Sarasota.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 1952, Cecil B. DeMille filmed and premiered "The Greatest Show on Earth" (with James Stewart, Charlton Heston, Betty Hutton) in Sarasota.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 1998, two studio films were filmed in Sarasota: Alfonso Cuaron’s "Great Expectations", with Ethan Hawke, Gwyneth Paltrow, Hank Azaria, Anne Bancroft and Robert De Niro; and Volker Schlondorff’s "Palmetto", starring Woody Harrelson, Elisabeth Shue, and Gina Gershon.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: "Out of Time" (2003), a crime drama starring Denzel Washington and Eva Mendes used the Casey Key Swing Bridge, Boca Grande and Cortez. In 2013, Taylor Hackford’s action movie "Parker", with Jason Statham, Jennifer Lopez, Nick Nolte had scenes filmed at Ca’ d’Zan in Sarasota.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is home to Mote Marine Laboratory, a marine rescue, research facility, an aquarium, the Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, the Sarasota Jungle Gardens and the Big Cat Habitat & Gulf Coast Sanctuary.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Since 1998, the city has hosted the Sarasota Film Festival annually. The festival attracts independent films from around the world. It claims to be one of Florida's largest film festivals. In 2009 the annual Ringling International Arts Festival, held its premier and held its closing event in the historic Asolo theater, which had been moved and rebuilt again. The historic Venetian theater now is housed in the reception building for the museum where it is used for special events as well as performances, informative purposes, and another seasonal film series hosted by the museum.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Florida Studio Theatre produces the annual Sarasota Improv Festival. Founded in 2009 by Rebecca Hopkins, FST's annual Sarasota Improv Festival brings together the best improvisers from across the country and around the world for a whirlwind weekend of spontaneous creativity. The Festival has become a destination event, drawing thousands of people from across the state of Florida and beyond. Past performers have come from as far as Mexico, Canada, Spain, France, and the United Kingdom to perform on Florida's Gulf Coast.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 2010, the Sarasota Chalk Festival that is held yearly in the historic area of Burns Square became the first international street painting festival in the United States of America. Celebrating the sixteenth century performance art of Italian street painting, the festival hosted Maestro Madonnaro Edgar Mueller from Germany, who created the first street painting that changed images from day to night. The festival has a different theme each year and has introduced new techniques in street art. Other applications of street art such as murals and "cellograff graffiti" have become companion events also produced by Avenida de Colores, Inc. The murals are part of the "Going Vertical" project and although it sometimes coincides with the chalk festival, it is distinct from it and often continues throughout the year. Except for a few commissioned on public property in the Palm Avenue Parking Garage, the murals are on private property and they are in many sections of Sarasota and in Manatee County as well. the Sarasota Chalk festival has relocated to Venice, FL, a small town just South of Sarasota. The name Sarasota Chalk Festival remains the same.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: It is also home to the Harvey Milk Festival, an independent music festival in support of civil rights, focusing on the LGBTQ community. It has been celebrated in May annually since 2010 on the weekend closest to Harvey Milk's birthday, and is currently the largest independent music festival in Sarasota, with thousands of attendees throughout the free, public, multi-day event, that also includes gallery showings, film, and other live performances.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Italian architecture and culture are present in the area including at the Ringling Museum. A large number of homes and buildings are designed in the Italian style, especially Venetian as influenced by Ringling's Cà d'Zan. Italian inspired statues are also common and Michelangelo's David is used as the symbol of Sarasota.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Sarasota School of Architecture developed as a variant of mid-century modernist architecture. It incorporates elements of both the Bauhaus and Frank Lloyd Wright's "organic" architecture. The style developed as an adaptation to the area's sub-tropical climate and used newly emerging materials that were manufactured or implemented following World War II.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: By the end of the twentieth century, many of Sarasota's more modest historical structures were demolished. Recently, two historic buildings, the Crocker Church and the Bidwell-Wood House (the oldest remaining structure in the city), first restored by Veronica Morgan and members of the Sarasota Alliance for Historic Preservation that she founded, became city property. These structures were relocated to this park, despite protests from residents who objected to the loss of park area.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In the late 1970s, Sarasota County purchased the Terrace Hotel that was built by Charles Ringling and renovated it for use as a county government office building. The adjacent courthouse that he donated to the new county in 1921 has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The courthouse complex was designed by Dwight James Baum.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In the next decade the landmark hotel built by Owen Burns, the El Vernona, which had been turned into apartments became endangered. By then it was called the John Ringling Towers and was purchased by a phosphate miner, Gardinier, who wanted to turn it into his corporate headquarters. All of the tenants were turned out and plans were made for the restoration of the building. The city commissioners supported the plan initially, but lobbying to undermine the project began and one of the commissioners changed her vote. The project was denied at the final hearing. The enraged miner abandoned the city and subsequent owners, seeking to demolish it, made garish changes to the building to make it unappealing before finally leaving it open for vagrants to invade and pilfer.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Remarkable preservation success occurred during the 1990s when the community exhibition hall, the Municipal Auditorium, designed by Thomas Reed Martin and Clarence A. Martin, was listed on the National Register of Historic Paces and meticulously restored to its depression recovery era, 1937 WPA community project, completion status and its architectural glory—both inside and out. The city boasts that 100,000 people use it every year and it is a boon to the community for recreation, lawn sports, as well as being heavily attended for auctions, concerts, conventions, flea markets, galas, graduations, lectures, orchid and flower shows, and a full range of trade shows of interest to the community. Later the Federal Building, designed by George Albee Freeman (the designer of Seagate for industrialist Powell Crosley Jr.) and Louis A. Simon, which initially had served as the post office was restored as well.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Most of the luxurious historic residences from the 1920s boom period along the northern shore of Sarasota Bay also have survived. This string of homes, built on large parcels of elevated land along the widest point of the bay, is anchored by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art at its center. Among them is "Cà d'Zan", the home of Mable and John Ringling, which was restored recently.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Many significant structures from the comparatively recent "Sarasota School of Architecture" period of the mid-twentieth century, however, have not survived. Since they do not qualify under the age criteria set for historic preservation nominations their historical aspect often escapes public recognition. Others frequently are threatened by demolition plans for new development without consideration of their cultural and historical importance to the community instead of motivating the implementation of plans to retain the buildings and integrate them into new plans.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 2006, the Sarasota County School Board slated one of Paul Rudolph's largest Sarasota projects, Riverview High School, for demolition. The board arrived at the decision despite protests by many members of the community, including architects, historic preservationists, and urban planners. Others supported the demolition as they believed the structure is no longer functional. The issue was divisive. The World Monuments Fund included the school on its "2008 Watch List of 100 Most Endangered Sites" in the category "Main Street Modern".


