title: The Kissing Booth 2

text: Adam Graham of "The Detroit News" gave the film a grade of B, writing that the film "is a sun-kissed fantasy with an appealing cast and a slick presentation that provides an easy escape, and that's OK, too." Robyn Bahr of "The Hollywood Reporter" wrote that the film "wades into the quagmire of what happens when the glow fades from a new relationship", and concluded: "As I might have said during my own high school days, "The Kissing Booth 2" is “mad stupid,” but it’s still not as overtly slappable as Netflix’s other low-budget teen comedies."


title: The Kissing Booth 2

text: "The Kissing Booth 3" was released on Netflix worldwide on Wednesday, August 11 at 12am PT and 3am ET in the US.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Ainsley Denzil Dubriel Harriott (born 28 February 1957) is an English chef and television presenter. He is known for his BBC cooking game shows "Can't Cook, Won't Cook" and "Ready Steady Cook".


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott was born in Paddington, London, to Peppy (née Strudwick) and pianist and singer, Chester Leroy Harriott (1933–2013). He has Jamaican heritage. Harriott attended Wandsworth Comprehensive School then trained at Westminster Kingsway College (formerly Westminster Technical College), and obtained an apprenticeship at Verrey's restaurant in London's West End, later working as a commis chef.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott's talents lie in comedy and singing as well as cooking. He formed the Calypso Twins with school friend Paul Boross, releasing a hit record in the early 1990s, "World Party". The Calypso Twins were regular performers at the Comedy Store and Jongleurs; they also performed in America and on TV and radio shows. Harriott became head chef at the Long Room of Lord's Cricket Ground. He was asked to present "More Nosh, Less Dosh" on BBC Radio 5 Live, and also has appeared as an extra in Hale and Pace.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott became the resident chef on "Good Morning with Anne and Nick" and later the main presenter of "Can't Cook, Won't Cook" and "Ready Steady Cook", both shows involving members of the public. He has presented more straightforward how-to-cook programmes such as "Ainsley's Barbecue Bible", "Ainsley's Meals in Minutes", "Ainsley's Big Cook Out" and "Ainsley's Gourmet Express."


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott played the part of a GELF chief in the sci-fi comedy series "Red Dwarf" in 1993. In 1998, for the show's 10th anniversary, Harriott presented a special edition of "Can't Cook, Won't Cook" called "Can't Smeg, Won't Smeg" with the cast of the show cooking a meal while remaining in character.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: In 2000, Harriott made his debut on US television with The Ainsley Harriott Show, syndicated by Buena Vista Television, which ran for more than 100 episodes. Following this he went on to host "Ready.. Set... Cook!", the US version of "Ready Steady Cook". Ainsley was guest chef on "Something for the Weekend" on 10 May 2009 and 21 February 2010 alongside guests JLS. In February 2010, Harriott joined the morning show "GMTV with Lorraine" featuring cookery recipes. From 2002 until 2007, Harriott appeared in TV adverts for Fairy Liquid.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: In September 2008, Harriott took part in the genealogy documentary series "Who Do You Think You Are?". Harriott knew that his great-grandfather Ebenezer Harriott was in the colonial West India Regiment, and had assumed that they were descended from slaves. In Barbados, he confirmed that his great-grandfather had a distinguished military career, and learnt that he had fought on the side of the British in the Hut Tax War of 1898 – an increasingly violent series of protests against systems of taxation in Sierra Leone. Although Harriott had assumed that his great-great-grandfather, James Gordon Harriott, was a black slave, he was revealed to be the descendant of a long line of white slaveowners.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott appeared in the final "My Family" Christmas special in 2010 "Mary Christmas". On 11 August 2015, he was announced as the second contestant of the thirteenth series of "Strictly Come Dancing". On 5 September 2015 it was revealed Harriott was paired with professional dancer Natalie Lowe for the thirteenth series. He was the fourth contestant to be voted off and finished twelfth.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2020 New Year Honours for services to broadcasting and the culinary arts.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott is a best-selling author, publishing twelve books as well as numerous others in conjunction with his television shows. Including foreign-language translations, he has sold over 2 million books worldwide.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott was the President of the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) 2004–05 and presented their awards ceremony that year. He markets his own range of food, including couscous, risotto, soups and cereal bars.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott played the role of the Narrator in "The Rocky Horror Show" at the New Theatre, Cardiff in March 2010, at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley in October 2010, and again at the Richmond Theatre in November 2010.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: He made a guest appearance in the BBC radio comedy series "Giles Wemmbley Hogg Goes Off" as himself in 2006.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: On 23 May 2022 Harriot saved his elder sister Jacqueline from drowning, after she fell head-first into a narrow water feature in the BBC Studios exhibition garden, at the Chelsea Flower Show. She was dragged to safety by a group of people including "DIY SOS" presenter Nick Knowles.


title: Ainsley Harriott

text: Harriott married former costume designer Clare Fellows, the youngest sister of comedian and actor Graham Fellows. They have two children. In November 2012, the couple were reported to have separated and they remain on good terms.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: El Chavo (English: "The Kid"); — also known as El Chavo del Ocho (English: "The Kid from number Eight") during its earliest episodes —, is a Mexican television sitcom created by Roberto Gómez Bolaños, produced by Televisa. It premiered on April 27, 1972 and ended on June 12, 1992 after 7 seasons and 311 episodes. The series gained enormous popularity in Hispanic America, Brazil, Spain and other countries. The series theme song is a rendition of Ludwig van Beethoven's "Turkish March", rearranged by Jean-Jacques Perrey & retitled “The Elephant Never Forgets”.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The show follows the adventures and tribulations of the title character—a poor orphan nicknamed "El Chavo" (which means "The Kid"), played by the show's creator, Roberto Gómez Bolaños "Chespirito"—and his friends, which often cause conflict, of a comedic nature, between the other inhabitants of a fictional low-income housing complex, or, as called in Mexico, "vecindad". The idea for the show emerged from a sketch created by Gómez Bolaños where an 8-year-old boy competed with a balloon vendor in a park, said sketch aired for the first time on April 27, 1972. The show centered great importance into the development of the characters, which were each assigned a distinctive personality. Since the beginning, Gómez Bolaños decided that "El Chavo" would be directed toward an adult audience, even though the show itself was about adults interpreting kids. The main cast consisted of Gómez Bolaños, Ramón Valdés, Carlos Villagrán, María Antonieta de las Nieves, Florinda Meza, Rubén Aguirre, Angelines Fernández and Édgar Vivar, who interpreted El Chavo, Don Ramón, Quico, Chilindrina, Doña Florinda, Profesor Jirafales, Doña Clotilde and Señor Barriga. Direction and production of the series fell on Gómez Bolaños, Enrique Segoviano and Carmen Ochoa.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo" first appeared in 1972 as a sketch in the "Chespirito" show which was produced by Televisión Independiente de México (TIM). In 1973, following the merger of TIM and Telesistema Mexicano, it was produced by Televisa and became a weekly half-hour series, which ran until 1980. After that year, shorts continued to be shown in "Chespirito" until 1992. At its peak of popularity during the mid-1970s, it had a Latin American audience of over 350 million viewers per episode. Given the popularity of the show, the cast went on a global tour to countries in which the show already aired and, in a series of presentations, the cast would dance and act in front of the public.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The Brazilian Portuguese dub, "Chaves", has been inferred by Brazilian TV Network SBT since 1984, was also seen on the Brazilian versions of Cartoon Network and Boomerang, and currently is also seen on Multishow. Since 2 May 2011, it has aired in the United States on the UniMás network. It previously aired on sister network Univision and its predecessor, the Spanish International Network. It spawned an animated series titled "El Chavo Animado".


