text: White people [were] standing in wonder. Their eyes were open, they were "listening". Openness and nothing on guard—I saw that in everybody. I was so happy to see that in the white people that they could listen and take in and respect and believe in the words of a black person. I had never seen anything like that.


title: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

text: Some people discussed racism becoming less explicit after the March. Reverend Abraham Woods of Birmingham commented: "Everything has changed. And when you look at it, nothing has changed. Racism is under the surface, and an incident that could scratch it, can bring it out."


text: The symbolism of the March has been contested since before it even took place. In the years following the March, movement radicals increasingly subscribed to Malcolm X's narrative of the March as a co-optation by the white establishment. However, some black nationalist intellectuals did not see that the liberal reforms of the Johnson administration would assure "full integration" based upon the existing power structures and persisting racist culture of daily life in America. Former Communist Party member Harold Cruse posited that full integration was "not possible within the present framework of the American system". Black Panther Party member and lawyer Kathleen Cleaver held radical views that only revolution could transform American society to bring about the redistribution of wealth and power that was needed to end the historical facts of exclusion and inequality.


text: Liberals and conservatives tended to embrace the March, but focused mostly on King's "I Have a Dream" speech and the legislative successes of 1964 and 1965. The mass media identified King's speech as a highlight of the event and focused on this oration to the exclusion of other aspects. For several decades, King took center stage in narratives about the March. More recently, historians and commentators have acknowledged the role played by Bayard Rustin in organizing the event.


text: The March was an early example of social movements conducting mass rallies in Washington, D.C., and was followed by several other marches in the capital, many of which used similar names.


text: For the 50th Anniversary, of the March, the United States Postal Service released a forever stamp that commemorated it.


text: Soon after the speakers ended their meetings with Congress to go join the March, both houses passed legislation to create a dispute arbitration board for striking railroad workers.


text: The March is credited with propelling the U.S. government into action on civil rights, creating political momentum for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.


text: The cooperation of a Democratic administration with the issue of civil rights marked a pivotal moment in voter alignment within the U.S. The Democratic Party gave up the Solid South—its undivided support since Reconstruction among the segregated Southern states—and went on to capture a high proportion of votes from black people from the Republicans.


text: The 1963 March also spurred anniversary marches that occur every five years, with the 20th and 25th being some of the most well known. The 20th Anniversary theme was "We Still have a Dream ... Jobs*Peace*Freedom."


text: At the 50th anniversary march in 2013, President Barack Obama conferred a posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom on Bayard Rustin and 15 others.


text: On July 20, 2020, the NAACP, one of the original organizers of the 1963 march, announced that it would commemorate it by organizing another rally on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, in which King's oldest son, Martin Luther King III, would join civil rights leaders and the families of black men and women who died as a result of police brutality. An online tie-in event was also planned, called the 2020 Virtual March on Washington. It was held August 27 and 28, the latter being the anniversary of the iconic "I Have a Dream" speech, and the day after President Trump was scheduled to accept his party's nomination for President at the Republican National Convention. Addressing the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the organizers explained that the virtual component of the rally was organized to enable participation by people unable to travel to Washington D.C. or safely participate in the in-person event. The NAACP's Virtual March featured performances from Macy Gray, Burna Boy, and speeches from Stacey Abrams, Nancy Pelosi, Cory Booker, and Mahershala Ali, among many others. It was a two-night event broadcast on ABC News Live, Bounce TV, TV One and on online platforms.


text: On August 28, 2021, a march calling for voting rights and statehood for Washington D.C. was held in Washington D.C on the 58th anniversary of the March on Washington. Though the numbers in the march permit revealed that 100,000 people were expected to attend, it was estimated that only 50,000 people attended. However, the smaller crowd size did match the National Action Network's earlier estimate. Among the speakers were Martin Luther King III, his wife and Drum Major Institute president Arndrea Waters King, daughter Yolanda, National Action Network leader Rev. Al Sharpton and Washington D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. Other speakers at the event included Democratic U.S. Representatives Joyce Beatty, of Ohio, Terri Sewell, of Alabama, Sheila Jackson Lee and Al Green, both of Texas, and Mondaire Jones, of New York; NAACP president Derrick Johnson; and Philonise Floyd, activist and brother of George Floyd.