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Following a March 2007 charrette led by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a proposal was advanced to renovate and preserve Rudolph's buildings. The school board decided to allow a year to consider implementation of the innovative plan proposed to preserve the buildings, that would include building a parking garage with playing fields above it rather than demolishing the structures. In early June 2008, the school board voted in a 3–2 decision to allow the demolition; School board members Shirley Brown, Caroline Zucker and Frank Kovatch voted against preserving the historic high school. This decision was that school would be demolished and that a parking lot would replace it. One year later, in June 2009, Riverview High School was demolished.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In December 2019, a former Sarasota High School facility was transformed into the Sarasota Art Museum of Ringling College. The 93-year-old building was renovated to include 80,000 square feet for the museum's campus with about 15,000 square feet for exhibitions, costing about $30 million according to the president of Ringling College, Larry Thompson.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Sarasota neighborhood of Pinecraft is home to a relatively liberal Amish community which is unusual compared to other Amish communities as it consists mainly of elderly who moved to Florida because of its mild climate, of Amish people who are on holiday and of Amish who do not fit in easily in other communities. "", a television series of scripted reality is set in Pinecraft. It is a spin-off of "Breaking Amish".


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Rosemary District was an African American community and is home to the Boulevard of the Arts. Newtown is predominantly and historically African American.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Middle schools include Booker Middle, Brookside Middle, Laurel Nokomis, McIntosh Middle, and Sarasota Middle.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: High schools include Booker High, Riverview High, Sarasota High, Suncoast Polytechnical High School, Sarasota Military Academy, and Oak Park School.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is home to New College of Florida, a public liberal arts college and the honors college for the State University System of Florida.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Additional colleges in Sarasota include Keiser University of Sarasota (a private, not for profit university); FSU/Asolo Conservatory for Actor Training (Florida State University's MFA Acting Conservatory in conjunction with the Asolo Repertory Theatre); Ringling College of Art and Design, a school of visual arts and design; and satellite campuses of Eckerd College, based in St. Petersburg, Florida; and Florida State University College of Medicine, based in Tallahassee, Florida. Other colleges in the city include East West College of Natural Medicine, an accredited college of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Nearby educational institutions with regional draw include State College of Florida, Manatee-Sarasota, and a commuter branch of the University of South Florida, with the main campus located in Tampa.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is part of the Nielsen-designated . The local television stations are ABC-affiliate WWSB and the , a continuous local cable news operation run by Comcast, Frontier FiOS and the "Sarasota Herald-Tribune". WWSB is the only network station with studios in Sarasota. Other network and public television programming serving the community is offered by Fort Myers and Tampa television stations. Comcast provides cable television service. DirecTV and Dish Network direct broadcast satellite television including Tampa Bay Area local and national channels to Sarasota residents.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Arbitron has identified the Sarasota-Bradenton radio market as the seventy-third largest market in the country, and the sixth largest in the state of Florida. There are eight radio stations in the city: WSMR (89.1FM, classical music), WSLR-LP (96.5FM, variety-talk and community issues), WKZM (104.3FM, religious; repeating WKES Lakeland), WSRZ (107.9FM, oldies), WLSS (930AM, talk), WSRQ (1220AM, 98.9FM, 106.9FM, talk), WTMY (1280AM, talk), WTZB (105.9FM, rock music; commonly known as The Buzz) and WSDV (1450AM, adult standards). WHPT (102.5 FM, Hot Talk) and WRUB (106.5FM, Spanish) are licensed to Sarasota and have broadcasting facilities in the Sarasota / Bradenton area, but have studios in the Tampa Bay area and are focused on that region.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The community also is served by most radio stations from the , as well as some stations from the nearby .


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The "Sarasota Herald-Tribune" is the daily newspaper published in the city and the weekly newspaper is the "Sarasota Observer". From neighboring Manatee County, the "Bradenton Herald" also is distributed daily in the area and "The Bradenton Times" is an electronic weekly newspaper that covers Sarasota topics as well. "Sarasota Magazine" also served the community.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 1937 the Municipal Auditorium-Recreation Club was built with funds provided by the Works Progress Administration, the municipal government, and local residents and business owners. It became a center for sports, entertainment, and recreation. The sports activities have ranged from badminton, basketball, boating, lawn bowling, and shuffleboard, to tennis. The auditorium hosts clubs for cards, dancing, games, gardening, and numerous hobbies as well as having become the community meeting place for commercial and educational shows and the venue for local schools and charities to hold events and dances. Tourists are attracted to exhibitions provided by local businesses as well as vendors from national circuits. This building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places because of its architecture and for providing the enormous range of community activities that are scheduled at it every week.