title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The National Union of Seamen supported the strike and limited the transport of coal. The decision was taken by a delegates' conference and not authorised by an individual ballot. Transport leaders, Ross Evans and Ron Todd, supported the NUM "without reservation", but an increasing proportion of drivers were not unionised and they failed to have much influence. The Electrical, Electronic, Telecommunications and Plumbing Union, actively opposed the strike; Ian MacGregor's autobiography detailed how its leaders supplied the government with information that allowed the strike to be defeated. The EETPU was supportive of the breakaway Union of Democratic Mineworkers and met with its leaders before the TUC had extended formal recognition.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: During the strike, many pits lost their customers and the immediate problem facing the industry was due to the economic recession in the early-1980s. There was extensive competition in the world coal market and a concerted move towards oil and gas for power production. The government's policy, the Ridley Plan, was to reduce Britain's reliance on coal claiming it could be imported from Australia, the United States and Colombia more cheaply than it could be produced in Britain. The strike emboldened the NCB to accelerate the closure of pits on economic grounds.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Tensions between strikers and those who worked continued after the return to work. Many strikebreakers left the industry and were shunned or attacked by other miners. Almost all the strikebreakers in Kent had left the industry by April 1986, after suffering numerous attacks on their homes. At Betteshanger Colliery, posters were put up with photographs and names of the thirty strikebreakers. A wildcat strike at South Kirkby Colliery was supported by neighbouring Ferrymoor-Riddings on 30 April 1985 after four men were dismissed for attacks on strikebreakers, and another wildcat strike occurred at Hatfield Colliery in April 1986 after it emerged that there was a strikebreaker had not been transferred away from the pit. In contrast, other pits that had been divided by the strike managed to work without any harassment.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The NCB was accused of deserting the strikebreakers, as abuse, threats and assaults continued, and requests for transfers to other pits were declined. Michael Eaton argued that "a decision to return to work was a personal decision on the part of the individual."


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Miners were demoralised and sought work in other industries. Scargill's authority in the NUM was challenged and his calls for another strike in 1986 were ignored. Mick McGahey, who was loyal to Scargill during the strike, became critical of him. McGahey claimed the leadership was becoming separated from its membership, the violence had gone too far and argued for reconciliation with the UDM. Scargill said that it was a "tragedy that people from the far north should pontificate about what we should be doing to win back members for the NUM." Scargill became president of the NUM for life in 1985.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In the aftermath of the strike, miners were offered large redundancy payments in ballots organised by the NCB and the offers were accepted even at the most militant pits. The manager of the militant Yorkshire Main Colliery said at the time of the pit's vote to close in October 1985, "I know people who abused us and threatened us on the picket line and then were the first to put in for redundancy."


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In 1991, the South Yorkshire Police paid compensation of £425,000 to 39 miners who were arrested during the incident. This was for "assault, false imprisonment and malicious prosecution".


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The coal industry was privatised in December 1994 creating "R.J.B. Mining", subsequently known as UK Coal. Between the end of the strike and privatisation, pit closures continued with many closures in the early-1990s. There were 15 British Coal deep mines left in production at the time of privatisation, but by March 2005, there were only eight deep mines left. Since then, the last pit in Northumberland, Ellington Colliery has closed whilst pits at Rossington and Harworth have been mothballed. In 1983, Britain had 174 working collieries; by 2009 there were six. The last deep colliery in the UK, Kellingley Colliery, known locally as "The Big K" closed for the last time on 18 December 2015, bringing an end to centuries of deep coal mining.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The 1994 European Union inquiry into poverty classified Grimethorpe in South Yorkshire as the poorest settlement in the country and one of the poorest in the EU. South Yorkshire became an Objective 1 development zone and every ward in the City of Wakefield district was classified as in need of special assistance.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In 2003, the reduced mining industry was reportedly more productive in terms of output per worker than the coal industries in France, Germany and the United States.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: A murder in Annesley, Nottinghamshire in 2004 was the result of an argument between former members of the NUM and UDM, indicating continued tensions.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In the 2016 Brexit referendum, cities and regions at the heart of the dispute voted by a majority to leave. Scargill, a supporter of leaving the EU, said that the Brexit vote presented an opportunity to re-open closed coal mines.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In October 2020, the Scottish Government announced plans to introduce legislation to pardon Scottish miners convicted of certain offences during the strike. The announcement, by Humza Yousaf, the Scottish justice secretary, followed the recommendation of an independent review on the impact of policing on communities during the strike.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In 2021 Peter Fahy, the former chief constable of Greater Manchester Police, argued the policing of the strike was politically motivated and "took policing a long time to recover" from, and warned that the proposed Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill risked drawing policing into politics once more.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Many historians have provided interpretations and explanations of the defeat, largely centring on Scargill's decisions.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In January 2014, Prime Minister David Cameron stated, "I think if anyone needs to make an apology for their role in the miners' strike it should be Arthur Scargill for the appalling way that he led the union." This was in the Prime Minister's rejection of Labour calls for an apology for government actions during the 1984–1985 miners' strike. His comments followed a question in the Commons from Labour MP Lisa Nandy, who said the miners and their families deserved an apology for the mine closures.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Independent filmmakers documented the strike including the behaviour of the police, the role of miners' wives and the role of the media. The outcome was the Miner's Campaign Tapes.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Ken Loach made three films about the strike. "Which Side Are You On?" focussed on music and poetry was made for The South Bank Show but was rejected on the grounds that it was too politically partial for an arts programme. After winning an award at an Italian film festival, it was broadcast on Channel 4 on 9 January 1985. "End of the Battle... Not the End of the War?" (1985) suggested that the Conservative Party planned tactics for defeating the NUM from the early 1970s. "The Arthur Legend", broadcast for "Dispatches" on Channel 4 in 1991, analysed allegations of financial impropriety and links with Libya against Arthur Scargill, and argued that the claims made by the "Daily Mirror" and the Cook Report were baseless.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The setting for the 1986 anime film "Castle in the Sky" was inspired by the Welsh strikes. Director Hayao Miyazaki was visiting Wales at the time, and was impressed by the way the Welsh miners fought to save their way of life, and their sense of community.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The 2000 film "Billy Elliot", set in 1984, was based around mining communities in Easington Colliery and Seaham. The father and brother of the title character are striking miners. Several scenes depict the chaos at picket lines, clashes between armies of police and striking miners, and the shame associated with crossing the picket line. It showed the abject poverty associated with the strike and the harshness and desperation of not having coal for heat in winter. The film was turned into a musical, "Billy Elliot the Musical" with music by Elton John and book and lyrics by Lee Hall, who wrote the film's screenplay.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The 1996 film "Brassed Off" was set 10 years after the strike in the era when numerous pits closed before the privatisation of British Coal. The film refers to the strike and some of the dialogue contrasts the resistance in 1984 with the resignation with which most miners responded to the pit closures of the early 1990s. It was set in the fictional town of Grimley, a thin disguise for the hard-hit ex-mining village of Grimethorpe, where some of it was filmed.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The satirical "Comic Strip Presents" episode "The Strike" (1988) depicts an idealistic Welsh screenwriter's growing dismay as his hard-hitting and grittily realistic script about the strike is mutilated by a Hollywood producer into an all-action thriller. The film parodies Hollywood films by overdramatising the strike and changing most of the important historic facts. It won a Golden Rose and Press Reward at the Montreux Festival.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The "1984" episode of the 1996 BBC television drama serial "Our Friends in the North" revolves around the strike, and scenes of clashes between the police and strikers were re-created using many men who had taken part in the real-life events on the miners' side. In 2005, BBC One broadcast the one-off drama "Faith", written by William Ivory. Many of the social scenes were filmed in the former colliery town of Thorne, near Doncaster. It viewed the strike from the perspective of both the police and the miners.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The British film "The Big Man" casts Liam Neeson as a Scottish coalminer who has been unemployed since the strike. His character has been blacklisted due to striking a police officer and has served a six-month prison sentence for the offence.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The 2014 film "Pride", directed by Matthew Warchus, is based on a true story of a group of LGBT activists who raised funds to assist and support families in a Welsh mining village.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Val McDermid's novel "A Darker Domain" (2008) has a plotline set in the strike. Multiple reviewers gave the book acclaim for exploring its social and emotional repercussions.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Kay Sutcliffe, the wife of a striking miner at Aylesham, wrote the poem "Coal not Dole", which became popular with the "Women Against Pit Closures" groups across the country and was later made into a song by Norma Waterson.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The verse novel "Hope Now" by A. L. Richards, published 2013 by Landfox Press, is set in the South Wales Valleys and is based on events during the strike.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In 2001, British visual artist Jeremy Deller worked with historical societies, battle re-enactors, and people who participated in the violent 1984 clashes between picketers and police to reconstruct and re-enact the Battle of Orgreave. A documentary about the re-enactment was produced by Deller and director Mike Figgis and was broadcast on British television; and Deller published a book called "The English Civil War Part II" documenting both the project and the historical events it investigates.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: On 5 March 2010, the 25th anniversary of the strike, an artwork by visual artist Dan Savage was unveiled in Sunderland Civic Centre. Commissioned by Sunderland City Council, Savage worked with the Durham Miners Association to create the large scale commemorative window, which features images and symbols of the strike and the North East's mining heritage.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: In August 1984, photographer Keith Pattison was commissioned by Sunderland's Artists' Agency to photograph the strike in Easington Colliery for a month. He remained there on and off until it ended in March 1985, photographing from behind the lines a community rallying together against implacable opposition. Twenty-five years later, on 6 May 2010, Election Day, Pattison took David Peace to Easington to interview three of the people caught up in the strike. A selection of the photographs together with the interviews were published in book form – 'No Redemption' (Flambard Press).