text: In 2013, the Economic Policy Institute launched a series of reports around the theme of "The Unfinished March". These reports analyze the goals of the original march and assess how much progress has been made. They echo the message of Randolph and Rustin that civil rights cannot transform people's quality of life unless accompanied by economic justice. They contend that many of the March's primary goals—including housing, integrated education, and widespread employment at living wages—have not been accomplished. They further argued that although legal advances were made, black people still live in concentrated areas of poverty ("ghettoes"), where they receive inferior education and suffer from widespread unemployment.


text: Dedrick Muhammad of the NAACP writes that racial inequality of income and homeownership have increased since 1963 and worsened during the recent Great Recession.


title: FC Zürich

text: Fussballclub Zürich, commonly abbreviated to FC Zürich or simply FCZ, is a Swiss football club based in Zürich. The club was founded in 1896 and has won the Swiss Super League 13 times and the Swiss Cup 10 times. The most recent titles are the 2022 Swiss Super League and the 2018 Swiss Cup. The club plays its home games at the Letzigrund, which reaches a capacity of 26,000 spectators for league games.


title: FC Zürich

text: FC Zürich is the only Swiss team to have reached the semi-finals of the European Cup more than once. This happened in 1964 and 1977, when the competition was played in its original format.


title: FC Zürich

text: The women's department features a 1st team playing in the Swiss Women's Super League, the only existing women's U21 team in Switzerland (competing in the top ranks of second tier Nationalliga B), and furthermore a U19, U17, U15 and U14 team. The U17, U15 and U14 teams compete in junior leagues against boys teams. The FC Zürich women's teams roots originate in the first Swiss women's football club DFC Zürich and it is with 22 championship titles and multiple Champions League participations the most successful of Switzerland.


title: FC Zürich

text: The club was founded in summer 1896 by former members of the two local clubs FC Turicum and FC Excelsior. Later, the official founding date was set at 1 August 1896. One of the founding members was the later FC Barcelona founder, Joan Gamper, coaching and playing for FC Excelsior and its successor from 1894 to 1897. The new club played its first game on 30 August 1896 on Velorennbahn Hardau in Zürich against FC Phönix St. Gallen with a 3:3 draw. In 1898, FC Excelsior completely merged with FC Zürich and local club FC Victoria joined shortly thereafter.


title: FC Zürich

text: The debut game was in 1896 with the colors blue and white. The colors were changed to red and white; rivals Grasshopper Club Zürich had the same colors. When Grasshopper Club temporarily retired from the championship in 1909, FCZ returned to the colors blue and white which they continue to use. Zürich won its first title in the Swiss Serie A in 1901–02, but did not win it again until 1923–24.


title: FC Zürich

text: Until the 1930s, the club's sporting remit included rowing, boxing, athletics, and handball, but football would become the focus of the club.


title: FC Zürich

text: From 1925 to 1960, Zürich struggled to overcome an unsuccessful record and was described as the "wilderness years". They were relegated in 1933–34, playing in the 1. Liga to the 1941 season. In 1940–41, they returned to the Nationalliga, where they stayed until their relegation in 1945–46. They were back in the Nationalliga A in 1947–48 and stayed in the top flight until relegated in 1956–57. They were promoted from the Nationalliga B to contest the 1958–59 Nationalliga A, finishing in third place.


title: FC Zürich

text: This period was known as the "Golden Years" by the FCZ faithful. At this time, the club was run by the legendary President Edwin Nägeli and had players such as Köbi Kuhn, Fritz Künzli, Ilija Katić, René Botteron, and many more. Zürich won seven championships in the years 1963, 1966, 1968, 1974, 1975, 1976 and 1981. They also won the Swiss Cup five times in 1966, 1970, 1972, 1973, and in 1976. FCZ also had much success internationally in reaching the semi-finals of the European Cup 1963–64, before losing to Real Madrid and also reaching the semi-finals in the European Cup 1976–77, where they lost to Liverpool.


title: FC Zürich

text: Following the club's league title in 1981, the club went into a decline and in 1988 they were relegated to the Nationalliga B. Zürich returned to the top league in 1990. The club did make it to last 16 of the UEFA Cup 1998–99, but were beaten by Roma. The club won the Swiss Cup in 2000, beating Lausanne in the final and also in 2005 beating Luzern.


title: FC Zürich

text: On 13 May 2006, FCZ ended their 25 years effort to win Super League with a goal in the 93rd minute by Iulian Filipescu against FC Basel. The goal gave FCZ a 2 – 1 victory based on goal difference. They sustained the league title In 2006–07.