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is home to Ed Smith Stadium where the Baltimore Orioles have held spring training since 2010. The Orioles also have minor league facilities at the Buck O’Neil Baseball Complex at Twin Lakes Park. Previously, Ed Smith Stadium was the spring training home of the Cincinnati Reds and the minor league Sarasota Reds.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The warm climate helped the Sarasota area become a popular golf destination. John Hamilton Gillespie was an early pioneer of the game in Sarasota. The Sara Bay course in the Whitfield area was designed by golf architect Donald Ross. Bobby Jones was associated with the community course in Sarasota. Many courses dot the area, including the one originally laid out for the hotel John Ringling planned on the southern tip of Longboat Key.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sport fishing attracted enthusiasts to Sarasota and the area because of the amazing bounty of the bay. Tarpon was the biggest draw, but gigantic gar as well as many other species abounded to attract people such as Owen Burns and Powel Crosley. The first settled permanently and became one of the most important developers of Sarasota and the second, who more typically, built a winter retreat here and participated in the sport via the clubs, organizations, and tournaments focused on fishing.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Sarasota Marathon started in 2005. In 2010, declining sponsorship and marathon registration led organizers to change the event to a half marathon. The race begins and ends near the John and Mable Ringling Museum.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is home to two swim teams. The Sarasota Sharks have won national championships. A newer team, the Sarasota Tsunami, was founded by the former Sharks head coach and is also nationally competitive. The teams maintain a rivalry.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The Sarasota Sailing Squadron is a highly active facility that has hosted many nationally renowned regattas for both dinghies and larger vessels.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: In 2013, Sarasota became the home of the Sarasota Thunder, which was to play in the Ultimate Indoor Football League, but the team folded.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Benderson Park in Sarasota was the venue for the World Rowing Championships in 2017, held on September 23 – October 1, 2017.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota is home of the Whiskey Obsession Festival, the largest whiskey festival in Florida. Established in 2013, the festival features several hundred whiskies from around the world. Dozens of professional brand ambassadors and distillers participate in the festival by participating in a panel discussion, leading classes and tastings.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The major airport in the area is Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport which is shared by Sarasota and Manatee counties. Since being opened in 1941, it has been the area's major airport. Before this, Lowe's Field functioned as the main airport for the Sarasota Area from 1929 to 1941.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Five airlines offer service out of the airport to locations primarily in the United States and Canada. The airport serves more than 1,300,000 passengers per year. The airport holds full port of entry status providing U.S. Customs inspections for international travelers. St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport and Tampa International Airport are located about an hour north from Sarasota, and Southwest Florida International Airport in Ft. Myers an hour and 45 min south of Sarasota. All 3 offer a wider range of national and international flights.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Sarasota County Area Transit has a bus service called "SCAT" which offers service throughout the county and also offers limited connections with Manatee County Area Transit. Sarasota County has joined the Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority to plan and build future transportation infrastructure including light rail, commuter rail and longer range bus service.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: A key issue is providing Sarasota with access to the Florida High Speed Rail. The Seaboard Coast Line ran intercity train service to the city until 1971. There is no Amtrak train which stops in Sarasota, but Amtrak provides Thruway bus service at Sarasota Station, located approximately from the city limits of Sarasota, to the nearest Amtrak terminal in Tampa. A freight-only rail line operated by Seminole Gulf Railway does serve industries in Sarasota. The Seaboard Coast Line ran the last passenger train, the "West Coast Champion," to the company's depot on 1971.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: As a city located on the Gulf of Mexico, water transportation is a key consideration. The Intracoastal Waterway is a waterway providing water access to and from the Atlantic coast for tugs, barges and leisure boats. Port Manatee and the Port of Tampa both provide nearby deep water ports. Port Manatee provides cargo service primarily while the Port of Tampa is more diverse. Port Manatee formerly even had a cruise line, "Regal Cruise Line" from 1993–2003. It was seized by U.S Marshals on April 18, 2003, for not being maintained. The waterway enters Sarasota Bay which provides access to downtown Sarasota at the city pier.