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Premiering on 13 June 2022, the BBCOne series Sherwood (2022 TV series) is a fictionalized murder mystery set both in 1984 and in the present day in the Ashfield area of Nottinghamshire surrounding deep divisions in the community between striking miners, police officers, non-striking miners, and their descendants.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The strike is the subject of songs by many music groups including the Manic Street Preachers' "A Design for Life", and "1985", from the album "Lifeblood"; Pulp's "Last Day of the Miners' Strike"; Funeral for a Friend's "History", and Ewan MacColl's cassette of pro-NUM songs "Daddy, What Did You Do In The Strike?". Sting recorded a song about the strike called "We Work the Black Seam" for his first solo album, "The Dream of the Blue Turtles", in 1985. Billy Bragg's version of "Which Side Are You On?", encapsulated the strikers' feeling of betrayal by the perceived indifference of wider elements within British society. Bragg raised awareness through his music and disagreement with the Thatcher government.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The sound of the Miners Strike features at the start of The Smiths 1987 song "Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me". However, this version only appears on the album "Strangeways, Here We Come" and not the single edit which has made subsequent compilation albums.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Throughout the strike, the South London group Test Dept travelled on their "battle bus" to Yorkshire, Durham, Northumberland, Paddington and Glasgow. They filmed images of the strike in one town and showed at their next gig, where they met the miners, joined pickets and raised funds. The songs of the South Wales Striking Miners' Choir and the speeches of Kent miner Alan Sutcliffe are included on their 1985 album "Shoulder to Shoulder".


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: Chris Cutler, Tim Hodgkinson and Lindsay Cooper from Henry Cow, along with Robert Wyatt and poet Adrian Mitchell recorded "The Last Nightingale" in October 1984 to raise money for the strikers and their families.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The storyline of Radio K.A.O.S., a 1987 album by Roger Waters, makes several references to the strike and its repercussions.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The strike saw the resurgence of traditional folk songs about coal mining. Dick Gaughan released a mixture of old and new songs on his LP "True and Bold". An old Northumbrian folk song, "Blackleg Miner" gained attention when recorded by Steeleye Span in 1970 and was played to show support for the NUM and intimidate strikebreakers.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The album "Every Valley" from Public Service Broadcasting is based on the history of the mining industry in Wales, more specifically chronicling the rise and decline of the country's coal industry, the miners' strike plays a huge role on the album.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The first entry in the "" series of games, "", published for the ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 in 1984, was directly inspired by reports of miners' families' stealing coal during the strike: the game involves Monty Mole stealing coal to heat his home.


title: UK miners' strike (1984–85)

text: The historical fiction novel Minor Miner by Matthew Morgan is a conspiracy drama in which the Thatcher government intentionally escalates tensions with Libya in 1984 to draw attention away from the controversial UK Miners' Strikes in an attempt to improve the political party's approval ratings ahead of an election.


title: Fortunate Son

text: "Fortunate Son" is a song by the American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival released on their fourth studio album, "Willy and the Poor Boys" in November 1969. It was previously released as a single, together with "Down on the Corner", in September 1969. It soon became an anti-war movement anthem and an expressive symbol of the counterculture's opposition to U.S. military involvement in the Vietnam War and solidarity with the soldiers fighting it. The song has been featured extensively in pop culture depictions of the Vietnam War and the anti-war movement.


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song reached number 14 on the United States charts on November 22, 1969, the week before "Billboard" changed its methodology on double-sided hits. The tracks combined to climb to number 9 the next week, on the way to peaking at number 3 three more weeks later, on 20 December 1969. It won the RIAA Gold Disc award in December 1970. Pitchfork Media placed it at number 17 on its list of "The 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s". "Rolling Stone" placed it at number 99 on its "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list. In 2013, the song was added to the National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song, released during the peak period of the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, is not explicit in its criticism of that war in particular, rather, it "speaks more to the unfairness of class than war itself," according to its author, John Fogerty. "It's the old saying about rich men making war and poor men having to fight them." In 2015, while on the television show "The Voice", he also said:


title: Fortunate Son

text: According to his 2015 memoir, Fogerty was thinking about David Eisenhower, the grandson of President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who married Julie Nixon, the daughter of then-President-elect Richard Nixon in 1968, when he wrote "Fortunate Son". Eisenhower spent three years in the military, most of it as an officer aboard the USS "Albany" in the Mediterranean Sea.


title: Fortunate Son

text: "Ultimate Classic Rock" critic Bryan Wawzenek rated the lyrics of "Fortunate Son" as Fogerty's greatest, saying "It’s not just Fogerty’s emotion, but the words that make this song great. 'Star-spangled eyes' is one of the best descriptive phrases in all of rock and roll, a uniquely American twist on rose-colored glasses."


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song has been widely used to protest against military actions as well as elitism in a broader sense in Western society, particularly in the United States; as an added consequence of its popularity, it has even been used in completely unrelated situations, such as to advertise blue jeans. It was played at a campaign rally for Donald Trump. Fogerty found this to be confounding. Fogerty later issued a cease and desist order, noting that Trump obtained a draft deferment.


title: Fortunate Son

text: Bruce Springsteen, Dave Grohl, and Zac Brown attracted criticism when they performed the song together at the November 2014 Concert for Valor in Washington D.C. Fogerty, a military veteran, defended their song choice.


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song has since been recorded or performed by many artists. It was initially embraced in the punk and hardcore community with versions by The Circle Jerks, The Minutemen, DOA and Decry. Fogerty recorded a version of the song with Foo Fighters for his 2013 album "Wrote a Song for Everyone".


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song is quoted several times in the 2006 thriller novel by American writer Don Winslow, "The Winter of Frankie Machine" in which one of the characters is a "senator's son" referred to as the "Fortunate Son".


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song is used in the introduction sequence of the game "Battlefield Vietnam" where it is among a list of in-game playable tracks. The song was also used during the E3 announcement trailer for "" and is also the main menu song for the game and plays mid-game in vehicle radios.


title: Fortunate Son

text: "Fortunate Son" was also included in the game "" at the start and ending of the level "S.O.G". Its use is an anachronism, as the level takes place during the Battle of Khe Sanh, a year before the song was released.


title: Fortunate Son

text: A cover of the song was released as DLC for "Rock Band" in 2007. The first appearance of the song came out before real instruments were integrated. The original version was made available to download on March 1, 2011, for use in "Rock Band 3" PRO mode which takes advantage of the use of a real guitar / bass guitar, along with standard MIDI-compatible electronic drum kits in addition to vocals. The master recording by CCR was made available as well in 2010. The song is also playable on basic controllers in "".


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song is also played in 2016's "Mafia 3" but its use is an anachronism along with "Bad Moon Rising" as both songs were released in 1969 whereas "Mafia 3" takes place in 1968.


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song is briefly played as both its original recording and a solo a cappella rendition, sung by Jessy Carolina, in "BioShock Infinite".


title: Fortunate Son

text: In 2014, the song was included in the enhanced re-release of "Grand Theft Auto V" for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC, as part of the playlist of the fictional in-game radio station Los Santos Rock Radio.


title: Fortunate Son

text: The song's title is referenced in "Team Fortress 2" as a cosmetic helmet called the "Fortunate Son", which can be equipped by the Scout class.


title: Fortunate Son

text: In the 1994 film "Forrest Gump", "Fortunate Son" is played in the scene where Forrest and Bubba arrive in a combat zone in South Vietnam aboard a U.S. Army helicopter.


title: Fortunate Son

text: In the 2004 version of the film "The Manchurian Candidate", a cover version of this song performed by Wyclef Jean is featured and is the opening track of the closing credits.


title: Fortunate Son

text: In the 2009 "American Dad" episode "In Country...Club", "Fortunate Son" plays during a Vietnam War reenactment battle.


title: Fortunate Son

text: In the 2016 film "War Dogs", the song is used in the scene where David, Efraim and Marlboro are saved by the U.S. military while being pursued by Iraqi gunmen.


title: Fortunate Son

text: In the 2018 "Family Guy" episode "'Family Guy' Through the Years" (presented as a compilation of old episodes from the series' "60 year run", parodying anniversary specials), Glenn Quagmire, portrayed in a Vietnam veteran in 1973, experiences PTSD-like symptoms from the incessant use of the song and "For What It's Worth" by Buffalo Springfield as audible background music during the war.


title: Fortunate Son

text: An edited version of the song was used in a Wrangler commercial because John Fogerty "long ago signed away legal control of his old recordings to Creedence's record label, Fantasy Records." In this case, the advertiser eventually stopped using the song, as Fogerty related in a later interview:


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Amplitude modulation (AM) is a modulation technique used in electronic communication, most commonly for transmitting messages with a radio wave. In amplitude modulation, the amplitude (signal strength) of the wave is varied in proportion to that of the message signal, such as an audio signal. This technique contrasts with angle modulation, in which either the frequency of the carrier wave is varied, as in frequency modulation, or its phase, as in phase modulation.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: AM was the earliest modulation method used for transmitting audio in radio broadcasting. It was developed during the first quarter of the 20th century beginning with Roberto Landell de Moura and Reginald Fessenden's radiotelephone experiments in 1900. This original form of AM is sometimes called double-sideband amplitude modulation (DSBAM), because the standard method produces sidebands on either side of the carrier frequency. Single-sideband modulation uses bandpass filters to eliminate one of the sidebands and possibly the carrier signal, which improves the ratio of message power to total transmission power, reduces power handling requirements of line repeaters, and permits better bandwidth utilization of the transmission medium.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: AM remains in use in many forms of communication in addition to AM broadcasting: shortwave radio, amateur radio, two-way radios, VHF aircraft radio, citizens band radio, and in computer modems in the form of QAM.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: In electronics, telecommunications and mechanics, modulation means varying some aspect of a continuous wave carrier signal with an information-bearing modulation waveform, such as an audio signal which represents sound, or a video signal which represents images. In this sense, the carrier wave, which has a much higher frequency than the message signal, "carries" the information. At the receiving station, the message signal is extracted from the modulated carrier by demodulation.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: In amplitude modulation, the amplitude or "strength" of the radio frequency oscillations is varied. For example, in AM radio communication, a continuous wave radio-frequency signal has its amplitude modulated by an audio waveform before transmission. The audio waveform modifies the amplitude of the radio wave and determines the "envelope" of the waveform. In the frequency domain, amplitude modulation produces a signal with power concentrated at the carrier frequency and two adjacent sidebands. Each sideband is equal in bandwidth to that of the modulating signal, and is a mirror image of the other. Standard AM is thus sometimes called "double-sideband amplitude modulation" (DSBAM).