title: FC Zürich

text: In 2008 the local women's team FFC Zürich Seebach was combined with FC Zürich and would play under the name FC Zürich Frauen in the Swiss national league. FC Zürich Frauen is Swiss record champion.


title: FC Zürich

text: In the 2007–08 season, FCZ (men's team) finished in third place. In a 2008–09 season match, they edged pass BSC Young Boys to win the league title. In 2009, they made their debut play for the group-stage of the UEFA Champions League. In the 2010–11 season FCZ finished second. The following seasons they finished mostly in mid-table positions. FCZ won the Swiss Cup 2014 in extra time against FC Basel 2 to 0.


title: FC Zürich

text: In the 2015–16 season the club finished last, one point behind FC Lugano and was relegated to the Swiss Challenge League. Four days after the final game of the season FCZ won the Swiss Cup 2016 beating FC Lugano 1 to 0.


title: FC Zürich

text: In the 2016–17 season FC Zürich won the Challenge League ahead of Neuchâtel Xamax and returned after one year to the Super League. In the 2017–2018 season they finished 4th. On 27 May 2018 they won the Swiss Cup for the tenth time, beating BSC Young Boys 2:1.


title: FC Zürich

text: In the 2021–2022 season, FC Zürich won the Super League again after an interruption of 13 years. The club secured its 13th league title with a 2-0 away win over FC Basel, who finished second, on 1 May 2022 with five rounds to go. Despite this success, coach André Breitenreiter departed the club to join Bundesliga side TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on 24 May 2022. On 8 June 2022, former Austrian national coach Franco Foda was announced as the coach for the upcoming season.


title: FC Zürich

text: Despite being able to guide Zürich into the Europa League group stages, an abysmal start to the domestic campaign saw the side gain only two points out of a possible twenty-four in their title defence. The dreadful league form, combined with a shock cup defeat to Challenge League side Lausanne on 18 September, proved the final straw and Foda was subsequently sacked on 21 September.


title: FC Zürich

text: Grasshopper, also from Zürich, and FC Basel are the main rivals of FCZ. Due to the intense rivalry, these matches are so-called high-risk fixtures, with an increased police presence in and around the stadium.


title: FC Zürich

text: Since its inception, FCZ has always had a fiery relationship with neighbouring club Grasshopper over sporting supremacy in the city.


title: FC Zürich

text: To date, 251 official derbies have been held, with Grasshopper leading with 121 wins to FC Zurich's 90, leaving 39 draws. However, since the reformation of the Swiss Super League in 2003, FCZ has frequently gotten the better of their city rivals, winning 33 out of 68 games (GC won 20 and 15 draws).


title: FC Zürich

text: Before the last round of the 2005–06 Swiss Super League, Zürich were three points behind FC Basel in the league table. The last game of the season was contested by these two clubs vying for the league title at St. Jakob Park, Basel. Alhassane Keita scored the match first goal, for Zürich. In the second half, Mladen Petrić equalised. FC Basel were seconds away from the title when in the 93rd minute, Florian Stahel passed the ball to Iulian Filipescu, who scored. Zürich's success at 2 – 1 was attributed to their superior goal difference. Following the final whistle, Basel supporters stormed the pitch and attacked players on both teams.


title: FC Zürich

text: In 2010, the youth and women's teams of the club moved their homebase to the Heerenschürli sport park in the city quarter of Hirzenbach where the academy and women's teams play also their home matches. In June 2022, the club moved with the opening of a newly built "House of FCZ" also their Super League team and offices there in order to have the whole organisation under one roof.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius (; c. 80–70 BC – after c. 15 BC) was a Roman architect and engineer during the 1st century BC, known for his multi-volume work entitled "De architectura". He originated the idea that all buildings should have three attributes: , , and ("strength", "utility", and "beauty"). These principles were later widely adopted in Roman architecture. His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body led to the famous Renaissance drawing of the "Vitruvian Man" by Leonardo da Vinci.