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: Because of its location on the Gulf of Mexico and its proximity to several other large metropolitan areas, road transportation is critical to the Sarasota area. The major roads in the area include:


title: Sarasota, Florida

text: The U.S. sister city program began in 1956 when President Dwight D. Eisenhower proposed a people-to-people, citizen diplomacy initiative. The Sarasota chapter was established in 1963. A sister city, county, or state relationship is a broad-based, long-term partnership between two communities in two countries. A relationship is officially recognized after the highest elected or appointed official from both communities sign off on an agreement to become sister cities.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Originally introduced as a sidekick to Captain America, the character was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby and first appeared in "Captain America Comics" #1 (cover-dated March 1941) (which was published by Marvel's predecessor, Timely Comics). Barnes' original costume (or one based on it) and the Bucky nickname has been used by other heroes in the Marvel Universe over the years. The character is brought back from supposed death as the brainwashed assassin cyborg called Winter Soldier (, translit. "Zimniy Soldát"). The character's memories and personality are later restored, leading him to become a dark hero in search of redemption. He temporarily assumes the role of "Captain America" when Steve Rogers was presumed to be dead. During the 2011 crossover "Fear Itself", Barnes is injected with the Infinity Formula, which increases his natural vitality and physical traits in a way that is similar to (but less powerful than) the super-soldier serum used on Captain America.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Sebastian Stan plays the character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe films "" (2011), "" (2014), "Ant-Man" (2015), "" (2016), "Black Panther" (2018), "" (2018), and "" (2019), the miniseries "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" (2021), the animated series "What If...?" (2021), and the upcoming film "" (2024).