title: Amplitude modulation

text: A disadvantage of all amplitude modulation techniques, not only standard AM, is that the receiver amplifies and detects noise and electromagnetic interference in equal proportion to the signal. Increasing the received signal-to-noise ratio, say, by a factor of 10 (a 10 decibel improvement), thus would require increasing the transmitter power by a factor of 10. This is in contrast to frequency modulation (FM) and digital radio where the effect of such noise following demodulation is strongly reduced so long as the received signal is well above the threshold for reception. For this reason AM broadcast is not favored for music and high fidelity broadcasting, but rather for voice communications and broadcasts (sports, news, talk radio etc.).


title: Amplitude modulation

text: AM is also inefficient in power usage; at least two-thirds of the power is concentrated in the carrier signal. The carrier signal contains none of the original information being transmitted (voice, video, data, etc.). However its presence provides a simple means of demodulation using envelope detection, providing a frequency and phase reference to extract the modulation from the sidebands. In some modulation systems based on AM, a lower transmitter power is required through partial or total elimination of the carrier component, however receivers for these signals are more complex because they must provide a precise carrier frequency reference signal (usually as shifted to the intermediate frequency) from a greatly reduced "pilot" carrier (in reduced-carrier transmission or DSB-RC) to use in the demodulation process. Even with the carrier totally eliminated in double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission, carrier regeneration is possible using a Costas phase-locked loop. This does not work for single-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission (SSB-SC), leading to the characteristic "Donald Duck" sound from such receivers when slightly detuned. Single-sideband AM is nevertheless used widely in amateur radio and other voice communications because it has power and bandwidth efficiency (cutting the RF bandwidth in half compared to standard AM). On the other hand, in medium wave and short wave broadcasting, standard AM with the full carrier allows for reception using inexpensive receivers. The broadcaster absorbs the extra power cost to greatly increase potential audience.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: An additional function provided by the carrier in standard AM, but which is lost in either single or double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission, is that it provides an amplitude reference. In the receiver, the automatic gain control (AGC) responds to the carrier so that the reproduced audio level stays in a fixed proportion to the original modulation. On the other hand, with suppressed-carrier transmissions there is "no" transmitted power during pauses in the modulation, so the AGC must respond to peaks of the transmitted power during peaks in the modulation. This typically involves a so-called "fast attack, slow decay" circuit which holds the AGC level for a second or more following such peaks, in between syllables or short pauses in the program. This is very acceptable for communications radios, where compression of the audio aids intelligibility. However it is absolutely undesired for music or normal broadcast programming, where a faithful reproduction of the original program, including its varying modulation levels, is expected.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: A simple form of amplitude modulation is the transmission of speech signals from the traditional analog telephone set using a common battery local loop. The direct current provided by the central office battery is a carrier with a frequency of 0 Hz, that is modulated by a microphone ("transmitter") in the telephone set according to the acoustic signal from the mouth of the speaker. The result is a varying amplitude direct current, whose AC-component is the speech signal extracted at the central office for transmission to another subscriber.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: A simple form of digital amplitude modulation which can be used for transmitting binary data is on-off keying, the simplest form of "amplitude-shift keying", in which ones and zeros are represented by the presence or absence of a carrier. On-off keying is likewise used by radio amateurs to transmit Morse code where it is known as continuous wave (CW) operation, even though the transmission is not strictly "continuous." A more complex form of AM, quadrature amplitude modulation is now more commonly used with digital data, while making more efficient use of the available bandwidth.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: In 1982, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) designated the types of amplitude modulation:


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Although AM was used in a few crude experiments in multiplex telegraph and telephone transmission in the late 1800s, the practical development of amplitude modulation is synonymous with the development between 1900 and 1920 of "radiotelephone" transmission, that is, the effort to send sound (audio) by radio waves. The first radio transmitters, called spark gap transmitters, transmitted information by wireless telegraphy, using different length pulses of carrier wave to spell out text messages in Morse code. They couldn't transmit audio because the carrier consisted of strings of damped waves, pulses of radio waves that declined to zero, that sounded like a buzz in receivers. In effect they were already amplitude modulated.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The first AM transmission was made by Canadian researcher Reginald Fessenden on 23 December 1900 using a spark gap transmitter with a specially designed high frequency 10 kHz interrupter, over a distance of 1 mile (1.6 km) at Cobb Island, Maryland, US. His first transmitted words were, "Hello. One, two, three, four. Is it snowing where you are, Mr. Thiessen?". The words were barely intelligible above the background buzz of the spark.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Fessenden was a significant figure in the development of AM radio. He was one of the first researchers to realize, from experiments like the above, that the existing technology for producing radio waves, the spark transmitter, was not usable for amplitude modulation, and that a new kind of transmitter, one that produced sinusoidal "continuous waves", was needed. This was a radical idea at the time, because experts believed the impulsive spark was necessary to produce radio frequency waves, and Fessenden was ridiculed. He invented and helped develop one of the first continuous wave transmitters - the Alexanderson alternator, with which he made what is considered the first AM public entertainment broadcast on Christmas Eve, 1906. He also discovered the principle on which AM is based, heterodyning, and invented one of the first detectors able to rectify and receive AM, the electrolytic detector or "liquid baretter", in 1902. Other radio detectors invented for wireless telegraphy, such as the Fleming valve (1904) and the crystal detector (1906) also proved able to rectify AM signals, so the technological hurdle was generating AM waves; receiving them was not a problem.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Early experiments in AM radio transmission, conducted by Fessenden, Valdemar Poulsen, Ernst Ruhmer, Quirino Majorana, Charles Herrold, and Lee de Forest, were hampered by the lack of a technology for amplification. The first practical continuous wave AM transmitters were based on either the huge, expensive Alexanderson alternator, developed 1906–1910, or versions of the Poulsen arc transmitter (arc converter), invented in 1903. The modifications necessary to transmit AM were clumsy and resulted in very low quality audio. Modulation was usually accomplished by a carbon microphone inserted directly in the antenna or ground wire; its varying resistance varied the current to the antenna. The limited power handling ability of the microphone severely limited the power of the first radiotelephones; many of the microphones were water-cooled.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The 1912 discovery of the amplifying ability of the Audion tube, invented in 1906 by Lee de Forest, solved these problems. The vacuum tube feedback oscillator, invented in 1912 by Edwin Armstrong and Alexander Meissner, was a cheap source of continuous waves and could be easily modulated to make an AM transmitter. Modulation did not have to be done at the output but could be applied to the signal before the final amplifier tube, so the microphone or other audio source didn't have to modulate a high-power radio signal. Wartime research greatly advanced the art of AM modulation, and after the war the availability of cheap tubes sparked a great increase in the number of radio stations experimenting with AM transmission of news or music. The vacuum tube was responsible for the rise of AM broadcasting around 1920, the first electronic mass communication medium. Amplitude modulation was virtually the only type used for radio broadcasting until FM broadcasting began after World War II.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: At the same time as AM radio began, telephone companies such as AT&T were developing the other large application for AM: sending multiple telephone calls through a single wire by modulating them on separate carrier frequencies, called "frequency division multiplexing".


title: Amplitude modulation

text: John Renshaw Carson in 1915 did the first mathematical analysis of amplitude modulation, showing that a signal and carrier frequency combined in a nonlinear device would create two sidebands on either side of the carrier frequency, and passing the modulated signal through another nonlinear device would extract the original baseband signal. His analysis also showed only one sideband was necessary to transmit the audio signal, and Carson patented single-sideband modulation (SSB) on 1 December 1915. This more advanced variant of amplitude modulation was adopted by AT&T for longwave transatlantic telephone service beginning 7 January 1927. After WW2 it was developed by the military for aircraft communication.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The message signal, such as an audio signal that is used for modulating the carrier, is "m"("t"), and has a frequency "f", much lower than "f":


title: Amplitude modulation

text: where "m" is the amplitude sensitivity, "M" is the amplitude of modulation. If "m" < 1, "(1 + m(t)/A)" is always positive for undermodulation. If "m" > 1 then overmodulation occurs and reconstruction of message signal from the transmitted signal would lead in loss of original signal. Amplitude modulation results when the carrier "c(t)" is multiplied by the positive quantity "(1 + m(t)/A)":


title: Amplitude modulation

text: In this simple case "m" is identical to the modulation index, discussed below. With "m" = 0.5 the amplitude modulated signal "y"("t") thus corresponds to the top graph (labelled "50% Modulation") in figure 4.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Therefore, the modulated signal has three components: the carrier wave "c(t)" which is unchanged in frequency, and two sidebands with frequencies slightly above and below the carrier frequency "f".