title: Vitruvius

text: Little is known about Vitruvius' life, but by his own description he served as an artilleryman, the third class of arms in the Roman military offices. He probably served as a senior officer of artillery in charge of "doctores ballistarum" (artillery experts) and "libratores" who actually operated the machines. As an army engineer he specialized in the construction of "ballista" and "scorpio" artillery war machines for sieges. It is possible that Vitruvius served with Julius Caesar's chief engineer Lucius Cornelius Balbus.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius' "De architectura" was widely copied and survives in many dozens of manuscripts throughout the Middle Ages, though in 1414 it was "rediscovered" by the Florentine humanist Poggio Bracciolini in the library of Saint Gall Abbey. Leon Battista Alberti published it in his seminal treatise on architecture, "De re aedificatoria" (c. 1450). The first known Latin printed edition was by Fra Giovanni Sulpitius in Rome in 1486. Translations followed in Italian, French, English, German, Spanish, and several other languages. Though the original illustrations have been lost, the first illustrated edition was published in Venice in 1511 by Fra Giovanni Giocondo, with woodcut illustrations based on descriptions in the text.


title: Vitruvius

text: Little is known about Vitruvius' life. Most inferences about him are extracted from his only surviving work "De Architectura". His full name is sometimes given as "Marcus Vitruvius Pollio", but both the first and last names are uncertain. Marcus Cetius Faventinus writes of "Vitruvius Polio aliique auctores"; this can be read as "Vitruvius Polio, and others" or, less likely, as "Vitruvius, Polio, and others". An inscription in Verona, which names a "Lucius Vitruvius Cordo", and an inscription from Thilbilis in North Africa, which names a "Marcus Vitruvius Mamurra" have been suggested as evidence that Vitruvius and Mamurra (who was a military "praefectus fabrum" under Julius Caesar) were from the same family; or were even the same individual. Neither association, however, is borne out by "De Architectura" (which Vitruvius dedicated to Augustus), nor by the little that is known of Mamurra.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius was a military engineer ("praefectus fabrum"), or a "praefect architectus armamentarius" of the "apparitor" status group (a branch of the Roman civil service). He is mentioned in Pliny the Elder's table of contents for "Naturalis Historia" (Natural History), in the heading for mosaic techniques. Frontinus refers to "Vitruvius the architect" in his late 1st-century work "De aquaeductu".


title: Vitruvius

text: Likely born a free Roman citizen, by his own account, Vitruvius served in the Roman army under Caesar with the otherwise poorly identified Marcus Aurelius, Publius Minidius, and Gnaeus Cornelius. These names vary depending on the edition of "De architectura". Publius Minidius is also written as Publius Numidicus and Publius Numidius, speculated as the same Publius Numisius inscribed on the Roman Theatre at Heraclea.


title: Vitruvius

text: As an army engineer he specialized in the construction of "ballista" and "scorpio" artillery war machines for sieges. It is speculated that Vitruvius served with Caesar's chief engineer Lucius Cornelius Balbus.


title: Vitruvius

text: The locations where he served can be reconstructed from, for example, descriptions of the building methods of various "foreign tribes". Although he describes places throughout "De Architectura", he does not say he was present. His service likely included north Africa, Hispania, Gaul (including Aquitaine) and Pontus.


title: Vitruvius

text: To place the role of Vitruvius the military engineer in context, a description of "The Prefect of the camp" or army engineer is quoted here as given by Flavius Vegetius Renatus in "The Military Institutions of the Romans":


title: Vitruvius

text: The Prefect of the camp, though inferior in rank to the [Prefect], had a post of no small importance. The position of the camp, the direction of the entrenchments, the inspection of the tents or huts of the soldiers and the baggage were comprehended in his province. His authority extended over the sick, and the physicians who had the care of them; and he regulated the expenses relative thereto. He had the charge of providing carriages, bathhouses and the proper tools for sawing and cutting wood, digging trenches, raising parapets, sinking wells and bringing water into the camp. He likewise had the care of furnishing the troops with wood and straw, as well as the rams, "onagri," "balistae" and all the other engines of war under his direction. This post was always conferred on an officer of great skill, experience and long service, and who consequently was capable of instructing others in those branches of the profession in which he had distinguished himself.


title: Vitruvius

text: At various locations described by Vitruvius, battles and sieges occurred. He is the only source for the siege of Larignum in 56 BC. Of the battlegrounds of the Gallic War there are references to:


title: Vitruvius

text: These are all sieges of large Gallic "oppida". Of the sites involved in Caesar's civil war, we find the Siege of Massilia in 49 BC, the Battle of Dyrrhachium of 48 BC (modern Albania), the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC (Hellas – Greece), the Battle of Zela of 47 BC (modern Turkey), and the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC in Caesar's African campaign. A legion that fits the same sequence of locations is the Legio VI Ferrata, of which "ballista" would be an auxiliary unit.