title: Bucky Barnes

text: When Joe Simon created his initial sketch of Captain America for Marvel Comics precursor Timely Comics in 1940, he included a young sidekick. "The boy companion was simply named Bucky, after my friend Bucky Pierson, a star on our high school basketball team", Simon said in his autobiography. Following the character's debut in "Captain America Comics" #1 (March 1941), Bucky Barnes appeared alongside the title star in virtually every story in that publication and other Timely series, and was additionally part of the all-kid team the Young Allies. In the post-war era, with the popularity of superheroes fading, Bucky appeared alongside team-leader Captain America in the two published adventures of Timely/Marvel's first superhero group, the All-Winners Squad, in "All Winners Comics" #19 and #21 (Fall–Winter 1946; there was no issue #20).


title: Bucky Barnes

text: After Bucky was shot and seriously wounded in "Captain America Comics" #66 (April 1948), he was succeeded by Captain America's girlfriend Betsy Ross, who became the superhero Golden Girl. Bucky recovered and was briefly reunited with Captain America for an appearance in "Captain America Comics" #71 (March 1949), but otherwise did not appear for the rest of the run. "Captain America Comics" ended with #75 (Feb. 1950), by which time the series had been titled "Captain America's Weird Tales" for two issues, with the finale a horror/suspense anthology issue with no superheroes.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Captain America and Bucky were both briefly revived, along with fellow Timely stars the Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, in the omnibus "Young Men" #24 (Dec. 1953), published by Marvel's 1950s iteration Atlas Comics. Bucky appeared alongside "Captain America, Commie Smasher!", as the hero was cover-billed, in stories published during the next year in "Young Men" and "Men's Adventures", as well as in three issues of "Captain America" that continued the old numbering. Sales were poor, however, and the series was discontinued with "Captain America" #78 (Sept. 1954).


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Retroactive continuity, beginning with "The Avengers" #4 (March 1964), established that the original Captain America and Bucky went missing near the end of World War II and were secretly replaced by then-U.S. President Harry S. Truman with successor heroes using those identities. This retroactively meant that the Bucky who operated with the All-Winners Squad and was later wounded before being replaced by Golden Girl was a different hero (which also explained how Bucky could still be in his mid-teens years after his earliest adventures). Later comics said this second Bucky was a teenager named Fred Davis, and it was established that he and Bucky Barnes had met and befriended each other before the end of World War II. The 1950s version of Bucky was retroactively said to be Jack Monroe, a college student who had been inspired by the exploits of the original Captain America and Bucky Barnes. In the 1980s, Jack Monroe adopted the identity Nomad (an alias Steve Rogers briefly used during the 1970s when he was disillusioned with the U.S. government and the role of Captain America).


title: Bucky Barnes

text: The original Bucky regularly co-starred with Captain America in flashback World War II adventures presented in "Tales of Suspense" #63–71 (March–Nov. 1965). Some of these stories were adaptations of Bucky and Cap's original 1940s stories published by Timely Comics, revising details in order to establish new canon for the Marvel Universe. Afterward, Bucky Barnes only occasionally appeared in further flashback stories or in dreams and memories that haunted Steve Rogers, who felt guilty for not preventing his death. For a brief time, 1960s stories depicted teenage Rick Jones as Captain America's new sidekick in the modern-day, briefly giving the costume and name of Bucky. During the 1980s, Steve Rogers temporarily stepped down as Captain America and was replaced by John Walker, whose friend Lamar Hoskins then adopted the identity and name of Bucky. Lamar changed his name to Battlestar when it was pointed out that "buck" has been a slur used against black men in parts of America.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: In 2005, series writer Ed Brubaker returned Bucky from his seeming death near the end of World War II. He additionally revealed that Barnes's official status as Captain America's sidekick was a cover-up, and that Barnes began as a 16-year-old operative trained to do things regular soldiers and the twenty-something Captain America normally would not do, such as conduct covert assassinations.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Bucky's death had been notable as one of the few comic book deaths that remained unreversed. An aphorism among comic book fans, known as the Bucky Clause, was that in comics, "No one stays dead except Bucky, Jason Todd and Uncle Ben". However, all three were brought back to life in their respective universes in 2006, although Uncle Ben turned out to be an alternate Ben from another reality.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Bucky's death has also been used to explain why the Marvel Universe has virtually no young sidekicks, as no responsible hero wants to endanger a minor in similar fashion. Stan Lee also disliked the plot device of kid sidekicks, saying in the 1970s that "one of my many pet peeves has always been the young teenage sidekick of the average superhero". Roger Stern and John Byrne had also considered bringing Bucky back, before deciding against it. However, in 1990, co-creator Jack Kirby, when asked if he had ever heard talk of resurrecting Bucky, answered: "Speaking completely for myself, I wouldn't mind bringing Bucky in; he represents teenagers, and there are always teenagers; he's a universal character".