title: Amplitude modulation

text: A useful modulation signal "m(t)" is usually more complex than a single sine wave, as treated above. However, by the principle of Fourier decomposition, "m(t)" can be expressed as the sum of a set of sine waves of various frequencies, amplitudes, and phases. Carrying out the multiplication of "1 + m(t)" with "c(t)" as above, the result consists of a sum of sine waves. Again, the carrier "c(t)" is present unchanged, but each frequency component of "m" at "f" has two sidebands at frequencies "f + f" and "f - f". The collection of the former frequencies above the carrier frequency is known as the upper sideband, and those below constitute the lower sideband. The modulation "m(t)" may be considered to consist of an equal mix of positive and negative frequency components, as shown in the top of figure 2. One can view the sidebands as that modulation "m(t)" having simply been shifted in frequency by "f" as depicted at the bottom right of figure 2.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The short-term spectrum of modulation, changing as it would for a human voice for instance, the frequency content (horizontal axis) may be plotted as a function of time (vertical axis), as in figure 3. It can again be seen that as the modulation frequency content varies, an upper sideband is generated according to those frequencies shifted "above" the carrier frequency, and the same content mirror-imaged in the lower sideband below the carrier frequency. At all times, the carrier itself remains constant, and of greater power than the total sideband power.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The RF bandwidth of an AM transmission (refer to figure 2, but only considering positive frequencies) is twice the bandwidth of the modulating (or "baseband") signal, since the upper and lower sidebands around the carrier frequency each have a bandwidth as wide as the highest modulating frequency. Although the bandwidth of an AM signal is narrower than one using frequency modulation (FM), it is twice as wide as single-sideband techniques; it thus may be viewed as spectrally inefficient. Within a frequency band, only half as many transmissions (or "channels") can thus be accommodated. For this reason analog television employs a variant of single-sideband (known as vestigial sideband, somewhat of a compromise in terms of bandwidth) in order to reduce the required channel spacing.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Another improvement over standard AM is obtained through reduction or suppression of the carrier component of the modulated spectrum. In figure 2 this is the spike in between the sidebands; even with full (100%) sine wave modulation, the power in the carrier component is twice that in the sidebands, yet it carries no unique information. Thus there is a great advantage in efficiency in reducing or totally suppressing the carrier, either in conjunction with elimination of one sideband (single-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission) or with both sidebands remaining (double sideband suppressed carrier). While these suppressed carrier transmissions are efficient in terms of transmitter power, they require more sophisticated receivers employing synchronous detection and regeneration of the carrier frequency. For that reason, standard AM continues to be widely used, especially in broadcast transmission, to allow for the use of inexpensive receivers using envelope detection. Even (analog) television, with a (largely) suppressed lower sideband, includes sufficient carrier power for use of envelope detection. But for communications systems where both transmitters and receivers can be optimized, suppression of both one sideband and the carrier represent a net advantage and are frequently employed.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: A technique used widely in broadcast AM transmitters is an application of the Hapburg carrier, first proposed in the 1930s but impractical with the technology then available. During periods of low modulation the carrier power would be reduced and would return to full power during periods of high modulation levels. This has the effect of reducing the overall power demand of the transmitter and is most effective on speech type programmes. Various trade names are used for its implementation by the transmitter manufacturers from the late 80's onwards.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The AM modulation index is a measure based on the ratio of the modulation excursions of the RF signal to the level of the unmodulated carrier. It is thus defined as:


title: Amplitude modulation

text: where formula_6 and formula_7 are the modulation amplitude and carrier amplitude, respectively; the modulation amplitude is the peak (positive or negative) change in the RF amplitude from its unmodulated value. Modulation index is normally expressed as a percentage, and may be displayed on a meter connected to an AM transmitter.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: So if formula_8, carrier amplitude varies by 50% above (and below) its unmodulated level, as is shown in the first waveform, below. For formula_9, it varies by 100% as shown in the illustration below it. With 100% modulation the wave amplitude sometimes reaches zero, and this represents full modulation using standard AM and is often a target (in order to obtain the highest possible signal-to-noise ratio) but mustn't be exceeded. Increasing the modulating signal beyond that point, known as overmodulation, causes a standard AM modulator (see below) to fail, as the negative excursions of the wave envelope cannot become less than zero, resulting in distortion ("clipping") of the received modulation. Transmitters typically incorporate a limiter circuit to avoid overmodulation, and/or a compressor circuit (especially for voice communications) in order to still approach 100% modulation for maximum intelligibility above the noise. Such circuits are sometimes referred to as a vogad.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: However it is possible to talk about a modulation index exceeding 100%, without introducing distortion, in the case of double-sideband reduced-carrier transmission. In that case, negative excursions beyond zero entail a reversal of the carrier phase, as shown in the third waveform below. This cannot be produced using the efficient high-level (output stage) modulation techniques (see below) which are widely used especially in high power broadcast transmitters. Rather, a special modulator produces such a waveform at a low level followed by a linear amplifier. What's more, a standard AM receiver using an envelope detector is incapable of properly demodulating such a signal. Rather, synchronous detection is required. Thus double-sideband transmission is generally "not" referred to as "AM" even though it generates an identical RF waveform as standard AM as long as the modulation index is below 100%. Such systems more often attempt a radical reduction of the carrier level compared to the sidebands (where the useful information is present) to the point of double-sideband suppressed-carrier transmission where the carrier is (ideally) reduced to zero. In all such cases the term "modulation index" loses its value as it refers to the ratio of the modulation amplitude to a rather small (or zero) remaining carrier amplitude.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Modulation circuit designs may be classified as low- or high-level (depending on whether they modulate in a low-power domain—followed by amplification for transmission—or in the high-power domain of the transmitted signal).


title: Amplitude modulation

text: In modern radio systems, modulated signals are generated via digital signal processing (DSP). With DSP many types of AM are possible with software control (including DSB with carrier, SSB suppressed-carrier and independent sideband, or ISB). Calculated digital samples are converted to voltages with a digital-to-analog converter, typically at a frequency less than the desired RF-output frequency. The analog signal must then be shifted in frequency and linearly amplified to the desired frequency and power level (linear amplification must be used to prevent modulation distortion).


title: Amplitude modulation

text: High-power AM transmitters (such as those used for AM broadcasting) are based on high-efficiency class-D and class-E power amplifier stages, modulated by varying the supply voltage.


title: Amplitude modulation

text: Older designs (for broadcast and amateur radio) also generate AM by controlling the gain of the transmitter's final amplifier (generally class-C, for efficiency). The following types are for vacuum tube transmitters (but similar options are available with transistors):


title: Amplitude modulation

text: The simplest form of AM demodulator consists of a diode which is configured to act as envelope detector. Another type of demodulator, the product detector, can provide better-quality demodulation with additional circuit complexity.


title: Andrea Bang

text: Andrea Bang is a Canadian actress and screenwriter from Burnaby, British Columbia. She is best known for playing Janet Kim in the CBC comedy "Kim's Convenience", for which she was nominated many times at the Canadian Screen Awards. She has appeared in "A Million Little Things", "Fresh" and "Running with Violet".


title: Andrea Bang

text: Bang was born in Burnaby, British Columbia to Korean immigrant parents. Her sister, Diana Bang, is also an actress and writer. Bang attended Burnaby North Secondary School, was in the chorus in a school production of "Bye Bye Birdie".


title: Andrea Bang

text: Bang graduated in 2012 with a degree in Psychology from University of British Columbia, while also taking acting lessons. In 2017, she told the "Vancouver Sun":


title: Andrea Bang

text: Bang's parents, who had immigrated from Korea, initially found it "distressing" that Andrea and her sister Diana had chosen to pursue acting as a career, but have since become fully supportive.


title: Andrea Bang

text: In 2015, Bang won a best actress (Summer Award) at the Asians on Film Festival for her debut movie performance as Francesca in the short film "Playdate". In 2016, Bang landed the main role of Janet Kim in the CBC comedy "Kim's Convenience" alongside Paul Sun-Hyung Lee, Jean Yoon and Andrew Phung.


title: Andrea Bang

text: In 2020, Bang received a nomination at the Canadian Screen Awards for Best Supporting Performance in a Web Program or Series for her role as Samantha in "Running with Violet".