title: Vitruvius

text: Mainly known for his writings, Vitruvius was himself an architect. In Roman times architecture was a broader subject than at present including the modern fields of architecture, construction management, construction engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering, materials engineering, mechanical engineering, military engineering and urban planning; architectural engineers consider him the first of their discipline, a specialization previously known as technical architecture.


title: Vitruvius

text: In his work describing the construction of military installations, he also commented on the miasma theory – the idea that unhealthy air from wetlands was the cause of illness, saying:


title: Vitruvius

text: Frontinus mentions Vitruvious in connection with the standard sizes of pipes: the role he is most widely respected. He is often credited as father of architectural acoustics for describing the technique of "echeas" placement in theaters. The only building, however, that we know Vitruvius to have worked on is one he tells us about, a "basilica" completed in 19 BC. It was built at Fanum Fortunae, now the modern town of Fano. The "Basilica di Fano" (to give the building its Italian name) has disappeared so completely that its very site is a matter of conjecture, although various attempts have been made to visualise it. The early Christian practice of converting Roman "basilicae" (public buildings) into cathedrals implies the "basilica" may be incorporated into the cathedral in Fano.


title: Vitruvius

text: In later years the emperor Augustus, through his sister Octavia Minor, sponsored Vitruvius, entitling him with what may have been a pension to guarantee financial independence.


title: Vitruvius

text: Whether "De architectura" was written by one author or is a compilation completed by subsequent librarians and copyists, remains an open question. The date of his death is unknown, which suggests that he had enjoyed only a little popularity during his lifetime.


title: Vitruvius

text: Gerolamo Cardano, in his 1552 book "De subtilitate rerum", ranks Vitruvius as one of the 12 persons whom he supposes to have excelled all men in the force of genius and invention; and would not have scrupled to have given him the first place if it could be imagined that he had delivered nothing but his own discoveries.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius is the author of "De architectura, libri decem", known today as "The Ten Books on Architecture", a treatise written in Latin on architecture, dedicated to the emperor Augustus. In the preface of Book I, Vitruvius dedicates his writings to giving personal knowledge of the quality of buildings to the emperor. Likely Vitruvius is referring to Marcus Agrippa's campaign of public repairs and improvements. This work is the only surviving major book on architecture from classical antiquity. According to Petri Liukkonen, this text "influenced deeply from the Early Renaissance onwards artists, thinkers, and architects, among them Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472), Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519), and Michelangelo (1475–1564)." The next major book on architecture, Alberti's reformulation of "Ten Books", was not written until 1452.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius is famous for asserting in his book "De architectura" that a structure must exhibit the three qualities of "firmitatis, utilitatis, venustatis" – that is, stability, utility, and beauty. These are sometimes termed the Vitruvian virtues or the Vitruvian Triad. According to Vitruvius, architecture is an imitation of nature. As birds and bees built their nests, so humans constructed housing from natural materials, that gave them shelter against the elements. When perfecting this art of building, the Greeks invented the architectural orders: Doric, Ionic and Corinthian. It gave them a sense of proportion, culminating in understanding the proportions of the greatest work of art: the human body. This led Vitruvius in defining his Vitruvian Man, as drawn later by Leonardo da Vinci: the human body inscribed in the circle and the square (the fundamental geometric patterns of the cosmic order). In this book series, Vitruvius, also wrote about climate in relation to housing architecture and how to choose locations for cities.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius is sometimes loosely referred to as the first architect, but it is more accurate to describe him as the first Roman architect to have written surviving records of his field. He himself cites older but less complete works. He was less an original thinker or creative intellect than a codifier of existing architectural practice. Vitruvius had a much wider scope than modern architects. Roman architects practised a wide variety of disciplines; in modern terms, they could be described as being engineers, architects, landscape architects, surveyors, artists, and craftsmen combined. Etymologically the word architect derives from Greek words meaning 'master' and 'builder'. The first of the "Ten Books" deals with many subjects which now come within the scope of landscape architecture.


title: Vitruvius

text: He goes on to say that the architect should be versed in drawing, geometry, optics (lighting), history, philosophy, music, theatre, medicine, and law.