title: Bucky Barnes

text: A climactic scene of Bucky's return involves Captain America using the reality-altering Cosmic Cube to restore the Winter Soldier's memories. In a later interview, writer Ed Brubaker clarified that Captain America did not "will" the Winter Soldier to have Bucky's memories and personality, he only used the Cube so the Winter Soldier could remember who he truly was. Therefore, there was no loophole where a later story could claim the Winter Soldier was actually a different character and only believed himself to be Bucky because of Cap.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Barnes became a regular character in the 2010–2013 "Avengers" series during his time acting as Captain America (when Steve Rogers was believed to be dead) from issue #1 (July 2010) through issue #7 (Jan. 2011), and in issue #12.1 (June 2011). During the 2011 "Fear Itself" crossover, Barnes is killed but then quickly restored to life by the Infinity Formula, the same chemical that gave Nick Fury enhanced vitality and physical traits, and which itself was a weaker form of the super-soldier serum. Now enhanced in a similar way to Steve Rogers and Nick Fury, Bucky returned to the role of Winter Soldier, this time as a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent in an eponymous series that lasted 19 issues. The first 14 issues were written by Brubaker, with the last story arc written by Jason Latour. Since January 2014, Bucky has been part of the cast of James Robinson's "All-New Invaders."


title: Bucky Barnes

text: In October 2014, Barnes was the subject of a new series titled "Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier". The series was written by Ales Kot with art by Marco Rudy. It ran for 11 issues before cancellation.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes Jr. is born in Shelbyville, Indiana in 1925. Barnes grows up as an Army brat alongside his much younger sister Rebecca "Becca" Barnes (originally Rebecca is said to be the older sibling). Their mother Winnifred Barnes dies when both children are still young. Later, their father James "Jimmy" Barnes Sr. (originally said to be named George Barnes) is killed during a training exercise at U.S. Army Camp Lehigh in Virginia in 1938. Bucky and Becca are adopted into the care of their father's colleague Major Samson. Becca is sent to boarding school (one account says she goes to live with her Aunt Ida in Albany) while Bucky remains at Camp Lehigh and becomes its unofficial mascot of the camp, wearing a uniform and becoming familiar with military life. By his middle teens, the savvy Bucky makes a side-career of smuggling goods into the camp for the soldiers. Engaging in exercises with the soldiers in training, Bucky shows a natural ability for marksmanship and physical combat.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: In the original canon of Timely Comics, teenage Bucky meets and befriends Private Steven Rogers at Camp Lehigh in 1941. During this same time, newspapers and radio programs share news of a mysterious new hero called Captain America, a man who was turned into a super-soldier thanks to a special serum and technology developed by Dr. Abraham Erskine (codename: Dr. Reinstein) and his project Operation: Rebirth. Barnes eagerly devours accounts of Cap's exploits. Later, Bucky walks into Steve's quarters and accidentally discovers the seemingly simple-minded and clumsy private is actually Captain America himself. Steve decides to recruit Bucky as his partner, personally training him to become a fierce combatant. In one account, Captain America only does this after sharing an overseas adventure with Bucky where the teen helps him in battle against the Red Skull, Hitler's protégé and later rival.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: In later stories, it is retconned that chancing upon Steve while he is putting away his costume and discovering his identity by accident is a cover story created for propaganda purposes. In the revised Marvel Comics canon, on Major Samson's recommendation, 16-year-old Bucky undergoes rigorous commando and special ops training under the direction of the British SAS in 1940. In 1941, he is assigned to be Captain America's partner, acting as his back-up, his advance scout, a symbol of American youth and patriotism, and a counterpoint to the Hitler Youth. Bucky understands that at times he will be called on to perform sniper missions and other tasks that the US military does not want Captain America to perform, in order to preserve his reputation as a noble soldier and living symbol. During this time, Bucky loses touch with his sister Rebecca, unsure how to talk to her when he must keep much of his life secret. In 1942, after the U.S. officially enters World War II, Rebecca is told that Bucky is now an active soldier in the European Theatre, having lied about his age in order to join the army.