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Alice Coltrane (' McLeod; August 27, 1937January 12, 2007), also known by her adopted Sanskrit name Turiyasangitananda, was an American jazz musician and composer, and in her later years a swamini. An accomplished pianist and one of the few harpists in the history of jazz, she recorded many albums as a bandleader, beginning in the late 1960s and early 1970s for Impulse! and other record labels. She was married to jazz saxophonist and composer John Coltrane, with whom she performed in 1966–1967. One of the foremost exponents of spiritual jazz, her eclectic music proved widely influential both within and outside the world of jazz.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Coltrane's professional music career slowed from the mid 1970s as she became more dedicated to her religious education. She founded the Vedantic Center in 1975 and the Shanti Anantam Ashram in California in 1983, where she served as spiritual director. On July 3, 1994, Swamini rededicated and inaugurated the land as "Sai Anantam Ashram." During the 1980s and 1990s, she recorded several albums of Hindu devotional songs before returning to jazz in the 2000s.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Coltrane was born Alice McLeod on August 27, 1937, in Detroit, Michigan, and grew up in a musical household. Her mother, Anna McLeod, was a member of the choir at her church; her half-brother, Ernest Farrow, became a jazz bassist; and her younger sister, Marilyn McLeod, became a songwriter at Motown. With the encouragement of her father, Alice McLeod pursued music and started to perform in various clubs around Detroit, until moving to Paris in the late 1950s. She studied classical music, and also jazz with Bud Powell in Paris, where she worked as the intermission pianist at the Blue Note Jazz Club in 1960. It was there that McLeod appeared on French television in a performance with Lucky Thompson, Pierre Michelot and Kenny Clarke. She married Kenny "Pancho" Hagood in 1960 and had a daughter with him. The marriage ended soon after, on account of Hagood's developing heroin addiction, and McLeod was forced to return to Detroit with her daughter. She continued playing jazz as a professional in Detroit, with her own trio and as a duo with vibraphonist Terry Pollard. In 1962–63, she played with Terry Gibbs' quartet, during which time she met John Coltrane. In 1965, they married in Juárez, Mexico. John Coltrane became stepfather to Alice Coltrane's daughter Michelle, and the couple had three children together: John Jr. (1964, a bassist who died in a car accident in 1982); Ravi (b. 1965, a saxophonist); and Oranyan (b. 1967, a DJ). Oranyan later played saxophone with Santana for a period of time.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Alice and John's growing involvement in spirituality influenced some of John's compositions and projects, such as "A Love Supreme". In January 1966, Alice Coltrane replaced McCoy Tyner as pianist with John Coltrane's group. She subsequently recorded with him and continued playing with the band until John's death on July 17, 1967. After her husband's death, she continued to forward the musical and spiritual vision, and started to release records as a composer and bandleader. Her first album, "A Monastic Trio", was recorded in 1967. From 1968 to 1977, she released thirteen full-length records. As the years passed, her musical direction moved further from standard jazz into the more cosmic, spiritual world. Albums like "Universal Consciousness" (1971), and "World Galaxy" (1972), show a progression from a four-piece lineup to a more orchestral approach, with lush string arrangements and cascading harps. Until 1973, she released music with Impulse! Records, the jazz label for which her husband recorded. From 1973 to 1978, she released primarily on Warner Bros. Records until she stepped away from the public eye.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: After the death of her husband, Coltrane experienced a period of trial. She suffered from severe weight loss and sleepless nights, as well as hallucinations. This "tapas" (a Sanskrit term she used to describe her suffering), led her to seek Hindu spiritual guidance from the guru Swami Satchidananda and later from Sathya Sai Baba. By 1972, she abandoned her secular life, and moved to California, where she established the Vedantic Center in 1975. By the late 1970s, she had changed her name to Turiyasangitananda. She was the spiritual director, or swamini, of Shanti Anantam Ashram (later renamed Sai Anantam Ashram in Chumash Pradesh) which the Vedantic Center established in 1983 near Malibu, California. Alice would perform formal and informal devotional Vedic ceremonies at the ashram. She performed solo chants, known as bhajans, and group chants, or kirtans. She developed original melodies from the traditional chants, and started to experiment by including synthesizers and sophisticated song structures. This culminated in her first spiritual cassette, "Turiya Sings", in 1982. The cassette was released only to the members of the ashram, through her publishing company, the Avatar Book Institute. Through the mid 1980s into the mid 1990s, she released three more cassettes, "Divine Songs" in 1987, "Infinite Chants" in 1990, and "Glorious Chants" in 1995. New York-based label Luaka Bop released a compilation of tracks from her ashram tapes as "World Spirituality Classics 1: The Ecstatic Music of Alice Coltrane Turiyasangitananda" in May 2017.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: The 1990s saw renewed interest in her work, which led to the release of the compilation "Astral Meditations", and in 2004 she released her comeback album "Translinear Light". Following a 25-year break from major public performances, she returned to the stage for three U.S. appearances in the fall of 2006, including a concert at Ann Arbor's Hill Auditorium presented by University Musical Society of the University of Michigan on September 23, which would have been John Coltrane's 80th birthday, and culminating on November 4 with a concert for the San Francisco Jazz Festival with her son Ravi, drummer Roy Haynes, and bassist Charlie Haden.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Alice Coltrane died of respiratory failure at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center in suburban Los Angeles in 2007, aged 69. She is buried alongside John Coltrane in Pinelawn Memorial Park, Farmingdale, Suffolk County, New York.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Paul Weller dedicated his song "Song for Alice (Dedicated to the Beautiful Legacy of Mrs. Coltrane)", from his 2008 album "22 Dreams", to Coltrane; the track titled "Alice" on Sunn O)))'s 2009 album "Monoliths & Dimensions" was similarly inspired. Electronic musician Steve "Flying Lotus" Ellison is the grand nephew of Alice Coltrane. On his 2010 album "Cosmogramma", he paid tribute to Coltrane in the form of a song titled "Drips//Auntie's Harp", in which he sampled her harp from the track "Blue Nile", featured on the album "Ptah, the El Daoud" (1970). The song "That Alice" on Laura Veirs' album "Warp and Weft" is about Coltrane. Orange Cake Mix included a song entitled "Alice Coltrane" on their 1997 LP Silver Lining Underwater. Poet giovanni singleton's book "Ascension" includes 49 poems written daily after Alice Coltrane's death.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Cauleen Smith's conceptual art exhibition "Give It or Leave It" featured two films, "Pilgrim" (2017) and "Sojourner" (2018), exploring Alice Coltrane's music and ashram.


title: Alice Coltrane

text: Alice Coltrane was among hundreds of artists whose master recordings were destroyed in the 2008 Universal fire.


title: Gazpacho

text: Gazpacho (; ) or Gaspacho (), also called Andalusian gazpacho, is a cold soup and drink made of raw, blended vegetables. It originated in the southern regions of the Iberian peninsula and spread into other areas. Gazpacho is widely eaten in Spain and Portugal, particularly during hot summers, since it is refreshing and cool.


title: Gazpacho

text: Although there are other recipes called "gazpacho", such as "gazpacho manchego", the standard usage implies a soup. There are also a number of dishes that are closely related and often considered variants thereof, such as ajoblanco, salmorejo, pipirrana, porra antequerana (closer to a bread soup), and cojondongo.


title: Gazpacho

text: There are many theories as to the origin of gazpacho, including one that says it was a soup of bread, olive oil, water, vinegar, and garlic that arrived in Spain with the Romans. Once in Spain, it became a part of southern cuisine, particularly in Córdoba, Seville or Granada Castilian kingdoms; using stale bread, garlic, olive oil, salt, and vinegar, similar to ajoblanco. During the 19th century, red gazpacho was created when tomatoes were added to the ingredients. This version spread internationally and remains commonly known.


title: Gazpacho

text: There are many modern variations of gazpacho with avocados, cucumbers, parsley, strawberries, watermelon, grapes, meat stock, seafood, and other ingredients instead of tomatoes and bread.


title: Gazpacho

text: Most gazpacho includes stale bread, tomato, cucumbers, onion, bell peppers, garlic, olive oil, wine vinegar, water, and salt. Northern recipes often include cumin and/or (smoked sweet paprika).


title: Gazpacho

text: Traditionally, gazpacho was made by pounding the vegetables in a mortar with a pestle; this more laborious method is still sometimes used as it helps keep the gazpacho cool and avoids the foam and silky consistency of smoothie versions made in blenders or food processors. A traditional way of preparation is to pound garlic cloves in a mortar, add a little soaked stale bread, then olive oil and salt, to make a paste. Next, very ripe tomatoes and vinegar are added to this paste. In the days before refrigeration, the gazpacho was left in an unglazed earthenware pot to cool by evaporation, with the addition of some water.


title: Gazpacho

text: Gazpacho may be served alone or with garnishes, such as hard-boiled eggs, chopped ham (in the salmorejo variety from Córdoba), chopped almonds, cumin crushed with mint, orange segments, finely chopped green bell peppers, onion, tomato or cucumber. In Extremadura, local ham was added to the gazpacho itself rather than as a garnish, this is called . Andalusian sources say that gazpacho should be slightly chilled, but not iced.


title: Gazpacho

text: Similar cold raw soups such as arjamolho in Portugal, porra antequerana and ajoblanco, are also popular in Andalusia, although not as widespread as gazpacho. Gazpacho and salmorejo are especially similar since they are both tomato-based cold soups that are widely popular in Spain; the main difference between gazpacho and salmorejo is the culinary technique used since gazpacho is a soup whereas salmorejo is an emulsion. In addition, while both dishes share the main ingredients of tomato, olive oil, bread, and garlic, gazpacho can also be prepared with cucumber, peppers, and vinegar, whereas salmorejo cannot.


title: Gazpacho

text: "Gazpacho manchego", despite its name, is a meat stew, served hot, not a variation on the cold vegetable soup.


title: Gazpacho

text: The original recipe using bread, water, vinegar, oil, and salt is traditional in the Iberian Peninsula, perhaps going back to Roman times. Every central and southern region has its own variety. The humble gazpacho became a very deeply rooted food for peasants and shepherds in Spain. The basic gazpacho gave rise to many variants, some also called gazpacho, others not; some authors have tried to classify all these variations. Gazpachos may be classified by colour: the most usual red ones (which contain tomato), white ones (which contain no tomato, but include dried fruits), and green ones (which are white but contain some spices that make them green). These variants have their basic ingredients in common, including garlic paste which works as an emulsifier, bread, olive oil, vinegar and salt. In addition to the traditional ingredients, red fruits such as strawberries, muskmelon, etc., may be added, making the gazpacho a bit sweeter. Gazpacho may be served as a starter, main dish, or tapa.


title: Gazpacho

text: A popular variation comes from the town of Rota in the province of Cádiz. During times of drought, there was not enough water to make gazpacho; thus, arranque has the same ingredients as gazpacho, but requires less water and bread, making it a sort of cream. Some people add more bread until it takes on the consistency of a dip.


title: Gazpacho

text: In Extremadura, gazpachos are a kind of purée or thick gazpacho known as "cojondongo", or "cojondongo del gañán", made of breadcrumbs, garlic, oil, and vinegar, then topped with chopped onions, tomato and peppers.


title: Gazpacho

text: Gazpacho manchego, as its name implies, is made in the east region of La Mancha, in Albacete and nearby areas, and is popular in other areas in the center and southwest of the country.


title: Gazpacho

text: It is a meat stew, whose main ingredients are small game animals or birds such as rabbit, hare, quail, or pigeon, and flatbread, and may include garlic, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It is cooked in a cauldron and served hot. Another well-known variant in La Mancha is gazpacho de pastor or galiano.


title: Gazpacho

text: Some other hot meat or fish dishes from other regions are called gazpacho (gazpacho jumillano, gazpacho de Yecla, gazpacho de Requena, etc.)


title: Gazpacho

text: Gazpacho is often eaten during the very hot and dry summers in Castilla y León. The gazpacho made in La Moraña in the province of Ávila has large pieces of vegetables floating in a watery soup.


title: Ville Valo

text: Ville Hermanni Valo (; born 22 November 1976) is a Finnish singer, songwriter and musician. He is best known as the lead vocalist of the gothic rock band HIM.


title: Ville Valo

text: Born and raised in Helsinki to a Hungarian mother and Finnish father, Valo began his career playing bass and drums in various bands around the city. In 1991, he co-founded and became the lead singer and main songwriter of HIM, which would go on to become one of the most successful Finnish bands of all time and the first to receive a gold record in the United States. Outside of HIM, Valo has collaborated with various other bands and artists during his career, including Agents, The 69 Eyes, and Apocalyptica. In 2020, Valo embarked on a solo career under the moniker VV.


title: Ville Valo

text: Known for his deep, crooning, baritone voice, Valo was found to possess the eighth-highest vocal range of any known singer in popular music by VVN Music. He is also the creator of the heartagram, HIM's trademarked symbol, which has achieved great popularity outside of the band's fanbase. Valo has received several accolades in the music industry and has been regarded as a sex symbol by several publications.