title: Vitruvius

text: In Book I, Chapter 3 ("The Departments of Architecture"), Vitruvius divides architecture into three branches, namely; building; the construction of sundials and water clocks; and the design and use of machines in construction and warfare. He further divides building into public and private. Public building includes city planning, public security structures such as walls, gates and towers; the convenient placing of public facilities such as theatres, forums and markets, baths, roads and pavings; and the construction and position of shrines and temples for religious use. Later books are devoted to the understanding, design and construction of each of these.


title: Vitruvius

text: It was upon these writings that Renaissance engineers, architects and artists like Mariano di Jacopo Taccola, Pellegrino Prisciani and Francesco di Giorgio Martini and finally Leonardo da Vinci based the illustration of the Vitruvian Man.


title: Vitruvius

text: The drawing itself is often used as an implied symbol of the essential symmetry of the human body, and by extension, of the universe as a whole.


title: Vitruvius

text: In the introduction to book seven, Vitruvius goes to great lengths to present why he is qualified to write "De Architectura". This is the only location in the work where Vitruvius specifically addresses his personal breadth of knowledge. Similar to a modern reference section, the author's position as one who is knowledgeable and educated is established. The topics range across many fields of expertise reflecting that in Roman times as today construction is a diverse field. Vitruvius is clearly a well-read man.


title: Vitruvius

text: In addition to providing his qualification, Vitruvius summarizes a recurring theme throughout the 10 books, a non-trivial and core contribution of his treatise beyond simply being a construction book. Vitruvius makes the point that the work of some of the most talented is unknown, while many of those of lesser talent but greater political position are famous. This theme runs through Vitruvius's ten books repeatedly – echoing an implicit prediction that he and his works will also be forgotten.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius illustrates this point by naming what he considers the most talented individuals in history. Implicitly challenging the reader that they have never heard of some of these people, Vitruvius goes on and predicts that some of these individuals will be forgotten and their works lost, while other, less deserving political characters of history will be forever remembered with pageantry.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius' "De architectura" was "rediscovered" in 1414 by the Florentine humanist Poggio Bracciolini in the library of Saint Gall Abbey. Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) publicised it in his seminal treatise on architecture, "De re aedificatoria" (c. 1450). The first known Latin printed edition was by Fra Giovanni Sulpitius in Rome, 1486. Translations followed in Italian (Cesare Cesariano, 1521), French (Jean Martin, 1547), English, German (, 1543) and Spanish and several other languages. The original illustrations had been lost and the first illustrated edition was published in Venice in 1511 by Fra Giovanni Giocondo, with woodcut illustrations based on descriptions in the text. Later in the 16th-century Andrea Palladio provided illustrations for Daniele Barbaro's commentary on Vitruvius, published in Italian and Latin versions. The most famous illustration is probably Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man".


title: Vitruvius

text: The surviving ruins of Roman antiquity, the Roman Forum, temples, theatres, triumphal arches and their reliefs and statues offered visual examples of the descriptions in the Vitruvian text. Printed and illustrated editions of "De Architectura" inspired Renaissance, Baroque and Neoclassical architecture. Filippo Brunelleschi, for example, invented a new type of hoist to lift the large stones for the dome of the cathedral in Florence and was inspired by "De Architectura" as well as surviving Roman monuments such as the Pantheon and the Baths of Diocletian.


title: Vitruvius

text: Books VIII, IX and X form the basis of much of what we know about Roman technology, now augmented by archaeological studies of extant remains, such as the water mills at Barbegal in France. The other major source of information is the "Naturalis Historia" compiled by Pliny the Elder much later in c. 75 AD.


title: Vitruvius

text: The work is important for its descriptions of the many different machines used for engineering structures such as hoists, cranes and pulleys, as well as war machines such as catapults, "ballistae," and siege engines. As a practising engineer, Vitruvius must be speaking from personal experience rather than simply describing the works of others. He also describes the construction of sundials and water clocks, and the use of an aeolipile (the first steam engine) as an experiment to demonstrate the nature of atmospheric air movements (wind).


title: Vitruvius

text: His description of aqueduct construction includes the way they are surveyed, and the careful choice of materials needed, although Frontinus (a general who was appointed in the late 1st century AD to administer the many aqueducts of Rome), writing a century later, gives much more detail of the practical problems involved in their construction and maintenance. Surely Vitruvius' book would have been of great assistance in this. Vitruvius was writing in the 1st century BC when many of the finest Roman aqueducts were built, and survive to this day, such as those at Segovia and the Pont du Gard. The use of the inverted siphon is described in detail, together with the problems of high pressures developed in the pipe at the base of the siphon, a practical problem with which he seems to be acquainted.