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo" continues to be popular with syndicated episodes averaging 91 million daily viewers in all of the markets where it is distributed in the Americas. Since it ceased production in 1992, it has earned an estimated US$1.7 billion in syndication fees alone for Televisa.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo del Ocho" is a comedy sitcom set in a "vecindad", a typical Mexican townhouse neighborhood that is owned by Señor Barriga and houses most of the main characters, where they interact with one another on a daily basis. Señor Barriga is almost always seen in the neighborhood and is usually there to collect the monthly rent from his residents. His best tenants are Doña Florinda and Doña Clotilde, who pay every month on time. His worst tenant is Don Ramón, who never pays his rent and either hides from Señor Barriga until he leaves or uses trickery to waive the payment for later. Not inhabitants of the vecindad are: Señor Barriga and his son Ñoño, Profesor Jirafales, Godínez, and Popis. The main character, El Chavo, is an orphan 8-year-old boy who gets into disagreements, usually with Don Ramón, Doña Clotilde, and Doña Florinda, due to misunderstandings, distractions or general mischief. He is usually accompanied by his friends: Quico and Chilindrina. Usually, you will find him in a wooden barrel, located in the 'patio de la vecindad', where he likes to hide, especially after getting into a disagreement where he ends up getting scolded.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Each episode uses comedic strategies, such as slapstick, irony, recurring jokes, and funny situations in which the neighbors are usually getting into. It includes the use of pre-recorded laughter tracks to emphasize comic scenes.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The sitcom explores, in a comical manner, the problems that many homeless children face on a daily basis, such as hunger, sadness, loneliness, and a lack of adult supervision and attention. On one episode, for example, Chavo was sitting on the stairsteps of the vecindad at night, dreaming of all the toys he wished that he could have and how he'd play with them. It ended with him returning to the present, sighing wistfully, then pulling out a balero (the only toy he'd ever had on a regular basis) made of a stick, a tin can, and a piece of string. He begins to play with it as the camera slowly fades out. Some episodes also have educational endings, teaching, for example, that it's good to take a shower and to not judge a book by its cover.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: El Patio, the central courtyard, is the setting for most of the episodes. Surrounding the patio, are the homes of Jaimito "El Cartero" who lives up the stairs in #23 (from 1982 onwards), Doña Florinda and her son Quico in #14, Doña Clotilde in #71, and Don Ramón and his daughter Chilindrina in #72. The hallway on the right between #71 and #72 leads to "el otro patio", the other courtyard, which at times has a fountain in the middle. On the street facade at the left, la tienda de la esquina (corner store) and a barber shop are shown adjacent to the neighborhood's entry.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo" was filmed in a fictitious neighborhood set at studios 2, 5 and 8 of Televisa San Angel in Mexico City.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In the later seasons, sometimes an unnamed park was shown. Several episodes are set in Professor Jirafales's classroom, where he teaches; all the child characters in the sitcom attend the same classroom, sometimes with their parents. Others are set inside Doña Florinda's restaurant, a barber shop (where Don Ramón worked at one point), and the sidewalk located at the entrance of the vecindad. Three episodes were filmed in Acapulco, which also served as a vacation for the entire cast. In 1992, the last El Chavo sketches were filmed in Professor Jirafales' classroom. The last sketch for El Chavo was a 1992 remake of Clases de Inglés.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: By 1972, Roberto Gómez Bolaños was already well known in Mexico for his self-titled sketch comedy show, "Chespirito," which was produced by Televisión Independiente de México and aired on XHTIM-TV, channel 8 (now XEQ-TV channel 9, Gala TV). He had already introduced El Chapulín Colorado and other characters.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Roberto Gómez Bolaños was the show's main creator and star. He called Florinda Meza to act in the show first; Chespirito and Meza later married. Édgar Vivar was the second actor chosen for the show. A mutual friend recommended Vivar to Gómez Bolaños when he started casting. Gómez Bolaños cited Vivar at Forum 8 at Telesistema Mexicano – where shooting was taking place. Vivar showed up as a scene was shooting; he laughed and the scene had to 'cut'. Gómez Bolaños approached him, asked him if he was Vivar, and told him that they would not be using an earpiece, to which Vivar responded that he didn't know what he was talking about. He hired him on the spot. Roberto Gómez Bolaños recruited Ramón Valdés because he had known Valdés for years and had seen multiple movies Valdés had made. Then, Rubén Aguirre was cast in the show as the character of "Profesor Jirafales". Aguirre and Roberto Gómez Bolaños had been working on scripts together for years, and Aguirre had already been playing the character of Professor Jirafales on another Chespirito show, "Supergenios de la Mesa Cuadrada", which spoofed current events panel discussion. Carlos Villagrán just happened to be a friend of Aguirre who was a newspaper reporter, and he went to a party hosted by Aguirre. Villagrán did a comedy step where he blew his cheeks out of proportion, and Aguirre told Roberto Gómez Bolaños about his friend's hidden talent. Villagrán was promptly hired for the show. María Antonieta de las Nieves was a voice-over only actress who used to go to Televisa to make announcements. Upon hearing her voice, Roberto Gómez Bolaños thought she was perfect for the show. At first, she refused by telling him she was not a comedy actress, but Roberto Gómez Bolaños's retort challenged her: "Then you're not a good actress: there are no dramatic or comic actors—there are only actors." The last additions to the show were Angelines Fernández, a former film actress and Horacio Gómez Bolaños, Roberto's younger brother who had never considered acting before; he was originally to oversee the show's marketing.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The first "El Chavo" sketch was broadcast on 1972 and there is little information about that time, but possibly premiered on April 27, since El Chavo was created to replace sketch Los Chifladitos, Sketch in which Chespirito and Ruben Aguirre they played two madmen, Chaparrón Bonaparte and Lucas Tañeda. As Ruben Aguirre had left the program, the sketch needed to be replaced and that was when Chespirito created El Chavo Del Ocho. Several "Chavo" sketches produced before the start of the half-hour series were grouped into half-hour segments and are shown before the "official" half-hour episodes in syndication. Many of these were also re-written and re-shot as half-hour-long shows later in the show's life.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: On January 8, 1973, Telesistema Mexicano and Televisión Independiente de México merged to become Televisa. After the merger, on February 26, 1973, "El Chavo del Ocho" premiered as a half-hour weekly television series.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The early shows were composed of a sketch at the beginning, featuring Dr. Chapatín, El Chómpiras, or one of Roberto Gómez Bolaños' other characters, and two short episodes of the main character. Those episodes were actually sketches filmed in 1972–73 which probably were supposed to be shown on "Chespirito," which was cancelled. After some of those episodes which introduced the first years of the show, the show began to consist of an almost half-hour episode preceded by one sketch starring Roberto Gómez Bolaños himself and his characters, as in the first show structure.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: At the end of the first season, María Antonieta de las Nieves left the show because of her pregnancy. During the episodes of the first season, including those filmed in 1972–73, it was noted De Las Nieves generally played the female leads and was the first actor credited after Chespirito. In her absence, Florinda Meza took over the female roles for the non-Chavo del 8 sketches, and El Chavo and Quico became a great comic couple. During the period when de las Nieves was out of the series, the argument was made that Chilindrina was living with her aunts in Celaya, Guanajuato. In March 1975, the character made a comeback in an episode dedicated to her: El Regreso de la Chilindrina. During this absence, Bolaños introduced new characters: Ñoño, la Pópis, Malicha, and Godínez.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The second season began with El Chavo and Quico as the comic child characters, including Don Ramón as the charismatic adult character. During that season, the classroom scenes began to appear, alongside other child characters like Ñoño (the son of Señor Barriga, both characters played by Edgar Vivar), Popis (one of Florinda Meza's other characters), and the relaxed Godínez (played by Horacio Gómez Bolaños, brother of Roberto Gómez Bolaños).


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: De las Nieves was given "distinctive" last billing when she returned in 1975. After Villagrán and Valdés left in 1978 and 1979 respectively, she was moved to top billing after Chespirito again. On the hour-long "Chespirito", De las Nieves was often given third billing behind Chespirito and Florinda Meza if playing another character besides Chilindrina, otherwise she always got the special final credit.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: When Carlos Villagrán left the show, it was explained that Quico had gone to live with his rich grandmother. "He couldn't stand the riffraff anymore", Doña Florinda explained. Not long after, Ramón Valdés also left the series. Chilindrina explained that Don Ramón left the city to look for a job and that he wouldn't return until he was a millionaire. With the loss of two of its major supporting characters, the ratings for the show slid and Televisa cancelled "El Chavo" on January 7, 1980.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: On August 1, 2020, all broadcasters showing "El Chavo" and other shows by Chespirito in several countries had to suspend the broadcast of the series in their services due to deadlocks between Televisa and the Grupo Chespirito, which owns the characters and the scripts for the episodes. Grupo Televisa is currently in talks with several studios to distribuite past and future projects, including "El Chavo".


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Later in 1980, Gomez Bolaños returned with a revived version of "Chespirito" featuring El Chavo, El Chapulín Colorado and other characters. The debut of El Chavo in this program was auspicious, with a wealth of new episodes being produced. Moreover, in 1981, Valdés joined "Chespirito" after starring in some unsuccessful shows alongside Villagrán. However, he left again at the end of the year. The number of new episodes started to decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s, so once again, many early episodes were remade.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Eventually, Chespirito's age began to catch up with him and it became harder for him to adequately portray some of his characters, especially El Chavo and El Chapulin Colorado. In 1992, at the age of 63, Chespirito retired the El Chavo character from his show (he did the same thing to El Chapulin Colorado one year later).


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In 1978, Villagrán left the show to start his own with Quico, with the permission of Gómez Bolaños. Within some time, he felt that the character's rights were his and sued Gómez Bolaños. The results of the lawsuit were favorable to the show's creator. Later on, Villagrán admitted that his exit was due to jealousy and envy between his character's and El Chavo. According to Vivar, Chespirito accustomed to write all the best jokes in the show for Quico, whom he knew was very popular with the audience. Regardless of his conflict with Chespirito, Villagrán recorded his last episodes with his cast mates in 1978 with what seemed typical normalcy. Once he abandoned El Chavo del Ocho, Villagrán wanted to use the character in another Televisa show, which to Gómez Bolaños denied his consent due to Villagrán denying his authorship to create Quico. Due to this, Azcárraga Milmo opted to cancel the independent project for Quico. Regardless, Villagrán continued to use Quico's character in Venezuela in 1981.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In that time, producers Valentín Pimstein and Fabián Arnaud asked Gómez Bolaños to write a script for an adapted film of "El Chapulin Colorado" or "El Chavo del Ocho." Gómez Bolaños denied this request due to his belief that El Chavo was uniquely developed in the vecindad and therefore would find it difficult to provide a new storyline that would be relevant with what has already been shown in the series. In its place, they coincided in producing "El Chanfle", which counted with the same cast as El Chavo del Ocho. In this movie, Villagrán also debuted, even though he was distanced from his fellow cast mates.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Later, in 1979, Valdés abandoned El Chavo due to personal reasons. Because of this, Chespirito hired Raúl Chato Padilla to integrate into the vecindad in 1980, but Chespirito did not want to replace Don Ramón. In his place, Padilla would become a new character, Jaimito el Cartero, which in one way or another, became the replacement for Don Ramón. In 1981, Valdés reincorporated with the cast, but in 1982 he debuted alongside Villagrán in the series "Federrico". Six years later, in 1988, he worked with him once more in "¡Ah, qué Kiko!". Valdés's health was delicate during this time due to being diagnosed with stomach cancer. On August 9 of that same year, he died.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In 2002, Gómez Bolaños sued De las Nieves due to disagreements over rights to La Chilindrina. In 1995, De las Nieves recorded herself as the owner of the author's rights, which to Gómez Bolaños responded that he was the owner of the character being the creator. De las Nieves was not involved in the recording of the animated series El Chavo del Ocho, and was replaced by Ñoño and Popis.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Due to this dispute, Gómez Bolaños and De las Nieves's friendship took a toll and they stopped communicating.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: El Chavo is a farcical sitcom: it relied heavily upon physical comedy, running gags, literal interpretations, double entendres, misinterpretation (and even, sometimes, elements from the comedy of errors) in order to amuse the audience, and the characters and situations were mostly persistent.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In the series many objects are used as symbols of either the characters or of the neighborhood itself. The most iconic of these was the wooden barrel near the entrance of the neighborhood. This was El Chavo "secret hiding place", and most of the characters were unaware that he had an apartment where he lived. A running gag about this is that they believed this was El Chavo's actual residence, which El Chavo was quick to clarify. Other symbols in the series include Quico's ball and other toys, lollipops and balloons which represented the children, Don Ramón's cap, Doña Florinda's curls, Profesor Jirafales's cigar, the flowers of the budding romance of the latter two, Doña Clotilde's broom, etc.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Direction and production fell into the hands of Carmen Ochoa and Enrique Segoviano, whom had previously worked with Gómez Bolaños on the series "Chespirito." In some episodes, Gómez Bolaños appears listed in the credits as the scene director, alongside Segoviano. Mary Cabañas, Tere de la Cueva, Ersilia Anderlini and Norma Gutiérrez were Ochoa's and the production team's assistants. Luis Felipe Macías was in charge of production, Saltiel Peláez was responsible for the forum where episodes were filmed, and Gabriel Vázquez was the camera director. At once, there were up to three cameramen to record a single episode; among them, were Andrés H. Salinas, José M. Carrillo, Jaime Sánchez and Armando Soto. The scenography was the responsibility of Julio Lattuf (in episodes from 1976 and 1977), of Gabriel Bernal (in 1977 and 1978) and of Alicia Cázares (in 1979), while Leopoldo Sánchez and Alberto García were in charge. Episodes were recorded in Forum 8 and 5 of Televisa San Ángel, although there were some exceptions where they were filmed outside, such as when the vecindad visits Acapulco. Some sources state that this episode was the only one where the whole cast was filmed together. Costumes were provided by Casa Tostado, located in Mexico City, which specializes in customized designs.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: A unique aspect of most of the episodes is the recorded laughter tracks heard when a character does or says something funny or a comedic situation occurs. Villagrán commented «Americans made a study that demonstrated that hearing real recorded laughter caused the viewer to laugh. Since then, we use it[...] people are used to that».