title: Ville Valo

text: Ville Hermanni Valo was born in Helsinki, Finland on 22 November 1976, the son of a Hungarian mother and a Finnish father. His mother Anita worked as a shoe saleswoman and later for the city of Helsinki. His father Kari worked as taxi driver, before opening a sex shop, where Valo would later work as a teenager. Valo also has a younger brother Jesse, who, like his older brother, embarked on a music career, before turning to professional kickboxing. A few months after Valo was born, the family moved from Vallila to Oulunkylä, where later Valo attended comprehensive school. Valo's earliest musical memories pertain to his father, who would often listen to Finnish folk artists such as Tuomari Nurmio and Tapio Rautavaara while driving his taxi. Valo's mother also recounted how Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki's "Paratiisi" was the only thing that would sooth Valo as an infant. At age eight, Valo bought the album "Animalize" by Kiss, which sparked his interest in music.


title: Ville Valo

text: After second grade, Valo was accepted into music-oriented class, where he took up bass guitar, inspired by Gene Simmons of Kiss. During third grade, Valo befriended Mikko "Mige" Paananen, who played bass as well. Around fourth or fifth grade, Valo joined his first band B.L.O.O.D., which played its first and only show in front of Valo's class. Afterwards Valo joined the Eloveena Boys, who performed a variety of U2 and Dire Straits covers at school dances. Valo also wrote his first song while in the band. During seventh grade, Valo met guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström. The two soon joined Aurora, which featured Valo on drums. During lower secondary school, Valo played bass and drums in various other bands as well. He also attended the Helsinki Pop & Jazz Conservatory. After lower secondary school, Valo applied to the music-oriented Sibelius Upper Secondary School, but was rejected. He eventually dropped out of school altogether to concentrate on his music career. Valo was allowed to skip Finland's national military service due to his asthma.


title: Ville Valo

text: In 1991, Valo and Mikko "Mige" Paananen formed His Infernal Majesty. However, the band broke up in 1993 when Mige began his national military service. From 1992 to 1993, Valo played bass in the Donits-Osmo Experience as well. His Infernal Majesty was reformed in 1995 by Valo and Mikko "Linde" Lindstöm. After being rejoined by Mige, as well as keyboardist Antto Melasniemi and drummer Juhana "Pätkä" Rantala, His Infernal Majesty, now simply called HIM, released its debut album "Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666" in 1997. In 2000, now with drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen and keyboardist Juska Salminen, HIM released "Razorblade Romance", which reached the number one in Finland, Austria and Germany. Following the addition of Janne "Burton" Puurtinen on keyboards, the band released "Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights" (2001) and "Love Metal" (2003), which continued to further HIM's success across Europe. The albums also paved the way for HIM's first tours in the United Kingdom and the United States.


title: Ville Valo

text: In 2005, HIM released "Dark Light", which became the group's most commercially successful album to date. It also gave HIM the distinction of being the first Finnish group in history to receive a gold record in the United States. "Dark Light" was followed up by 2007's "Venus Doom". While not as successful as its predecessor, it gave HIM its highest chart position in the United States and garnered the band its first and only Grammy nomination. After 2010's "", HIM entered an extended hiatus after Gas Lipstick was forced to take medical leave. Following several months of uncertainty, the band regrouped and released "Tears on Tape" in 2013. Gas Lipstick later announced his departure from the band in 2015. He was replaced by Jukka "Kosmo" Kröger. Preliminary work on another album was started, but the band ultimately felt like "there was nothing left to give collectively". On 5 March 2017, HIM announced that the band would be disbanding following a farewell tour. HIM played its final show on New Year's Eve 2017 as a part of its annual Helldone Festival.


title: Ville Valo

text: Over the course of his career, Valo has contributed to numerous releases by other artists, including The 69 Eyes, Anathema, Andy McCoy, Bloodhound Gang, Cradle of Filth, Jeff Walker, Lullacry, MGT, The Mission and Tehosekoitin. Valo was also a member of Daniel Lioneye, a side project formed by Valo and fellow HIM members Linde Lindström and Mige. Valo played drums on the group's 2001 album "The King of Rock 'n Roll", and its accompanying tour. In 2014, the band's original line-up reunited at the Helldone Festival.


title: Ville Valo

text: In 1999, Valo appeared as guest vocalist on the television show "Laulava sydän", where he performed three songs with Finnish schlager group Agents. In 2004, Apocalyptica released "Bittersweet", which featured guest vocals by Valo and Lauri Ylönen of The Rasmus. The song reached number one in Finland, while also cracking the top ten in Germany and Switzerland. Valo and Ylönen performed the song with Apocalyptica live for the first and only time in January 2005 at the Yhteinen ASIA benefit concert for victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami. In 2006, Valo contributed vocals to the compilation album "Synkkien laulujen maa". He performed the tracks "Kun minä kotoani läksin" and "Täällä Pohjantähden alla", the latter of which was a duet with famed Finnish singer Kari Tapio. Valo later described recording the song with Tapio as one of the greatest experiences of his musical career. In 2007, Valo and German actress-singer Natalia Avelon recorded a cover version of Lee Hazlewood's "Summer Wine" for the film "Eight Miles High". The song charted at number one in Finland and Greece, as well as number two in Germany and Switzerland. It would later be certified platinum in Finland and Germany.


title: Ville Valo

text: At 2014 edition of Helldone, Valo made his solo live debut, when he performed a set of songs under the pseudonym Rambo Rimbaud. In 2016, Valo released a cover version of "Olet mun kaikuluotain" (a Finnish version of John Denver's "Annie's Song") to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Love Records. The single reached number one on the Finnish Digital Song Sales Chart. A music video, directed by Ykä Järvinen, was also produced. It would later receive the award for Video of the Year at the 2016 Emma Gala. In 2017, Valo provided the soundtrack for the virtual reality video game "Downward Spiral: Prologue" by 3rd Eye Studios. He would go on to score the 2018 sequel "Downward Spiral: Horus Station" as well.


title: Ville Valo

text: In August 2018, it was announced that Valo would be reuniting with Agents to record songs (including previously unreleased ones) by late Finnish singer-songwriter Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki. Valo described the project as a huge honour, having been a fan of Somerjoki and Agents since childhood. Ville Valo & Agents made their live debut at the 2018 Emma Gala. Their self-titled album was released on 15 February 2019, and it debuted at number one on the Finnish Albums Chart, going gold in less than a week. The group then began a tour of Finland, which concluded in August 2019, a year after the project's initial announcement. According to Valo, the collaboration was always intended to remain "short but sweet", thus Valo and Agents disbanded after the tour. At the 2019 Radio SuomiRock awards ceremony, Ville Valo & Agents received the award for Rock Achievement of the Year, while "Ikkunaprinsessa" was named Song of the Year. They also received three Emma Award nominations.


title: Ville Valo

text: On 20 March 2020, Valo released the surprise EP "Gothica Fennica Vol. 1", under the moniker VV. Two of its three tracks charted in Finland. Valo was later named Artist of the Year at the Radio SuomiRock awards ceremony, while "Run Away from the Sun" received the award for Song of the Year. In April 2022, Valo released "Loveletting", the first single from his debut solo album "Neon Noir", which is due in 2023. Valo will also embark on a world tour, beginning in January 2023. His backing band will consist of guitarists Mikko Virta and Sampo Sundström, bassist Juho Vehmanen and drummer Risto Rikala.


title: Ville Valo

text: Valo has made various appearances in television and film. In 1998, he had a small role in the Ilppo Pohjola directed short film "Asphalto". In 2008, Valo voiced Moto Moto in the Finnish dub of "". Valo has also appeared in several projects by Bam Margera, including "Jackass Number Two" and "Viva La Bam". While he has received offers for several small acting roles, Valo has maintained that he is not an actor, jokingly stating in 2013: "I've always felt that [HIM needs] to sell about 80 million copies more for me to become an actor, a painter, an opera singer or a TV personality."


title: Ville Valo

text: In 2005, Valo designed a limited line of Coca-Cola Light cans with the proceeds going to the Red Cross. In 2020, Valo was named the new face of Presidentti coffee by Paulig.


title: Ville Valo

text: Valo resides in Helsinki, Finland. In 2006, Valo purchased a 19th-century tower house in Munkkiniemi, where he lived until 2015, when it was put up for sale.


title: Ville Valo

text: Valo dated Finnish television host and model Jonna Nygrén in the early 2000s. They became engaged in 2005, but separated the following year. They briefly reunited in mid-2006, before breaking up again in 2007. Valo was then involved in a relationship with an undisclosed partner, who served as his main source of inspiration for HIM's 2010 album "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice". In 2012, Valo was linked to French model Sandra Mittica. They reportedly ended their relationship in 2015. The following year, Valo was reported to be dating Finnish model Christel Karhu. The two made their first public appearance together in February 2017.


title: Ville Valo

text: Valo has been a vegetarian since he was a teenager. In 2017, he described his diet as "almost vegan".


title: Ville Valo

text: In 2004, Valo was invited to the Presidential Independence Day reception at Finland's presidential palace, but was unable to attend due to a fever. He attended later in 2006.


title: Ville Valo

text: Valo has asserted his disinterest in narcotics, citing cigarettes and alcohol as his only two vices. In 2000, an intoxicated Valo nearly jumped off the thirteenth floor of a hotel in Germany, before being pulled back by friends. In November 2004, the "New York Post" ran an article where Valo was accused of performing drunk at HIM's Irving Plaza concert. Valo reportedly threw half empty beer cans across the stage in addition to slurring his words and forgetting the lyrics to songs. In 2005, Valo's drink was spiked in Minneapolis. He suffered minor injuries and was robbed of his jacket, asthma medicine, cigarettes, credit cards, and cell phone. In February 2006, Valo was arrested at his home in Helsinki after allegedly threatening to kill his neighbor and resisting arrest. He later elaborated on the incident, stating: "It was a guy just talking a lot of bull about me and my fiancée. And I got pissed off, I went to his door, I kicked the door, he opened the door and I told him that if he was ever gonna talk badly about me and my girl, he was gonna end up being dead, and I punched him in the face, and that's the whole thing."