title: Vitruvius

text: He describes many different construction materials used for a wide variety of different structures, as well as such details as stucco painting. Concrete and lime receive in-depth descriptions.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius is cited as one of the earliest sources to connect lead mining and manufacture, its use in drinking water pipes, and its adverse effects on health. For this reason, he recommended the use of clay pipes and masonry channels in the provision of piped drinking-water.


title: Vitruvius

text: Vitruvius is the source for the anecdote that credits Archimedes with the discovery of the mass-to-volume ratio while relaxing in his bath. Having been asked to investigate the suspected adulteration of the gold used to make a crown, Archimedes realised that the crown's volume could be measured exactly by its displacement of water, and ran into the street with the cry of" Eureka!"


title: Vitruvius

text: He describes the construction of Archimedes' screw in Chapter X (without mentioning Archimedes by name). It was a device widely used for raising water to irrigate fields and drain mines. Other lifting machines he mentions include the endless chain of buckets and the reverse overshot water-wheel. Remains of the water wheels used for lifting water were discovered when old mines were re-opened at Rio Tinto in Spain, Rosia Montana in Romania and Dolaucothi in west Wales. The Rio Tinto wheel is now shown in the British Museum, and the Dolaucothi specimen in the National Museum of Wales.


title: Vitruvius

text: That he must have been well practised in surveying is shown by his descriptions of surveying instruments, especially the water level or "chorobates," which he compares favourably with the "groma," a device using plumb lines. They were essential in all building operations, but especially in aqueduct construction, where a uniform gradient was important to the provision of a regular supply of water without damage to the walls of the channel. He also developed one of the first odometers, consisting of a wheel of known circumference that dropped a pebble into a container on every rotation.


title: Vitruvius

text: He describes the many innovations made in building design to improve the living conditions of the inhabitants. Foremost among them is the development of the "hypocaust," a type of central heating where hot air developed by a fire was channelled under the floor and inside the walls of public baths and villas. He gives explicit instructions how to design such buildings so that fuel efficiency is maximised, so that for example, the "caldarium" is next to the "tepidarium" followed by the "frigidarium". He also advises on using a type of regulator to control the heat in the hot rooms, a bronze disc set into the roof under a circular aperture which could be raised or lowered by a pulley to adjust the ventilation. Although he does not suggest it himself, it is likely that his dewatering devices such as the reverse overshot water-wheel were used in the larger baths to lift water to header tanks at the top of the larger "thermae", such as the Baths of Diocletian. The one which was used in Bath of Caracalla for grinding flour.


title: Adil Rami

text: Adil Rami (born 27 December 1985) is a French professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Troyes, for which he is the captain.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami began his football career playing for amateur club Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, then known as ES Fréjus. Due to only playing the sport as a hobby, he spent three seasons at the club playing in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth division of French football. In 2006, Rami ascended three divisions after signing with Ligue 1 club Lille. At Lille, Rami developed into a starter, making his professional debut in May 2007. He is nicknamed ""Shrek"" by teammates and Lille supporters. In January 2011, Rami joined Spanish club Valencia on a four-year contract. However, he was immediately loaned back to his previous club and was a part of the Lille team which won the league and cup double.


title: Adil Rami

text: Despite constant early inquiries from Morocco prior to his first selection, Rami chose to play for his home country of France. He was in the preliminary list to play for France at the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals but did not make the final squad. Rami made his senior debut on 11 August 2010 in a friendly match against Norway.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami was born in the city of Bastia on the island of Corsica to Moroccan parents. As a youth, his family moved to the mainland, eventually settling in the southern coast city of Fréjus, where his mother worked as a member of the city council. Rami is the third of four children and has two sisters and one brother. While training to become a professional football player, Rami worked for the city after his family grew concerned for his future. He often did odd-jobs such as taking care of the maintenance and cleanliness of the city.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami registered as a youth player for Étoile Fréjus Saint-Raphaël, then known as ES Fréjus, in 1994 at the age of nine. Despite harbouring ambitions of playing football professionally, Rami only played the sport as a hobby and worked for city hall to support himself. He made his amateur debut for the club during the 2003–04 season while Fréjus were playing in the Championnat de France amateur, the fourth division of French football. He appeared in four matches in his first season. In the 2004–05 season, Rami appeared in 24 matches as Fréjus finished mid-table.