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Some episodes are set up in synchronized order; for example, to record Doña Florinda's slaps towards Don Ramón, the camera took an important role in the take, because it made the interaction between the two character seem more realistic. For example, a clap was used for the sound of the slap. These types of audio effects were realized under the supervision of Carlos Inzunza, Javier Torres and José Guzmán in the 1976 episodes. Editing was realized in the center of postproduction of Televisa, by Manuel Hong and Martín Santillana, special effects were produced by Raúl Gutiérrez, Víctor G. Ávila and René Tirado in the first seasons emitted in the 1970s.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The song used in the opening sequence of "El Chavo del Ocho" is "The elephant never forgets" composed by Jean-Jacques Perrey in 1970. This melody is based on Ludwig van Beethoven's "Turkish March" Op. 113.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In the opening sequence, De las Nieves was the first in charge of the presentation during the first two seasons (1972 and 1973), then Meza was left in charge when De las Nieves left, since the end of 1973 into beginning of 1974. Previously, in 1974, Jorge Gutiérrez Zamora becomes the one in charge of the presentation. His first presentation was in the episode "El billete de lotería" [The lottery ticket]. Gutiérrez was in charge until 1979, who was preceded in that same year by Aguirre until the last episode as an independent series in 1980, including in the first years of the series Chespirito (between 1980 and 1981). In 1983, Gabriel Fernández, De las Nieves's husband, acted as the narrator who presents the stellar cast. His first presentation was the episode in which Valdés returns to the show. Regarding the closing sequence, the credits only feature the production team responsible for the respective episode, with the last scene being of them or a related image, along with the musical theme used in the opening.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In its first moment, music in El Chavo del Ocho was conducted by Ángel Álvarez, Luis A. Diazayas, René Tirado, and later, by Alejandro García. In some episodes, melodies were used to emphasize certain scenes. Among these are «The Second Star to the Right», originally composed for the animated movie "Peter Pan", «Funeral March», written by Frédéric Chopin, «Miss Lilly Higgins Sings Shimmy In Mississippi's Spring» by Argentinian band Les Luthiers, «Minnie's Yoo Hoo» from Disney, «Gonna Fly Now» from "Rocky", among others.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In 1977, Polydor Records, subsidiary of Universal Music, distributed the LP record ""Así cantamos y vacilamos en la vecindad del Chavo"" [Like this we sing and play in El Chavo's neighborhood], with songs that were incorporated in some episodes of the series. The record has 10 tracks in total, with a duration of little over a half hour. Among them is the song «La vecindad del Chavo» [El Chavo's neighborhood] (also known as «Qué bonita vecindad» [What a lovely neighborhood]), which went on to be one of the musical themes which the series would be associated with, after the melody was used as the opening sequence. Three years later, in 1980, another 3 records named ""Síganme los buenos a la vecindad del Chavo"", were distributed, also in LP format, with songs from "El Chapulín Colorado" and "El Chavo". In 1981, the LP record ""El Chavo canta Eso, eso, eso...!"" came out, with 10 tracks in total, distributed by PolyGram. Over a decade later, in 1992, the first CD with the series music was commercialized in following sequence, such as ""Así cantamos y vacilamos en la vecindad del Chavo"" (2000) and ""Así cantamos y vacilamos en la vecindad del Chavo volumen 2"" (2007), in the same format.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Some of the songs reference a specific theme, according to whichever episode they will be debuted in. For example, the song «Gracias Cri-Cri» [Thank you, Cri-Cri] is dedicated to Francisco Gabilondo Soler, Mexican singer/songwriter known as 'cri-cri', dubbed as "the most important creator of child music in Mexico", or the song, «Eso, eso, eso» which, apart from being one of the phrases most repeated by El Chavo, is about love and joy. In a similar manner, «Óyelo, escúchalo» [Hear him, Listen] has a theme associated to religion in mentioning Jesus Christ.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The show is the most translated Latin American show in history – translated to more than 50 languages, after being shown in several countries. It is the most popular sitcom in the history of Mexican television and lasted for 324 episodes and 316 sketches in the Chespirito show in the 1980s (the 1,300 episode count frequently cited is wrong as it includes all the episodes of El Chavo, El Chapulín, Los Caquitos, Los Chifladitos and other series of Chespirito). It has been rerun on several TV stations since the 1970s. El Chavo is also highly popular in Brazil, where it has been dubbed into Portuguese with the name of "Chaves", broadcast by SBT; historically, since its premiere, the show has repeatedly recorded the first audience place at all time-slots in which it was broadcast. The main reasons for the immediate success of the program is the similarity between the social realities and the culture of Brazil and Mexico, which added to the ease of adaptation of the dialogue and jokes between Spanish and Brazilian Portuguese. In the United States, the show is still shown on UniMás and Galavisión as of 2012. The show in the United States is consistently the No. 1-rated Spanish-language cable program.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The show was so popular in Latin America and among the Spanish speaking community of the United States that many of the phrases El Chavo and his friends used have become part of the vernacular of countries like Peru, Uruguay, and Argentina. "Chespirito" has established legal battles with former "El Chavo del Ocho" actors out of a desire to prevent them from using the show's characters in Mexico without his permission. Villagrán moved to Argentina in order to use his character's name on his shows ("Chespirito" is not copyrighted in Argentina). María Antonieta de las Nieves, however, won a court battle against Gómez Bolaños for the right to appear in Mexico as la Chilindrina. Nonetheless, in 2012, after a long judicial battle, de las Nieves retired her character. She declared that a long judicial battle against Bolaños ruined her career and that her public image was tarnished, which "burned" her name in the market. Currently, the only cast members who did not sue Bolaños were Édgar Vivar, who retired his character after bariatric surgery, and Bolaños' wife, Florinda Meza.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo" rapidly became the most successful show on Channel 8, being one of the few to best the viewing quota from Channel 2 in its time. In the beginning, the series was considered "vulgar", even though it counted with a "good dramatic structure". Aguirre mentioned that it was qualified as "trash, stupid content". In Colombia, the government sought to forbid the distribution of the series due to their belief of it being "dehumanizing", while in Brazil some executives from the SBT chain qualified it as "not recommendable" for distribution.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Even though Gómez Bolaños declared that the show was not intended for children as an audience, there are studies that children prefer to view shows that allow "them to relax through laughter", and "El Chavo del Ocho" was one of those shows that allowed them to do so. For Valerio Fuenzalida Fernández, from Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, many adults "have in general enormous difficulty to value humor television programs for children, under the prejudice that humor would be a useless and irrelevant distraction, therefore a waste of time" and would therefore prefer kids to be invested in watching educative shows, which he believed was an incorrect prejudice on their part.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: One of the themes that the show has been criticized for is violence. In a survey conducted in Ecuador, in 2008, to more than 1400 parents and kids, it was concluded that the blows that Don Ramón gives the kids of the vecindad, and the slaps that Doña Florinda gives him, represent a bad influence for the young audience. Patricia Ávila Muñoz, in the Spaniard magazine "Sphera Pública", determined that it uses blank humor, and it is apart from the familiar aspect by showing "isolated characters, and adults who are frequently made fun of by the kids". She added that the dialogue was "lazy and tasteless". She compared the series to The Simpsons, by "presenting one of the possible reflections of society... but minimizes social issues". In addition, other authors have included discrimination and the aggressions against physical stereotypes of some of the characters, such as an object of criticism. In this sense, Señor Barriga is always hit by El Chavo. Also, his obesity is cause of him being a constant target of mockery by the other characters. Popis, whose predominant characteristic is her nasally voice, in one moment produced the nonconformity by one parent whom, in one of the tours by the cast, expressed that her form of speaking was a jab at kids who had the same problem.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In spite of the previous critics, there were those who praised the content of the show. For Chilean editor of the diary "El Mercurio," Paulo Ramírez: "El Chavo is one of the characters and one of those series that is eternal"; in his analysis, he made emphasis that, in spite of being a Mexican series, it contained "universal situations", and recognized the popularity due to that whichever spectator could identity "with a really impressive harmony" with the characters and their situations, especially those relating to friendship and betrayal. In 2010, Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa expressed that "El Chavo" is "the best TV show" and praised the script, the characters, and the actor's abilities, especially Villagrán's as Quico. Due to the type of humor, it is considered the preceding show of double meaning in Latin America.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The Brazilian writer, Ruth Rocha highlighted, like Ramírez, the universal theme from a perspective "incredibly childlike". Also, pointed out that one of the reasons for the radical success was in "what we see in the kids, animated, but real children in the manner of their relationships, reactions and expressions [...] we can not only see a Mexican kid, but a kid who could be Brazilian, Argentinian, or Chinese, what we see is a child who reminds us we once were too". In a similar manner, Joaquín Bode noted in his review published on the website Veintemundos.com, that the show became popular with the audience of various countries because it "reflects the way of being and living of the Latinos very well; but also the unforgettable and loved characters, where they live, and their moral and religious aspects were part of a common identity [...] it's a loyal reflection of the social reality of Latin America: people of low social class, unemployed, single parents, that in spite of all the problems, manage to move on with hope, good humor, loyalty, and friendship".