title: Ville Valo

text: During the making of HIM's 2007 album "Venus Doom", Valo's alcohol abuse worsened to the point where he was vomiting and defecating blood. He eventually suffered a nervous breakdown. Despite a momentary recovery, Valo began drinking again during the mixing process. Eventually he was admitted to the Promises Rehabilitation Clinic in Malibu by HIM's manager Seppo Vesterinen. Valo later cited depression and stress as contributing factors to his alcohol abuse at the time. On HIM's 2010 album "Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice", Valo worked completely sober for the first time in the band's history. He has since relapsed, though Valo has maintained an effort to balance his drinking. In 2013, he stated: "I'm an on and off guy. If I drink, I drink properly for long stretches of time. And if I don't drink, I don't drink at all." In 2017, Valo stated that he drinks only once a month.


title: Ville Valo

text: As a songwriter, many of Valo's songs tackle themes of love. He has stated: "I feel like there is no subject more important for a song than relationships. It's the only thing that moves me." Valo also takes inspiration from literature, but only certain aspects of it, explaining: "As a guy who writes songs, I get excited about an idea, or a book, or a sentence. I don't necessarily get excited about the whole of Tolkien, I just get excited about Uruk-hai. Just a little detail that just makes my mind work overdrive." Valo's lyrics have been described as "oozing with blood-dripping hearts and gothic melodrama". Valo and the rest of HIM referred to the band's music as "love metal", the idea of which was to combine more melodic and melancholic elements with heavier influences. He has described HIM's music as "sentimental, hard-hitting rock". Valo's musical influences include Black Sabbath, Type O Negative, Neil Young, The Sisters of Mercy, Fields of the Nephilim, Johnny Cash, Depeche Mode, Elvis Presley, Rauli "Badding" Somerjoki, and Tapio Rautavaara. Some of his non-musical influences include Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Timo K. Mukka, Charles Baudelaire, Charles Bukowski, Austin Osman Spare, Maya Deren, and Shigeo Fukuda.


title: Ville Valo

text: Much of HIM's success has been attributed to Valo's songwriting ability, public image, and charisma. He possesses a baritone voice type with a five octave range. In 2014, Valo was found by VVN Music to possess the eight-highest vocal range of any known singer in popular music. In 2006, he was ranked number 80 in "Hit Parader"s "Top 100 Metal Vocalists of All Time". "Loudwire" ranked Valo as the 14th greatest metal frontman of the 21st century, stating: "His baritone voice is undeniably gorgeous, his vampiric charisma is almost hypnotic, male fans desperately attempt to emulate him and female fans scream ballistically as if he was the second coming of Elvis." "Metal Hammer" described Valo as one of the early 2000s few new rockstars, stating: "HIM were like no other band. They had a special something, but more importantly they had a special someone. Ville shone like a star with his blend of Mick Jagger posturing and Brandon Lee's dark charms in "The Crow"." Valo has been voted a sex symbol in polls conducted by "Kerrang!", "Revolver" and MTV (not to be confused with the American television channel of the same name). Regarding these accolades, Valo said: "To be honest, I don't know what a sex symbol is. Compliments are nice, but I've always liked compliments on the music more." When asked if it frustrates him as a songwriter and a musician, Valo stated that ultimately "it doesn't matter". He compared the situation to Kiss, noting how the visuals and music are part of one whole.


title: Ville Valo

text: On his twentieth birthday, Valo created the heartagram, which would eventually become the symbol for HIM. A combination of a heart and a pentagram, it is meant to represent the juxtaposition of "the soft and the hard, the male and the female, the yin and the yang". Musically, the heart represents the softer side of HIM, while the pentagram conveys the heavier elements of its sound. Valo has called the heartagram his greatest creation. He noted in 2013: "There are a lot of people who have heartagram tattoos now. Kat Von D has one, Steve-O has a dickagram, which is like a heartagram but ends with a dick. It's started to have a life of its own: there are a lot of people who have them who don't actually know what it was, don't relate it to the band, and in that sense, I consider that to be my greatest achievement. So it'll be nice to have it on my tombstone. And it'll be nice to see where it's going to go next." During his solo career, Valo has used a variation of the heartagram with two extra lines forming the moniker VV. Regarding the symbol, Valo jokingly stated: "Artistically speaking the main difference between HIM and VV is the extra line in the heartagram, but what an exquisite line it is!"


title: Raijin

text: , also known as , , , and Kamowakeikazuchi-no-kami is a god of lightning, thunder and storms in Japanese mythology and the Shinto religion. He is typically depicted with fierce and aggressive facial expressions, standing atop a cloud, beating on den-den daiko drums with "tomoe" symbols drawn on them. Iconography of Raijin are often found in Japanese temples and shrines. He is usually depicted alongside Fūjin, the god of wind.


title: Raijin

text: Raijin is often depicted with a fierce, frightening face and a muscular figure with gravity-defying hair. He is surrounded by Taiko drums that he plays to create the sound of thunder. Raijin holds large hammers in his hands that he uses to play the drums. In some cases, Raijin is portrayed with three fingers which are said to represent the past, present and future. Two of the most notable sculptures of Raijin are located in the Sanjusangendo temple and the Taiyuin Rinnoji temple.


title: Raijin

text: Raijin and Fujin reside side by side in the Kaminarimon gate that guards the entrance to the Sanjusangendo temple. These sculptures are made of wood with lacquer, gold leaf and paint along with crystal, inlaid eyes. The Raijin and Fujin sculptures in Sanjusangendo are considered national treasures.


title: Raijin

text: In the Taiyuin Rinnoji temple, Raijin and Fujin are located in the Niten-mon gate. They are made of wood with paint and are seen with their token talismans, Raijin's drums and Fujin's wind bag.


title: Raijin

text: Raijin is also often seen in the company of his brother, Fujin, and his son, Raitaro. He is often seen fighting with Fujin, mending his drums, or causing mischief. He is also shown in the company of Raiju, a thunder-beast or thunder demon which also acts as his totem animal and usually a dog or wolf.


title: Raijin

text: In the myths recorded in the Kojiki, after Izanami died from the wounds inflicted on her by the birthing of Hinokagutsutchi, her husband Izanagi followed her down into Yomi no Kuni, the land of darkness. When he asked her to come with him, Izanami responded that she cannot leave, because she had already eaten from the food there. As Izanagi followed her all the way to Yomi, to try to fulfill his wish that she go with him, Izanami returned to her palace to negotiate with the residing kami. Izanami was gone for several hours, which made Izanagi worried for her. Thus, after making fire on the tip of his comb, he entered the palace.


title: Raijin

text: There, Izanagi found Izanami's corpse. On her body maggots gathered, and on her head arose , on her chest , in her stomach , on her vagina , in her left hand , in her right hand , on her left leg and on her right leg ; collectively called .


title: Raijin

text: Upon seeing Izanami's twisted body, Izanagi fled from Yomi, shaken and in terror. In shame of allowing him to see her unsightly form, Izanami sent Raijin and several female demons to chase after Izanagi, after he fled the image of her rotting form, to bring him back to Yomi.


title: Raijin

text: Another story describes Raijin as a mischief-maker, causing the destruction leading the Emperor to order Sugaru (the God Catcher) to imprison Raijin and deliver him to the in order to stop a storm. Sugaru first petitioned Raijin in the name of the emperor to give himself over willingly and cease the storm, to which Raijin laughs at Sugaru. Sugaru then prays to Kannon, Kannon ordered Raijin to let Sugaru, then she later delivered Raijin to him. Sugaru then tied him up in a sack and took him to the Emperor. Under the control of Sugaru and the emperor, Raijin was forced to stop his destruction and bring only rain and bounty to Japan.


title: Raijin

text: In one legend, Raijin is shown to defend Japan against the invading Mongols. In this legend, the Mongols are driven off by a vicious storm in which Raijin is in the clouds throwing lightning and arrows at the invaders.


title: Raijin

text: Raijin has many siblings, most notably, Fujin (the god of wind), Kagutsuchi (the god of fire), Susanoo (the god of the sea and storms), Tsukuyomi (god of the moon), and Amaterasu (the goddess of the sun). Raijin also has a son named Raitaro.


title: Raijin

text: Some Japanese parents tell their children to hide their belly buttons during thunderstorms so that Raijin does not take them away and eat them.


title: Raijin

text: Raijin also appears in the kabuki play "Narukami", in which he is imprisoned under a pool of water, thus causing a drought.


title: Vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom

text: Vehicle registration plates (commonly referred to as "number plates" in British English) are the alphanumeric plates used to display the "registration mark" of a vehicle, and have existed in the United Kingdom since 1904. It is compulsory for motor vehicles used on public roads to display vehicle registration plates, with the exception of vehicles of the reigning monarch used on official business.


text: The Motor Car Act 1903, which came into force on 1 January 1904, required all motor vehicles to be entered on an official vehicle register, and to carry alphanumeric plates. The Act was passed in order that vehicles could be easily traced in the event of an accident, contravention of the law or any other incident. Vehicle registration alphanumeric plates in the UK are rectangular or square in shape, with the exact permitted dimensions of the plate and its lettering set down in law. Front plates are white, rear plates are yellow.


text: Within the UK itself, there are two systems: one for Great Britain, whose current format dates from 2001, and another for Northern Ireland, which is similar to the original 1904 system. Both systems are administered by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) in Swansea. Until July 2014, Northern Ireland's system was administered by the Driver and Vehicle Agency (DVA) in Coleraine, which had the same status as the DVLA. Other schemes relating to the UK are also listed below. The international vehicle registration code for the United Kingdom is UK. Prior to 28 September 2021, it was GB. The specification of plates incorporating the UK code was created by the British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, and is seen as the default design by the Department for Transport.


text: Number plates must be displayed in accordance with the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001.