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Though given a colorful costume and mask to wear when he operates alongside Cap on missions, Bucky dismisses the need for a superhero name. Newspapers simply know him as "Bucky", a not uncommon nickname in the United States during the time. His sister Becca and his friends at Camp Lehigh do not connect the Bucky Barnes they know with the masked, physically formidable adventurer called Bucky fighting alongside Captain America in black and white (and often blurry) photographs and newsreels. Together, Captain America and Bucky fight Nazi operations both at home and abroad. First they operate as a duo under the direction of the US military, but later they also act part of the independent superhero team operating in Europe known as the Invaders, joining forces with Namor the Sub-Mariner, the android known as the Human Torch, and the Torch's sidekick Thomas "Toro" Raymond. Barnes and Toro become good friends, despite the latter being a few years younger. The two of them join with others to form a group called the Young Allies. Bucky is also briefly part of a group called the Kid Commandos.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: During several World War II missions, Steve and Bucky work alongside Nick Fury and the Howlers, a group of US Rangers who are nicknamed the "Howling Commandos." One mission involving Nick Fury takes Captain America to the African nation of Wakanda. After helping the local hero Black Panther against Nazi invaders, Steve Rogers is given a sample of vibranium, which is later used to create a discus-shield of a unique vibranium-iron alloy. The shield becomes famous as Captain America's weapon of choice and Bucky learns how to handle it as well. Later attempts to recreate this alloy instead create the metal adamantium. Before the War's end, Nick is given the Infinity Formula, a weaker version of the super-soldier serum. This allows Nick Fury to age at a much slower rate than a normal human while also enhancing his physical traits.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: When the Red Skull captures and hypnotizes the Invaders into serving the Nazis, only Bucky escapes. Bucky recruits help from Jeff Mace, a new masked hero called Patriot, and then broadcasts a call for help from America's crime-fighters so they can stop the Red Skull. Several answer, leading to the formation of the Liberty Legion under Bucky and Mace's leadership. The Red Skull then sends his hypnotized Invaders against the Liberty Legion. During this adventure, Bucky hides his true movements and plans by asking Fred Davis, a batboy for the New York Yankees, to temporarily wear his costume and impersonate him. The Invaders are freed from hypnotic control and return to the European Theatre with Bucky, while the Liberty Legion remains as the "homefront" team in the U.S. From that point on, both teams aid each other whenever necessary.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: In the closing days of World War II in 1945, when Bucky is 20-years-old, he and Captain America find the villainous Baron Zemo trying to destroy an experimental Allied drone plane. When Zemo launches the plane with an armed explosive device on it, Rogers and Barnes jump aboard. Captain America falls off the plane and descends to the Arctic Circle below. Simultaneously, Bucky unsuccessfully tries to defuse the bomb, and it explodes in mid-air before reaching its intended target. With both Bucky and Steve vanishing from the public eye after the plane's explosion, they are assumed dead by the U.S. military. In truth, Rogers is frozen alive by the freezing waters of the North Atlantic, the super-soldier serum in his system keeping him alive and in suspended animation.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Soon after the explosion, Bucky is found in the water by USSR General Vasily Karpov and the crew of a Russian patrol submarine. Despite possessing no enhanced traits such as Captain America or any superhuman abilities, Bucky is still alive, his body partially preserved by the freezing waters, and is able to be revived. Along with the loss of his left arm, he has brain damage and amnesia as a result of the explosion and his time in the water. Realizing he still has his learned combat skills, expertise, and combat instincts, Karpov sends him to the secret Soviet agency Department X.


title: Bucky Barnes

text: Rebecca Barnes is informed her brother James died during a "classified" mission in Germany in early 1945. At some point in her life, she marries and takes the name Rebecca Proctor, eventually having children and grandchildren. She does not learn the truth about his secret identity and the circumstances of his apparent death until decades afterward when she is found and approached by Steve Rogers. Meanwhile, fearful that reporting the deaths of Captain America and Bucky will damage American morale, the U.S. government asks superhero William Naslund (known as the Spirit of '76) and teenager Fred Davis to officially assume the identities of Captain America and Bucky. The public is largely unaware of the switch, and only other superheroes and those who have worked closely with Bucky immediately realize that the teenage Davis cannot be the original, older Bucky.