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Brendan Koerner, from the American online magazine "Slate", compared the series style, practically staged on one set (the vecindad), with the musical "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown" (1967). He also commented that the Hispanic population in the United States watches "El Chavo del Ocho" mainly due to "nostalgia" which entails watching Mexican productions in a country different from their own. He noted in his reporting that the show keeps being successful due to being transmitted generation after generation. Similar to his opinion, Carolina Sanín, who wrote for "Semana opinión" (former "Revista Arcadia"), mentioned that thanks to the "structure and aesthetics of comedy, and its juxtapositions", the show became one of the most memorable to her. She reflected the possibility that its content constituted a metaphor regarding education and the nonexistent "inner child".


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In 1974, "El Chavo" was awarded, along with "El Chapulín Colorado", with the by the newspaper of the same name, as "the best comedy show of Mexican television". In 2004, the Mexican association, A Favor de lo Mejor, gave the award "Qualitas" to El Chavo as "best entertainment show on Mexican television" and in 2011, Televisa recognized the franchise as one of the most "productive brands in the company" in that year. In the award ceremony, of the respective award, Roberto Gómez Fernández emphasized: "It passed the test of time, without doubt is, a timeless work which will continue for a long time". Regarding distinctions, the Chilean magazine "Qué Pasa" classified "El Chavo del Ocho" as one of the "shows most featured on Chilean television", and Google distinguished it in 2016 as a "golden button" for being "the first show on Mexican television to obtain a million subscribers" on YouTube.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The popularity the series generated allowed some of actors to present in their own circuses, on the national level as well as international. Such is the case with the circuses for Profesor Jirafales between the years of 1970 and 2000, Quico in the 1990s, La Chilindrina in the 2000s and 2010s, and Señor Barriga. At the same time, the show's creator, Chespirito, has gone on to be an icon in entertainment due to the success of "El Chapulin Colorado" and "El Chavo del 8".


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: After the ending of the series, Gómez Bolaños continued as a writer and screenwriter, and, in 2004, married his co-star, Florinda Meza, while De las Nieves and Villagrán continued their interpretations of Chilindrina and Quico, with whom they presented in other countries and recorded discs. Both had legal issues with Gómez Bolaños due to the author rights for their respective characters, for which they have been distanced from him and other members of the cast. Vivar participated in the movie, "El Orfanato" (2007) and in the telenovela "Para Volver a Amar" (2010). Regarding his participation in "El Chavo del 8", Vivar mentioned it caused "nostalgia and good feelings [..] knowing so many people, traveled to many places" referencing the show's transmission, he mentioned that "it is a luxury that not everybody has the opportunity to experience".


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo del Ocho" has been transmitted in televised chains in various countries of Latin America and the United States; until 2011, it continued to distribute to at least 20 countries, among them Mexico. According to writer Julia Burg, the series' success was such that "episodes can still be seen in various channels across the world and children will keep growing up with El Chavo", even though "society changes, different from the preceding one where actions such as hitting kids was a disciplinary action" for their mischief, which in the contemporary era is not seen as appropriate. The rebroadcasts have made him one of the most successful shows in the history of television, according to "Forbes". In Brazil, for example, in 2003 various people protested on the street to request SBT to continue the broadcast of "El Chavo" on its channel. Their petitions acquired the continued broadcast by executives.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: "El Chavo" was recognized as "the Mickey Mouse of Mexican television", due to its success on the international level and its adaptation of the hit animated series in 2006, the first animated production created by Televisa. At the same time, the show incorporated various idioms and phrases into the popular dialect, which include:


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: These, along with others and full dialogues, were characterized as signs of identity of their respective characters in most of the episodes. An example of a repetitive full dialogue would be the greeting between Doña Florinda and Profesor Jirafales, who would always arrive with a bouquet of flower to give her, or the words that Doña Florinda said every time she was about to slap Don Ramón.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: Over the course of the years, homages have been realized by other shows in commemoration to "El Chavo", such as in Mexican productions "Código F.A.M.A" and "Big Brother", or the Chilean "Teletón 2007", where a sketch was featured, in which De las Nieves participated. It has served as inspiration for other programs, such as "Vila Maluca", transmitted in Brazil. Regarding the popularity of the characters, an Argentinian survey in 2010 showed that La Chilindrina was the only feminine character that was an audience favorite, while Don Ramón celebrated with a considerable following by the Brazilian audience (where he is known as Seu Madruga), country which in video games and clothing have been created in the character's image, apart from being inspiration for some rock bands. In El Salvador, the same character served as an image for a civil campaign in 2010, which promoted Salvadorians to not pay extortions to gangsters for guarantee regarding their safety. In mid-2012, the character Jaimito el Cartero, was recognized with a bronze statue located on the Mexican municipality of Tangamandapio, Michoacán, which was where the character was from in "El Chavo del 8". Costumes have also been used by personalities such as soccer players Sebastián González, who, in 2004, used El Chavo's distinctive hat to celebrate a goal, and Lionel Messi, who wore Quico's suit during a costume party in 2012.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In 2012, with the 40th anniversary of his debut as motive, an homage "América Celebra a Chespirito" realized in Auditorio Nacional in which almost 10,000 people attended, among them, artists such as Juan Gabriel, Xavier Chabelo López and Thalía, and was organized by 17 countries, among them Mexico. As part of the festivities, a choreography of the song «Qué bonita vecindad» occurred in the Monumento a la Revolución. The program was transmitted in simultaneous manner in more than 9 countries of Latin America, including, other choreographies were done in other countries, apart from the one in Mexico. In similar fashion, Correos de México launched a series of five stamps printed with the images of El Chavo and El Chapulín Colorado.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: After several years of successful reruns, Televisa launched an animated spin-off of the program in October 2006. "El Chavo Animado" was produced by Ánima Estudios using 2D and 3D computer graphics. They animated the characters with Adobe Flash. Televisa distributed the cartoon throughout Latin America.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The cartoon also allowed depicting the children to the right scale. Previously, since the children were played by adults in the show, the feel was given to the character through their way of dressing, speaking, and mainly through giving them oversized toys. However, this was not the first attempt to animate it. Previous credits sequences featured a claymation animation.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In this animated series, Chilindrina doesn't appear due to on-going disputes between María Antonieta de las Nieves and Roberto Gómez Bolaños on the rights of "La Chilindrina". De las Nieves feels that she should be entitled to monetary compensation if "La Chilindrina", the character she brought to life in the television series, appears in the animated series. Roberto Gómez Bolaños claims that since he created the character, only he owns the rights to such character. This dispute still hasn't been resolved and so, the characters Ñoño and Popis has since taken over the role that once belonged to La Chilindrina in the first session where the chapters were basically animated adaptations of classic Chavo episodes.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The show was dubbed into English by the Dubbing House, a Mexican post-production company, making it the first Chespirito program to be dubbed in English. The English soundtrack was recorded at Henckahontas Studio in Burbank, California.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: The animated series achieved enough fame to have its own videogames, such as a self-titled board/party game for the Nintendo Wii, the racing game "El Chavo Kart" for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and a social game that could be played through Facebook called La Vecindad del Chavo.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: A second "El Chavo" animated series, which will take place in the "Chespirito Media Universe", is in development.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: In December 2020, Roberto Gomez Fernandez revealed that Grupo Chespirito is currently considering an "El Chavo" spin-off centered on one of its secondary characters.


title: El Chavo del Ocho

text: During a visit to Peru in 2008, Roberto Gómez Bolaños told the media that he originally planned to make a proper finale to "El Chavo del Ocho": in this finale, El Chavo would die by being run over by a car, trying to save another kid. However, one of Bolaños' daughters, who is a psychologist, convinced her father to drop the idea, since according to her, it could depress many children and even lead them to commit suicide.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Warwick Castle is a medieval castle developed from a wooden fort, originally built by William the Conqueror during 1068. Warwick is the county town of Warwickshire, England, situated on a meander of the River Avon. The original wooden motte-and-bailey castle was rebuilt in stone during the 12th century. During the Hundred Years War, the facade opposite the town was refortified, resulting in one of the most recognisable examples of 14th-century military architecture. It was used as a stronghold until the early 17th century, when it was granted to Sir Fulke Greville by James I in 1604. Greville converted it to a country house, and it was owned by the Greville family (who became Earls of Warwick in 1759) until 1978, when it was bought by the Tussauds Group.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In 2007, the Tussauds Group was purchased by the Blackstone Group, which merged it with Merlin Entertainments. Warwick Castle was then sold to Nick Leslau's investment firm, Prestbury Group, under a sale and leaseback agreement. Merlin continues to operate the site under a renewable 35-year lease.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Warwick Castle is situated in the town of Warwick, on a sandstone bluff at a bend of the River Avon. The river, which runs below the castle on the east side, has eroded the rock the castle stands on, forming a cliff. The river and cliff form natural defences. When construction began in 1068, four houses belonging to the Abbot of Coventry were demolished to provide space. The castle's position made it strategically important in safeguarding the Midlands against rebellion. During the 12th century, King Henry I was suspicious of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick. To counter the earl's influence, Henry bestowed Geoffrey de Clinton with a position of power rivalling that of the earl. The lands he was given included Kenilworth – a castle of comparable size, cost, and importance, founded by Clinton – which is about to the north. Warwick Castle is about from Warwick railway station and less than from junction 15 of the M40 motorway; it is also relatively close to Birmingham Airport.