text: Number plates must be made of reflex-reflecting material, white at the front and yellow at the rear, with black characters. This was first required on all vehicles manufactured after 1 January 1973, having been optional before then. Subsequently, the requirement was modified by the Finance Act 2014, to allow any vehicles registered within the 'historic vehicles' tax class to use the older style pre-1973 black number plates. This rule applied on a 40-year exemption basis, and until 2021 rolled forward automatically each year on 1 April to include vehicles manufactured before the first of January forty years prior. A change was introduced on 1 January 2021 that will permit only vehicles dating prior to 1 January 1980 to use the old style pre-1973 black and silver number plates.


text: The post-1973 type of reflecting plate were permitted as an option from 1968: many older may therefore carry the white/yellow reflective plates and, where they were first registered during or after 1968, they may have carried such plates since new. Many buses delivered to London Transport between 1973 and the mid-1980s continued to bear white-on-black plates. This was also true of some other bus operators, though only on the rear end in most instances; Reading Transport was one other operator which persisted with black front plates into the 1980s.


text: Characters on number plates purchased from 1 September 2001 do not use a specific named typeface, but must use what is known as the "prescribed font" within legislation set out in The Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001. One such example of a typeface adhering to this prescribed font is Mandatory, a variation of the frequently used Charles Wright typeface. However, the wording in the legislation designates that slight variations in typeface are legal providing they are "substantially similar" to the prescribed font.


text: Characters must also conform to set specifications as to width, height, stroke, spacing and margins. The physical characteristics of the number plates are set out in British Standard BS AU 145e (formerly BS AU 145d until 31 August 2021), which specifies visibility, strength, and reflectivity.


text: Number plates with smaller characters meeting standards for motorcycles are only permitted on imported vehicles, and then only if they do not have European Community Whole Vehicle Type Approval and their construction/design cannot accommodate standard size number plates, for example vehicles made for the US or Japanese market may only have a 305mm x 152mm (12" x 6") area to affix a number plate in which a standard one line plate is too long (460mm) to fit whilst a two line plates is too tall (199mm).


text: The industry standard size front number plate is 520 mm × 111 mm (20½" × 4⅜"). Rear plates are either the same size, or 285 mm × 203 mm (approx 11"x8") or 533 mm × 152 mm (approx 21"x6"). There is no specified legal size other than an absolute minimum margin of 11mm producing a minimum height of 101mm (one line) and 199mm (2 line) on cars, and 86mm for one line import vehicles and 164mm for a two line motorcycle or import vehicles, with the overall length being based on the registration number itself, with the smallest number plate possible being "1" having a minimum size of 36mm × 101mm on a car, or 32mm × 86mm on a motorcycle or import vehicle; whereas a 7 character registration number without a 1 or I having a minimum size of 460mm × 101mm (one line), or 255mm × 199mm (two line) on a car, or 231mm × 164mm on an import or motorbike.


text: The material of UK number plates must either comply with British Standard BS AU 145e, which states BSI number plates must be marked on the plate with the BSI logo and the name and postcode of the manufacturer and the supplier of the plates or


text: Older British plates had white, grey or silver characters on a black background. This style of plate was phased out in 1972 and, until 2012, legal to be carried only on vehicles first registered before 1 January 1973. A vehicle which was first registered on or after 1 January 1973 shall be treated as if it was first registered before that date if it was constructed before 1 January 1973. However, the Finance Bill 2014 and subsequent Finance Acts extended the Historic Vehicle class cut-off year from 1973 to 1974 and subsequently, a rolling forty years. This had the effect of linking eligibility to display old-style plates with 'Tax Exempt' vehicle status, provided that an application had been made to the DVLA to have the vehicle included in the historic vehicle class. However, this exemption was rescinded in 2021, with a new qualifying date for vehicles constructed before 1 January 1980 registered in the historic vehicle class.


text: Until 1975, motorcycles had to display a front plate, colloquially known as the "pedestrian slicer", which was usually but not always a double-sided plate on top of the front mudguard, curved to follow the contour of the wheel and visible from the sides. Motorcycles registered after 1 September 2001 may only display a rear number plate, while motorcycles registered before that date can display a number plate at the front if desired.


text: The current system for Great Britain was introduced on 1 September 2001. Each registration index consists of seven characters with a defined format.


text: In addition to the above local memory tags, personalised registrations are also offered with arbitrary "local memory tags" prefixes, except for the letters I, Q and Z but including the letters J, T and U, which are unused as area codes.


text: Vehicles registered in Great Britain are authorised by the nation's Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency to use number plates featuring the national flag of England, or Wales, Scotland or the Union flag, plus lettering. Either the full wording or the abbreviation is used ("ENG", "Eng", "ENGLAND" or "England" for the English flag, "CYM", "Cym", "CYMRU" , "Cymru", "WALES" or "Wales" for the Welsh flag, "SCO", "Sco", "SCOTLAND" or "Scotland" for the Scottish flag, "GB", "GREAT BRITAIN", "Great Britain", "UK" ,"UNITED KINGDOM" or "United Kingdom” for the Union flag respectively).


text: Only number plates with the distinguishing code "UK" on its own, or together with the Union flag are valid as a distinguishing sign when driving in countries party to the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic, as such number plate displays a distinguishing code for the country of registration incorporated into the vehicle registration plate, and is supplemented with a flag or emblem of the national state, and hence satisfies the requirements set out in the convention. A “UK" black on white sticker must be affixed at the rear of the vehicle when driving abroad if said vehicle has number plates with the national flag of England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland.


text: From October 2021 if an owner of a vehicle wishes to avoid attaching a separate black on white “UK” sticker, it is necessary for the number plates to display “UK” on the left side together with, optionally, a Union flag (NOT a national flag of England, Wales, Northern Ireland or Scotland). If the vehicle is driven in a country not a party to the Vienna Convention, a separate sign (black on white “UK” sticker) also has to be displayed at the rear of the vehicle. Of the EU countries, a separate identifier is only needed when travelling in Cyprus, Malta, and Spain, as they are not party to the convention.


text: The specification of plates incorporating the UK code was created by the British Number Plate Manufacturers Association, and is seen as the default design by the Department for Transport:


text: Up until 28 September 2021 the distinguishing sign was GB. On 30 June 2021, the United Nations published a notification stating that the United Kingdom has given three months' notification that it intended to change its distinguishing sign from GB to UK.


text: When the UK was a member state of the European Union, it was permissible (but never mandatory) to display number plates conforming to the common EU format introduced by Council Regulation (EC) No 2411/98, with a blue strip (in order to construct the background colour of the EU / Council flag) on the left side of the plate with the Flag of Europe (yellow or gold circle of stars) above the international vehicle registration code of the member state (GB). This format cannot be issued after the transition period ended.


text: EU member states that require foreign vehicles to display a distinguishing sign of the country of origin (e.g. 'UK’ for the United Kingdom) are obliged by Article 3 of EU Regulation No. 2411/98 to accept this standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state, making a separate sign unnecessary for vehicles registered in the EU.


text: After Brexit, other EU countries are no longer required to accept GB "Europlates", as the regulation only requires member states to accept the standard design as a distinguishing sign when displayed on a vehicle registered in another member state. After this, GB Euro-plates must be replaced by a number plate that features the UK sign in order to be valid as a national identifier.


text: The standard (79 mm height) typeface is set out in the Road Vehicles (Display of Registration Marks) Regulations 2001. An alternative (64 mm) font is provided for motorcycles (schedule 4 part 2, p. 24).


text: The standard font, unofficially known as "Charles Wright 2001", is a subtly redrawn version of Charles Wright's original 1935 font. The width of the previous font was condensed from 57 mm to 50 mm to allow space for the extra letter and the optional blue EU strip. The letter O and the digit 0 are intentionally identical, as are the letter I and digit 1. But the typeface accentuates the differences between characters such as 8 and B, or D and 0, with slab serifs to improve the legibility of a plate from a distance. This is especially useful for the automatic number plate recognition software of speed cameras and CCTV. This accentuation also discourages the tampering that is sometimes practised with the use of black insulating tape or paint to change letter forms (such as P to R, or 9 to 8), or with the inclusion of carefully positioned black "fixing screw" dots that alter the appearance of letters on some vanity plates.


text: The design has similarities with the FE-Schrift number-plate font which was introduced in Germany in 1994 and which has been mandatory there since 2000. However, the UK design remains more conventional in its character shapes.


text: Registrations having a combination of characters that are particularly appealing (resembling a name, for example) are auctioned each year. The first of these auctions was in 1989.


text: For the 07 registration period a higher than usual number of Scottish 07 codes were retained as Select registrations for sale and an additional allocation of Tx letter pairs were released for use by the local offices in Scotland with the same allocation as the Sx letter pairs (for example Edinburgh with SK to SN allocated had TK to TN added).


text: From 8 December 2020, vehicles with a Zero Emission value are allowed to display a green band on the left hand side of the plate, where the country identifier would usually sit. This is optional, and may be blank, or combined with the existing national flag options.


text: Vehicles registered under previous numbering systems continue to retain their original number plates but the area identifier in the previous number system is not the same area as the post-2001 area identifier, e.g. codice_1 pre-2001 is Bournemouth whereas codice_1 post-2001 is Peterborough. Subject to certain conditions, number plates can be transferred between vehicles by the vehicle owner; some of these transfers involve tens or even hundreds of thousands of pounds changing hands, because of the desirability of a specific letter/number combination.


text: The first series of number plates was issued in 1903 and ran until 1932, consisting of a one- or two-letter code followed by a sequence number from 1 to 9999. The code indicated the local authority in whose area the vehicle was registered. In England and Wales, these were initially allocated in order of population size (by the 1901 census) – thus codice_3 indicated London, codice_4 indicated Lancashire, codice_5 indicated the West Riding of Yorkshire and so on to codice_6 indicating Somerset, then codice_1 indicated Hampshire, codice_8 indicated Worcestershire and so on to codice_9 indicating Rutland.


text: The letters G, S and V were initially restricted to Scotland, and the letters I and Z to the whole of Ireland. In both cases, allocations of codes were made in alphabetical order of counties, followed by county boroughs – thus in Scotland, Aberdeenshire was allocated codice_10, Argyll received codice_11 and so on, while in Ireland Antrim was allocated codice_12, Armagh received codice_13, and so on.