title: Warwick Castle

text: An Anglo-Saxon burh was established on the site in 914; with fortifications instigated by Æthelflæd, daughter of Alfred the Great. The burh she established was one of ten which defended Mercia against the invading Danes. Its position allowed it to dominate the Fosse Way, as well as the river valley and the crossing over the River Avon. Though the motte to the south-west of the present castle is now called "Ethelfleda's Mound" ('Ethelfleda' being an alternative form of Æthelflæd), it is in fact part of the later Norman fortifications, and not of Anglo-Saxon origin.


title: Warwick Castle

text: It was also at this time that what is now Warwick School was founded in the castle - making it arguably the oldest boys' school in the country. It still resides just over the River Avon, visible from all of the castle's towers.


title: Warwick Castle

text: After the Norman conquest of England, William the Conqueror established a motte-and-bailey castle at Warwick in 1068 to maintain control of the Midlands as he advanced northwards. Building a castle in a pre-existing settlement could require demolishing properties on the intended site. In the case of Warwick, the least recorded of the 11 urban castles in the 1086 survey, four houses were torn down to make way for the castle. A motte-and-bailey castle consists of a mound – on which usually stands a keep or tower – and a bailey, which is an enclosed courtyard. William appointed Henry de Beaumont, the son of a powerful Norman family, as constable of the castle. In 1088, Henry de Beaumont was made the first Earl of Warwick. He founded the Church of All Saints within the castle walls by 1119; the Bishop of Worcester, believing that a castle was an inappropriate location for a church, removed it in 1127–28.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In 1153, the wife of Roger de Beaumont, 2nd Earl of Warwick, was tricked into believing that her husband was dead, and surrendered control of the castle to the invading army of Henry of Anjou, later King Henry II of England. According to the "Gesta Regis Stephani", a 12th-century historical text, Roger de Beaumont died upon hearing the news that his wife had handed over the castle. King Henry II later returned the castle to the Earls of Warwick, as they had been supporters of his mother, Empress Matilda, in The Anarchy of 1135–1154.


title: Warwick Castle

text: During the reign of King Henry II (1154–89), the motte-and-bailey was replaced with a stone keep castle. This new phase took the form of a shell keep with all the buildings constructed against the curtain wall. During the Barons' Rebellion of 1173–74, the Earl of Warwick remained loyal to King Henry II, and the castle was used to store provisions. The castle and the lands associated with the earldom passed down to the Beaumont family until 1242. When Thomas de Beaumont, 6th Earl of Warwick, died, the castle and lands passed to his sister, Margaret de Beaumont, 7th Countess of Warwick in her own right. Her first husband, John Marshal, died soon after, and while she looked for a suitable husband, the castle was in the ownership of King Henry III of England. When she married John du Plessis in December 1242, the castle was returned to her. During the Second Barons' War of 1264–67, William Maudit, 8th Earl of Warwick, was a supporter of King Henry III. The castle was taken in a surprise attack by the forces of Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester, from Kenilworth Castle in 1264. According to 15th-century chronicler John Rous, the walls along the northeastern side of Warwick Castle were slighted, so "that it should be no strength to the king". Maudit and his countess were taken to Kenilworth Castle and were held there until a ransom was paid. After the death of William Maudit in 1267, the title and castle passed to his nephew, William de Beauchamp, 9th Earl of Warwick. Following William's death, Warwick Castle passed through seven generations of the Beauchamp family, who, over the next 180 years, were responsible for most of the additions made to the castle. In 1312, Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall, was captured by Guy de Beauchamp, 10th Earl of Warwick, and imprisoned in Warwick Castle, until his execution on 9 June 1312. A group of magnates led by the Earl of Warwick and Thomas, 2nd Earl of Lancaster, accused Gaveston of stealing the royal treasure.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Under Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl, the castle defences were significantly enhanced in 1330–60 on the north eastern side by the addition of a gatehouse, a barbican (a form of fortified gateway), and a tower on either side of the reconstructed wall, named Caesar's Tower and Guy's Tower. The Watergate Tower also dates from this period.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Caesar's and Guy's Towers are residential and may have been inspired by French models (for example Bricquebec). Both towers are machicolated and Caesar's Tower features a unique double parapet. The two towers are also vaulted in stone on every storey. Caesar's Tower contained a grim basement dungeon; according to local legend dating back to at least 1644 it is also known as Poitiers Tower, either because prisoners from the Battle of Poitiers in 1356 may have been imprisoned there, or because the ransoms raised from the battle helped to pay for its construction. The gatehouse features murder holes, two drawbridges, a gate, and portcullises – gates made from wood or metal. The towers of the gatehouse were machicolated.


title: Warwick Castle

text: The facade overlooking the river was designed as a symbol of the power and wealth of the Beauchamp earls and would have been "of minimal defensive value"; this followed a trend of 14th-century castles being more statements of power than designed exclusively for military use.


title: Warwick Castle

text: The line of the Beauchamp Earls ended in 1449 when Anne de Beauchamp, 15th Countess of Warwick, died. Richard Neville, the "Kingmaker", became the next Earl of Warwick through his wife's inheritance of the title. During the summer of 1469, Neville rebelled against King Edward IV of England and imprisoned him in Warwick Castle. Neville attempted to rule in the King's name; however, constant protests by the King's supporters forced the Earl to release the King. Neville was subsequently killed in the Battle of Barnet, fighting against the King in 1471 during the Wars of the Roses. Warwick Castle then passed from Neville to his son-in-law, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence (brother of King Edward IV). George Plantagenet was executed in 1478, and his lands passed onto his son, Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick; however, Edward Plantagenet was only two when his father died, so his lands were taken in the custody of The Crown. He was placed under attainder, and so could not inherit the throne, by King Henry VII of England, being held by the King for fourteen years in the Tower of London until he was executed for high treason in 1499, supposedly for conspiring to escape with the 'pretender' Perkin Warbeck. Edward was the last Earl of Warwick of the title's first creation.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In the early 1480s, King Richard III of England (the other son-in-law of Neville) instigated the construction of two gun towers, Bear and Clarence Towers, which were left unfinished on his death in 1485; with their own well and ovens, the towers were an independent stronghold from the rest of the castle, possibly in case of mutiny by the garrison. With the advent of gunpowder, the position of Keeper of the Artillery was created in 1486.


title: Warwick Castle

text: While in the care of The Crown, Warwick Castle underwent repairs and renovations using about 500 loads of stone. The castle, as well as lands associated with the earldom, was in Crown care from 1478 until 1547, when they were granted to John Dudley with the second creation of the title the Earl of Warwick. When making his appeal for ownership of the castle Dudley said of the castle's condition: "... the castle of its self is not able to lodge a good baron with his train, for all the one side of the said castle with also the dungeon tower is clearly ruinated and down to the ground".


title: Warwick Castle

text: Warwick Castle had fallen into decay due to its age and neglect, and despite his remarks Dudley did not initiate any repairs to the castle. Queen Elizabeth I visited the castle in 1566 during a tour of the country, and again in 1572 for four nights. A timber building was erected in the castle for her to stay in, and Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, left the castle to the Queen during her visits. When Ambrose Dudley died in 1590 the title of Earl of Warwick became extinct for the second time. A survey from 1590 recorded that the castle was still in a state of disrepair, noting that lead had been stolen from the roofs of some of the castle's buildings, including the chapel.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In October 1601 Sir Fulke Greville wrote that "the little stone building there was, mightily in decay, the timber lodgings built thirty years ago for herself (Elizabeth I) all ruinous; ... so as in very short time there will be nothing left but a name of Warwick".


title: Warwick Castle

text: Greville was granted the ruinous Warwick Castle by King James I in 1604 and it was converted to a country house. The conversion of the castle coincided with a period of decline in the use of castles during the 15th and 16th centuries; many were either being abandoned or converted into comfortable residences for the gentry. In the early 17th century, Robert Smythson was commissioned to draw a plan of the castle before any changes were made. Whilst the castle was undergoing repairs, it was peripherally involved in the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. The conspirators involved awaited news of their plot in Dunchurch in Warwickshire. When they discovered the plot had failed they stole cavalry horses from the stables at Warwick Castle to help in their escape. When the title of Earl of Warwick was created for the third time in 1618, the Greville family were still in possession of Warwick Castle. Fulke Greville, who was himself ennobled as Baron Brooke in 1621, spent over £20,000 (£ as of ) renovating the castle, while occupying a suite of rooms in the Watergate Tower; according to William Dugdale, a 17th-century antiquary, this made it "a place not only of great strength but extraordinary delight, with most pleasant gardens, walks and thickets, such as this part of England can hardly parallel".


title: Warwick Castle

text: On 1 September 1628 Fulke Greville was murdered in Holborn by his manservant: Ralph Haywood – a "gentleman" – who stabbed the baron twice after discovering he had been omitted from mention in Greville's will. Greville died from his wounds four weeks later. The Watergate Tower, which is said to be haunted by his ghost, became known as the Ghost Tower.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Under Robert Greville, 2nd Baron Brooke, Warwick Castle's defences were enhanced from January to May 1642 in preparation for attack during the First English Civil War. The garden walls were raised, bulwarks – barricades of beams and soil to mount artillery – were constructed and gunpowder and wheels for two cannons were obtained. Robert Greville was a Parliamentarian, and on 7 August 1642 a Royalist force laid siege to the castle. Greville was not in the castle at the time and the garrison was under the command of Sir Edward Peyto. Spencer Compton, 2nd Earl of Northampton, Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire commanded the Royalist force. William Dugdale, acting as a herald, called for the garrison commander to surrender the castle, but he was refused. The besieging army opened fire on the castle, to little effect. According to Richard Bulstrode:


title: Warwick Castle

text: The siege was lifted on 23 August 1642 when the garrison was relieved by the forces of the Earl of Essex, and the Royalists were forced to retreat to Worcester. After the Battle of Edgehill in 1642 – the first pitched battle of the English Civil War – prisoners were held in Caesar's and Guy's Towers. During the Second English Civil War prisoners were again held at the castle, including those from the Battle of Worcester in 1651. A garrison was maintained in the castle complete with artillery and supplies from 1643 to 1660, at its strongest it numbered 302 soldiers. In 1660 the English Council of State ordered the castle governor to disband the garrison and hand over the castle to Robert Greville, 4th Baron Brooke. The state apartments were found to be outmoded and in poor repair. Under Roger and William Hurlbutt, master carpenters of Warwick, extensive modernization of the interiors was undertaken, 1669–78. To ensure that they would be in the latest taste, William was sent to Dorset to make careful notes of the interiors recently finished at Kingston Lacy for Sir Ralph Bankes to designs by Sir Roger Pratt. On 4 November 1695 the castle was in sufficient state to host a visit by King William III.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Francis Greville, 8th Baron Brooke, undertook a renewed programme of improvements to Warwick Castle and its grounds. The 8th Baron Brooke was also bestowed with the title Earl of Warwick in 1759, the fourth creation of the title. With the recreation of the title, the castle was back in the ownership of the earls of Warwick. Daniel Garrett's work at Warwick is documented in 1748; Howard Colvin attributed to him the Gothic interior of the chapel. Lancelot "Capability" Brown had been on hand since 1749. Brown, who was still head gardener at Stowe at the time and had yet to make his reputation as the main exponent of the English landscape garden, was called in by Lord Brooke to give Warwick Castle a more "natural" connection to its river. Brown simplified the long narrow stretch by sweeping it into a lawn that dropped right to the riverbank, stopped at each end by bold clumps of native trees. A serpentine drive gave an impression of greater distance between the front gates and the castle entrance.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Horace Walpole saw Brown's maturing scheme in 1751 and remarked in a letter: "The castle is enchanting. The view pleased me more than I can express; the river Avon tumbled down a cascade at the foot of it. It is well laid out by one Brown who has set up on a few ideas of Kent and Mr Southcote."


title: Warwick Castle

text: In 1754 the poet Thomas Gray, a member of Walpole's Gothicising circle, commented disdainfully on the activity at the castle:


title: Warwick Castle

text: Gray's mention of Argyle Buildings, Westminster, London, elicited a connotation of an inappropriately modern Georgian urban development, for the buildings in Argyll Street were a speculation to designs of James Gibbs, 1736–40.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Greville commissioned Italian painter Antonio Canaletto to paint Warwick Castle in 1747, while the castle grounds and gardens were undergoing landscaping by Brown. Five paintings and three drawings of the castle by Canaletto are known, making it the artist's most often represented building in Britain. Canaletto's work on Warwick Castle has been described as "unique in the history of art as a series of views of an English house by a major continental master". As well as the gardens, Greville commissioned Brown to rebuild the exterior entrance porch and stairway to the Great Hall. Brown also contributed Gothick designs for a wooden bridge over the Avon (1758). He was still at work on Warwick Castle in 1760. Timothy Lightoler was responsible for the porch being extended and extra rooms added adjacent to it in 1763–69. and during the same years William Lindley provided a new Dining Room and other interior alterations. In 1786–88 the local builder William Eboral was commissioned to build the new greenhouse conservatory, with as its principal ornament the Warwick Vase, recently purchased in Rome.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In 1802 George Greville, 2nd Earl of Warwick of the new creation, had debts amounting to £115,000 (£ as of ). The earl's estates, including Warwick Castle, were given to the Earl of Galloway and John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory, in 1806, but the castle was returned to the earls of Warwick in 1813. The Great Hall was reroofed and repaired in Gothic taste in 1830–31 by Ambrose Poynter. Anthony Salvin was responsible for restoring the Watergate Tower in 1861–63. The castle was extensively damaged by a fire in 1871 that started to the east of the Great Hall. Although the Great Hall was gutted, the overall structure was unharmed. Restoration and reparations carried out by Salvin during 1872–75 were subsidised by donations from the public, which raised a total of £9,651 (£ as of ).


title: Warwick Castle

text: Individuals had been visiting the castle since the end of the 17th century and this grew in importance through the 19th century. In 1858 Queen Victoria visited the 4th earl with great local celebrations. However, by 1885 it would appear the visitors were becoming a nuisance as the earl closed the castle to visitors, causing consternation in the town. A local report stated, "One day last week eight American visitors who were staying at one of the principal hotels left somewhat hurriedly in consequence of their being unable to gain admission to the castle". It soon re-opened again and by 1900 had a ticket office and was employing a permanent guide. By 1936 Arthur Mee was enthusing not just that "these walls have seen something of the splendour of every generation of our [English] story", with rooms "rich in treasure beyond the dreams of avarice" but also that "their rooms are open to all who will". The collection of armoury on display at Warwick Castle is regarded as second only to that of the Tower of London.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Through the 20th century successive earls expanded its tourism potential until in 1978, after 374 years in the Greville family, it was sold to a media and entertainment company, the Tussauds Group for £1.3 million, who opened it as a tourist attraction. Tussauds performed extensive restorations to the castle and grounds. In 12 of the apartments open to tourists since the Tussauds Group takeover, a number of wax figures of historic individuals is presented. The persons depicted were guests at the 1898 weekend party hosted by Frances Countess of Warwick; the principal guest was the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII. The furniture in those rooms is said to be authentic to the period.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In 2001, Warwick Castle was named one of Britain's "Top 10 historic houses and monuments" by the British Tourist Authority; the list included Tower of London, Stonehenge, and Edinburgh Castle. Warwick Castle was recognised as Britain's best castle by the "Good Britain Guide 2003". Around this time it was getting in excess of half a million visitors a year.


title: Warwick Castle

text: After the March 2007 sale of the castle's owner, The Tussauds Group, to The Blackstone Group, the site was operated by Merlin Entertainments, a division of that corporation. In July of that year, Warwick Castle was sold to the Prestbury Group


title: Warwick Castle

text: The castle is protected against unauthorised change as a scheduled monument in recognition of its status as a "nationally important" archaeological site or historic building, and is a Grade I listed building together with its boundary walls, stables, conservatory, mill and lodge.


title: Warwick Castle

text: On 23 June 2006, a £20,000 stained glass window was damaged by teenage vandals and a ceremonial sword stolen, recovered soon after.


title: Warwick Castle

text: In June 2005, Warwick Castle became home to one of the world's largest working siege engines. The trebuchet is tall, made from over 300 pieces of oak and weighs . It sits on the riverbank below the castle.


title: Warwick Castle

text: The machine was built with drawings from the Danish living history museum Middelaldercentret, who, in 1989, were the first to recreate a fully functioning trebuchet. It was built in Wiltshire with expertise from the Danish museum.


title: Warwick Castle

text: The trebuchet takes eight men half an hour to load and release . The process involves four men running in tall treadwheels to lift the counterweight, weighing , into the air. It is designed to be capable of hurling projectiles of up to distances of up to and as high as .


title: Warwick Castle

text: On 21 August 2006, the trebuchet claimed the record as the most powerful siege engine of its type when it sent a projectile weighing a distance of at a speed of , beating the previous record held by the trebuchet at Middelaldercentret in Denmark.


title: Warwick Castle

text: On 10 April 2015 a thatched boathouse caught fire shortly after a burning cannonball was fired by the trebuchet. It was reported that a spark from the cannonball had started the blaze although a castle spokeswoman said the cause had not yet been established. Hundreds of tourists were evacuated from the castle, but the spokeswoman said they were not at any risk. "The Daily Telegraph" described the boathouse as "historic", "medieval" and dating to 1896, when the 5th Earl had it built to house an electric boat.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Other tourist attractions include "Falconer's Quest'" (a bird show, featuring bald eagles, vultures, and sea eagles), archery displays, Jousting,"The Trebuchet Show" and "The Sword in the Stone Show". The Castle is also home to "The Castle Dungeon", a live actor experience similar to that of "London Dungeons". Warwick Castle is the subject of many ghost stories. One such instance is that of Fulke Greville who is said to haunt the Watergate Tower despite having been murdered in Holborn. The castle's reputation for being haunted is used as a tourist attraction with events such as "Warwick Ghosts Alive", a live-action show telling the story of Fulke Greville's murder. Musical events at the castle have included carolling, with performances by bands such as the Royal Spa Brass.


title: Warwick Castle

text: At times during Summer 2018, the castle offered its War of the Roses event with jousting and other action. On certain dates in August, Dragon Slayer evenings were scheduled, with dining, a projection light show, pyrotechnics, fire jousting and live action stunts.


title: Warwick Castle

text: The current castle, built in stone during the reign of King Henry II, is on the same site as the earlier Norman motte-and-bailey castle. A keep used to stand on the motte which is on the south west of the site, although most of the structure now dates from the post-medieval period. In the 17th century the motte was landscaped with the addition of a path. The bailey was incorporated into the new castle and is surrounded by stone curtain walls.


title: Warwick Castle

text: When Warwick Castle was rebuilt in the reign of King Henry II it had a new layout with the buildings against the curtain walls. The castle is surrounded by a dry moat on the northern side where there is no protection from the river or the old motte; the perimeter of the walls is long by wide. The two entrances to castle are in the north and west walls. There was originally a drawbridge over the moat in the north east. In the centre of the north west wall is a gateway with Clarence and Bears towers on either side; this is a 15th-century addition to the fortifications of the castle. The residential buildings line the eastern side of the castle, facing the River Avon. These buildings include the great hall, the library, bedrooms, and the chapel.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Over its 950 years of history Warwick Castle has been owned by 36 different individuals, plus four periods as crown property under seven different monarchs. It was the family seat of three separate creations of the Earls of Warwick, and has been a family home for members of the Beaumont, Beauchamp, Neville, Plantagenet, Dudley and Greville families. The first creation of the Earldom specifically included the right of inheritance through the female line, so the castle three times had a woman (or girl) as the owner. Eleven of the owners were under 20 when they inherited, including a girl aged two and a boy aged three. At least three owners died in battle, two were executed and one murdered. Every century except the 21st has seen major building work or adaptations at the castle.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Formal gardens belonging to Warwick Castle were first recorded in 1534. Landscaping in the 17th century added spiral paths to the castle motte during Fulke Greville's programme of restoration. Francis Greville commissioned Capability Brown to re-landscape the castle grounds; he began working on the grounds and park in 1749 and had completed his work by 1757, having spent about £2,293 (£ as of ). on the project. The gardens cover . Robert Marnock created formal gardens in the castle's grounds in 1868–69.


title: Warwick Castle

text: Started in 1743 and originally known as Temple Park, Castle Park is located to the south of the castle. Its original name derived from the Knights Templar, who used to own a manor in Warwick. Houses around the perimeter of the park were demolished and the land they stood on incorporated into the park. Attempts to make profits from the park in the late 18th century included leasing it for grazing, growing wheat, and keeping sheep.


title: Warwick Castle

text: A water-powered mill in the castle grounds was probably built under Henry de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Warwick. By 1398 the mill had been relocated to just outside the eastern castle walls, on the west bank of the River Avon. Both mills were subject to flooding. By 1644, an engine house had been added to the mill. The mill was reused as an electricity generating plant after it had stopped being used to grind, but once Warwick Castle was fitted with mains electricity in 1940, the mill was no longer required and was dismantled in 1954.


title: Warwick Castle

text: The latest option at the castle is glamping, overnight stays in nicely decorated tents in an area labelled Knight's Village. The units include no cooking facilities, so the fee for the stay includes a buffet dinner and a breakfast. The previously introduced accommodations in timber lodges also remain available in the Woodland Hideaway area.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara Shikoh (), also known as Dara Shukoh, (20 March 1615 – 30 August 1659) was the eldest son and heir-apparent of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan. Dara was designated with the title "Padshahzada-i-Buzurg Martaba" ("Prince of High Rank") and was favoured as a successor by his father and his elder sister, Princess Jahanara Begum. In the war of succession which ensued after Shah Jahan's illness in 1657, Dara was defeated by his younger brother Prince Muhiuddin (later, the Emperor Aurangzeb). He was executed in 1659 on Aurangzeb's orders in a bitter struggle for the imperial throne.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim as opposed to the orthodox Aurangzeb; he authored the work "The Confluence of the Two Seas", which argues for the harmony of Sufi philosophy in Islam and Vedanta philosophy in Hinduism. A great patron of the arts, he was also more inclined towards philosophy and mysticism rather than military pursuits. The course of the history of the Indian subcontinent, had Dara Shikoh prevailed over Aurangzeb, has been a matter of some conjecture among historians.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Muhammad Dara Shikoh was born on 11 March 1615 in Ajmer, Rajasthan. He was the first son and third child of Prince Shahab-ud-din Muhammad Khurram and his second wife, Mumtaz Mahal. The prince was named by his father. 'Dara' means owner of wealth or star in Persian while the second part of the prince's name is commonly spelled in two ways: Shikoh ("terror") or Shukoh ("majesty" or "grandeur"). Thus, Dara's full name can be translated as "Of the Terror of Darius" or "Of the Grandeur of Darius", respectively. Historian Ebba Koch favours 'Shukoh'.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara Shikoh had thirteen siblings of whom six survived to adulthood: Jahanara Begum, Shah Shuja, Roshanara Begum, Aurangzeb, Murad Bakhsh, and Gauhara Begum. He shared a close relationship with his older sister, Jahanara. As part of his formal education, Dara studied the Quran, history, Persian poetry and calligraphy. He was a liberal-minded unorthodox Muslim unlike his father and his younger brother Aurangzeb. Persian was Dara's native language, but he also learned Hindi, Arabic and later Sanskrit.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: In October 1627, Dara's grandfather Emperor Jahangir died, and his father ascended the throne in January 1628 taking the regnal name 'Shah Jahan'. In 1633, Dara was appointed as the "Vali-ahad" (heir-apparent) to his father. He, along with his older sister Jahanara, were Shah Jahan's favourite children.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: During the life time of his mother Mumtaz Mahal, Dara Shikoh was betrothed to his half-cousin, Princess Nadira Banu Begum, the daughter of his paternal uncle Sultan Parvez Mirza. He married her on 1 February 1633 at Agra amidst great celebrations, pomp and grandeur. By all accounts, Dara and Nadira were devoted to each other and Dara's love for Nadira was so profound that unlike the usual practice of polygyny prevalent at the time, he never contracted any other marriage. although kept many concubines. The imperial couple had seven children together; two sons, Sulaiman Shikoh and Sipihr Shikoh, and a daughter, Jahanzeb Banu Begum, survived to play important roles in future events.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: A great patron of the arts, Dara ordered for the compilation of some refined artwork into an album which is now famous by the name of 'Dara Shikhoh Album.' This album was presented by Dara to his "dearest intimate friend" Nadira in 1641. Dara had at least two concubines, Gul Safeh (also known as Rana Dil) and Udaipuri Mahal (a Georgian or Armenian slave girl). Udaipuri later became a part of Aurangzeb's harem after her master's defeat.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: As was common for all Mughal sons, Dara Shikoh was appointed as a military commander at an early age, receiving an appointment as commander of 12,000-foot and 6,000 horse in October 1633. He received successive promotions, being promoted to commander of 12,000-foot and 7,000 horse on 20 March 1636, to 15,000-foot and 9,000 horse on 24 August 1637, to 10,000 horse on 19 March 1638, to 20,000-foot and 10,000 horse on 24 January 1639, and to 15,000 horse on 21 January 1642.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: On 10 September 1642, Shah Jahan formally confirmed Dara Shikoh as his heir, granting him the title of "Shahzada-e-Buland Iqbal" ("Prince of High Fortune") and promoting him to command of 20,000-foot and 20,000 horse. In 1645, he was appointed as "subahdar" (governor) of Allahabad. He was promoted to a command of 30,000-foot and 20,000 horse on 18 April 1648, and was appointed Governor of the province of Gujarat on 3 July.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: As his father's health began to decline, Dara Shikoh received a series of increasingly prominent commands. He was appointed Governor of Multan and Kabul on 16 August 1652, and was raised to the title of "Shah-e-Buland Iqbal" ("King of High Fortune") on 15 February 1655. He was promoted to command of 40,000-foot and 20,000 horse on 21 January 1656, and to command of 50,000-foot and 40,000 horse on 16 September 1657.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: On 6 September 1657, the illness of emperor Shah Jahan triggered a desperate struggle for power among the four Mughal princes, though realistically only Dara Shikoh and Aurangzeb had a chance of emerging victorious. Shah Shuja was the first to make his move, declaring himself Mughal Emperor in Bengal and marched towards Agra from the east. Murad Baksh allied himself with Aurangzeb.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: At the end of 1657, Dara Shikoh was appointed Governor of the province of Bihar and promoted to command of 60,000 infantry and 40,000 cavalry.(roughly equivalent to general)


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Despite strong support from Shah Jahan, who had recovered enough from his illness to remain a strong factor in the struggle for supremacy, and the victory of his army led by his eldest son Sulaiman Shikoh over Shah Shuja in the battle of Bahadurpur on 14 February 1658, Dara Shikoh was defeated by Aurangzeb and Murad during the Battle of Samugarh, 13 km from Agra on 30 May 1658. Subsequently, Aurangzeb took over Agra fort and deposed emperor Shah Jahan on 8 June 1658.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: After the defeat, Dara Shikoh retreated from Agra to Delhi and thence to Lahore. His next destination was Multan and then to Thatta (Sindh). From Sindh, he crossed the Rann of Kachchh and reached Kathiawar, where he met Shah Nawaz Khan, the governor of the province of Gujarat who opened the treasury to Dara Shikoh and helped him to recruit a new army. He occupied Surat and advanced towards Ajmer. Foiled in his hopes of persuading the fickle but powerful Rajput feudatory, Maharaja Jaswant Singh of Marwar, to support his cause, Dara Shikoh decided to make a stand and fight the relentless pursuers sent by Aurangzeb's, but was once again comprehensively routed in the battle of Deorai (near Ajmer) on 11 March 1659. After this defeat he fled to Sindh and sought refuge under Malik Jeevan (Junaid Khan Barozai), an Afghan chieftain, whose life had on more than one occasion been saved by the Mughal prince from the wrath of Shah Jahan. However, Junaid betrayed Dara Shikoh and turned him (and his second son Sipihr Shikoh) over to Aurangzeb's army on 10 June 1659.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara Shikoh was brought to Delhi, placed on a filthy elephant and paraded through the streets of the capital in chains. Dara Shikoh's fate was decided by the political threat he posed as a prince popular with the common people – a convocation of nobles and clergy, called by Aurangzeb in response to the perceived danger of insurrection in Delhi, declared him a threat to the public peace and an apostate from Islam. He was assassinated by four of Aurangzeb's henchmen in front of his terrified son on the night of 30 August 1659 (9 September Gregorian). After death the remains of Dara Shikoh were buried in an unidentified grave in Humayan's tomb in Delhi. On 26 February 2020 the government of India through Archaeological Survey of India decided to find the burial spot of Dara Shikoh from the 140 graves in 120 chambers inside Humayun's Tomb. It is considered a difficult task as none of the graves are identified or have inscriptions.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Niccolao Manucci, the Venetian traveler who worked in the Mughal court, has written down the details of Dara Shikoh's death. According to him, upon Dara's capture, Aurangzeb ordered his men to have his head brought up to him and he inspected it thoroughly to ensure that it was Dara indeed. He then further mutilated the head with his sword three times. After which, he ordered the head to be put in a box and presented to his ailing father, Shah Jahan, with clear instructions to be delivered only when the old King sat for his dinner in his prison. The guards were also instructed to inform Shah Jahan that, ""King Aurangzeb, your son, sends this plate to let him (Shah Jahan) see that he does not forget him"." Shah Jahan instantly became happy (not knowing what was in store in the box) and uttered, "“ Blessed be God that my son still remembers me". "Upon opening the box, Shah Jahan became horrified and fell unconscious"."


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara Shikoh is widely renowned as an enlightened paragon of the harmonious coexistence of heterodox traditions on the Indian subcontinent. He was an erudite champion of mystical religious speculation and a poetic diviner of syncretic cultural interaction among people of all faiths. This made him a heretic in the eyes of his orthodox younger brother and a suspect eccentric in the view of many of the worldly power brokers swarming around the Mughal throne. Dara Shikoh was a follower of the Armenian Sufi-perennialist mystic Sarmad Kashani, as well as Lahore's famous Qadiri Sufi saint Mian Mir, whom he was introduced to by Mullah Shah Badakhshi (Mian Mir's spiritual disciple and successor). Mian Mir was so widely respected among all communities that he was invited to lay the foundation stone of the Golden Temple in Amritsar by the Sikhs.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara Shikoh subsequently developed a friendship with the seventh Sikh Guru, Guru Har Rai. Dara Shikoh devoted much effort towards finding a common mystical language between Islam and Hinduism. Towards this goal he completed the translation of fifty Upanishads from their original Sanskrit into Persian in 1657 so that they could be studied by Muslim scholars. His translation is often called "Sirr-i-Akbar" ("The Greatest Mystery"), where he states boldly, in the introduction, his speculative hypothesis that the work referred to in the Qur'an as the ""Kitab al-maknun"" or the "hidden book", is none other than the Upanishads. His most famous work, Majma-ul-Bahrain ("The Confluence of the Two Seas"), was also devoted to a revelation of the mystical and pluralistic affinities between Sufic and Vedantic speculation. The book was authored as a short treatise in Persian in 1654–55.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: In 1006 A.H,the prince had commissioned a translation of Yoga Vasistha,after both Vasistha and Rama appeared before Dara Shikoh and embraced him in his dream. Translation was undertaken by Nizam al-Din Panipati this translation came to be known as the "Jug-Basisht", which has since become popular in Persia among intellectuals interested in Indo-Persian culture. The Safavid-era mystic Mir Findiriski (d. 1641) commented on selected passages of "Jug-Basisht".


title: Dara Shikoh

text: The library established by Dara Shikoh still exists on the grounds of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Kashmiri Gate, Delhi, and is now run as a museum by Archaeological Survey of India after being renovated.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: He was also a patron of fine arts, music and dancing, a trait frowned upon by his younger sibling Muhiuddin, later the Emperor Aurangzeb. The 'Dara Shikoh' is a collection of paintings and calligraphy assembled from the 1630s until his death. It was presented to his wife Nadira Banu in 1641–42 and remained with her until her death after which the album was taken into the royal library and the inscriptions connecting it with Dara Shikoh were deliberately erased; however not everything was vandalised and many calligraphy scripts and paintings still bear his mark.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Among the existing paintings from the Dara Shikoh Album, are two facing pages, compiled in the early 1630s just before his marriage, showing two ascetics in yogic postures, probably meant to be a pair of yogis, Vaishnava and Shaiva. These paintings are attributed to the artist Govardhan. The album also contains numerous pictures of Muslim ascetics and divines and the pictures obviously reflect Dara Shikoh's interest in religion and philosophy.


title: Dara Shikoh

text: Dara Shikoh is also credited with the commissioning of several exquisite, still extant, examples of Mughal architecture – among them the tomb of his wife Nadira Begum in Lahore, the Shrine of Mian Mir also in Lahore, the Dara Shikoh Library in Delhi, the Akhun Mullah Shah Mosque in Srinagar in Kashmir and the Pari Mahal garden palace (also in Srinagar in Kashmir).


title: 21 grams experiment

text: The 21 grams experiment refers to a scientific study published in 1907 by Duncan MacDougall, a physician from Haverhill, Massachusetts. MacDougall hypothesized that souls have physical weight, and attempted to measure the mass lost by a human when the soul departed the body. MacDougall attempted to measure the mass change of six patients at the moment of death. One of the six subjects lost three-quarters of an ounce (21.3 grams).


title: 21 grams experiment

text: MacDougall stated his experiment would have to be repeated many times before any conclusion could be obtained. The experiment is widely regarded as flawed and unscientific due to the small sample size, the methods used, as well as the fact only one of the six subjects met the hypothesis. The case has been cited as an example of selective reporting. Despite its rejection within the scientific community, MacDougall's experiment popularized the concept that the soul has weight, and specifically that it weighs 21 grams.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: In 1901, Duncan MacDougall, a physician from Haverhill, Massachusetts, who wished to scientifically determine if a soul had weight, identified six patients in nursing homes whose deaths were imminent. Four were suffering from tuberculosis, one from diabetes, and one from unspecified causes. MacDougall specifically chose people who were suffering from conditions that caused physical exhaustion, as he needed the patients to remain still when they died to measure them accurately. When the patients looked like they were close to death, their entire bed was placed on an industrial sized scale that was sensitive within two tenths of an ounce (5.6 grams). On the belief that humans have souls and that animals do not, MacDougall later measured the changes in weight from fifteen dogs after death. MacDougall said he wished to use dogs that were sick or dying for his experiment, though was unable to find any. It is therefore presumed he poisoned healthy dogs.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: One of the patients lost weight but then put the weight back on, and two of the other patients registered a loss of weight at death but a few minutes later lost even more weight. One of the patients lost "three-fourths of an ounce" (21.3 grams) in weight, coinciding with the time of death. MacDougall disregarded the results of another patient on the grounds the scales were "not finely adjusted", and discounted the results of another as the patient died while the equipment was still being calibrated. MacDougall said that none of the dogs lost any weight after death.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: While MacDougall believed that the results from his experiment showed the human soul might have weight, his report, which was not published until 1907, stated the experiment would have to be repeated many times before any conclusion could be obtained.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: Before MacDougall was able to publish the results of his experiments, "The New York Times" broke the story in an article titled "Soul has Weight, Physician Thinks". MacDougall's results were published in April of the same year in the "Journal of the American Society for Psychical Research", and the medical journal "American Medicine".


title: 21 grams experiment

text: Following the publication of the experiment in "American Medicine", physician Augustus P. Clarke criticized the experiment's validity. Clarke noted that at the time of death there is a sudden rise in body temperature as the lungs are no longer cooling blood, causing a subsequent rise in sweating which could easily account for MacDougall’s missing 21 grams. Clarke also pointed out that, as dogs do not have sweat glands, they would not lose weight in this manner after death. Clarke's criticism was published in the May issue of "American Medicine". Arguments between MacDougall and Clarke debating the validity of the experiment continued to be published in the journal until at least December that year.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: MacDougall's experiment has been rejected by the scientific community, and he has been accused of both flawed methods and outright fraud in obtaining his results. Noting that only one of the six patients measured supported the hypothesis, Karl Kruszelnicki has stated the experiment is a case of selective reporting, as MacDougall ignored the majority of the results. Kruszelnicki also criticized the small sample size, and questioned how MacDougall was able to determine the exact moment when a person had died considering the technology available at the time. Physicist Robert L. Park has written that MacDougall's experiments "are not regarded today as having any scientific merit", and psychologist Bruce Hood wrote that "because the weight loss was not reliable or replicable, his findings were unscientific". Professor Richard Wiseman said that within the scientific community, the experiment is confined to a "large pile of scientific curiosities labelled 'almost certainly not true'".


title: 21 grams experiment

text: An article by Snopes in 2013 said the experiment was flawed because the methods used were suspect, the sample size was much too small, and the capability to measure weight changes too imprecise, concluding: "credence should not be given to the idea his experiments proved something, let alone that they measured the weight of the soul as 21 grams." The fact that MacDougall likely poisoned and killed fifteen healthy dogs in an attempt to support his research has also been a source of criticism.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: In 1911, "The New York Times" reported that MacDougall was hoping to run experiments to take photos of souls, but he appears to not have continued any further research into the area and died in 1920. His experiment has not been repeated.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: In December 2001, physicist Lewis E. Hollander Jr. published an article in "Journal of Scientific Exploration" where he exhibited the results of a similar experiment. He tested the weight of one ram, seven ewes, three lambs and one goat at the moment of death, seeking to explore upon MacDougall's purported findings. His experiment showed that seven of the adult sheep varied their weight upon dying, though not losing it, but rather gaining an amount of 18 to 780 grams, which was lost again over time until returning to their initial weight. In 2009, Hollander Jr.'s experiment was subjected to critical review by Masayoshi Ishida in the same journal. Ishida found Hollander's statement of a transient gain of weight was "not an appropriate expression of the experimental result", though he admitted "the cause of the force event remains to be explained". He also warned about possible malfunctions of the weighing platform in two of the cases.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: Similarly inspired by MacDougall's research, physician Gerard Nahum proposed in 2005 a follow-up experiment, based on utilizing an array of electromagnetic detectors to try to pick up any type of escaping energy at the moment of death. He offered to sell his idea to engineering, physics, and philosophy departments at Yale, Stanford, and Duke University, as well as the Catholic Church, but he was rejected.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: Despite its rejection as scientific fact, MacDougall's experiment popularized the idea that the soul has weight, and specifically that it weighs 21 grams. The title of the film "21 Grams" references the experiment.


title: 21 grams experiment

text: The concept of a soul weighing 21 grams is mentioned in numerous media, including a 2013 issue of the manga "Gantz", a 2013 podcast of "Welcome to Night Vale", the 2015 film "The Empire of Corpses" and a 2021 episode of "Ted Lasso". Songs entitled "21 Grams" which reference the weight of a soul have been released by Niykee Heaton (2015), Fedez (2015), August Burns Red (2015) and Thundamentals (2017). Travis Scott references the concept in the song "No Bystanders", released in 2018. MacDougall and his experiments are explicitly mentioned in the 1978 documentary film "Beyond and Back", and episode five of the first season of "". A fictional American scientist named "Mr. MacDougall" appears in Gail Carriger's 2009 novel "Soulless", as an expert in the weight and measurement of souls.


title: Zither

text: Zithers (; , from the Greek word "cithara") are a class of stringed instruments. Historically, the name has been applied to any instrument of the psaltery family, or to an instrument consisting of many strings stretched across a thin, flat body. This article describes the latter variety.


title: Zither

text: Zithers are typically played by strumming or plucking the strings with the fingers or a plectrum. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, the term refers to a larger family of similarly shaped instruments that also includes the hammered dulcimer family and piano and a few rare bowed instruments like the bowed psaltery, bowed dulcimer, and streichmelodion. Like an acoustic guitar or lute, a zither's body serves as a resonating chamber (sound box), but, unlike guitars and lutes, a zither lacks a distinctly separate neck assembly. The number of strings varies, from one to more than fifty.