title: Adil Rami

text: Ahead of the 2005–06 season, Rami switched to playing in central defence. He initially played as an offensive player often in the midfield, but following an injury to a teammate, whom Rami described as his best friend, his coaches inserted him into defence. The transition was a success, with Rami appearing in 30 matches with Fréjus finishing mid-table for the third consecutive season. Midway through the campaign, Rami was offered a trial by professional club Lille. Eager to leave the amateur club, he took the opportunity and after a week's training session with Lille, which Rami described as "hard", he was signed to an amateur contract with Fréjus receiving €10,000.


title: Adil Rami

text: Upon his arrival to the club, Rami was inserted onto the club's Championnat de France amateur team and was supervised by coach Pascal Planque, who Rami stated gave him the best opportunity to grow as a player. Rami appeared in 27 matches as the team finished in third position, the highest finish amongst professional clubs' reserve team's playing in the group. With two months remaining in the 2006–07 Ligue 1 season, Rami was called up to the senior team by manager Claude Puel. He made his professional debut on 19 May 2007 in a Ligue 1 match against Auxerre, starting at centre-back. The following week, Rami started again, against Rennes. On 4 June, Rami signed his first professional contract after agreeing to a three-year deal lasting until 2010. He was then promoted to the senior squad on a permanent basis and assigned the number 23 shirt.


title: Adil Rami

text: In the 2007–08 season, Rami was declared a starter by Puel and inserted at centre-back, alongside captain Grégory Tafforeau. In the opening match of the season, against Lorient, Rami featured in the match until the 69th minute, when he suffered an injury to ligaments in one of his knees. He subsequently missed three-and-a-half months due to the injury, returning in November 2007. Upon his return, Rami featured in every remaining match for Lille, save for one league match. Lille finished the campaign in seventh position, one spot out of Europe. After the season, Rami signed a two-year contract extension with the club.


title: Adil Rami

text: For the 2008–09 season, Rami's Ligue 1 season debut against Nancy was halted in injury time after earning a straight red card. On 18 October 2008, he scored his first professional goal in a 2–2 draw against Lyon. The following month, Rami scored against Marseille in another 2–2 draw. On 1 February 2009, he scored the would-be game-winner against Bordeaux in the 57th minute. However, the goal was canceled out eight minutes later by Yoann Gourcuff to draw the match at 2–2. Rami's fourth and final goal of the season was the team's second goal in a 3–2 win over Nancy on the final day of the league season. The victory secured fifth place for Lille, which resulted in the club qualifying for the newly created UEFA Europa League.


title: Adil Rami

text: Following the season, Rami drew considerable interest from several clubs, which included French clubs Marseille and Lyon, English clubs Liverpool and Arsenal and Italian club Milan. Despite suitable offers for the player, Lille chairman Michel Seydoux declared that Rami was not going to be leaving the club after a reported move to Marseille for €12 million was abruptly canceled in July 2009. The announcement led to a distraught and angry Rami declaring he would see out the rest of his contract with Lille playing in the reserves if he was not transferred. He even went as far as to state that there was a conspiracy between Lille and Lyon, due to the club's easy negotiations during transfers between each other, as well as Seydoux's brother, Jérôme, being a shareholder of Lyon. On 15 August 2009, Rami apologized for the comments and said he would remain at Lille.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami began the 2009–10 season again as a starter as Lille struggled early on due to its tough schedule, in which the team faced Marseille, Paris Saint-Germain and Toulouse in the first four weeks of the season. He made his UEFA Europa League debut on 30 July 2009 in the first leg of the club's third qualifying round match. Rami scored his first goal of the season on 19 September in the annual Derby du Nord match against Lens. With Lille trailing 1–0 in injury time at a hostile Stade Félix-Bollaert, Rami connected on a header following a corner kick in the 93rd minute to draw the match at 1–1, which was the final result. On 28 October, he scored his second goal against Saint-Étienne in a 4–0 victory after delivering a curling free-kick from almost 35 metres out. On 25 February 2010, Rami scored the aggregate-winning goal in the team's round of 32-second leg tie away to Fenerbahçe after connecting on a header five minutes from time.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 3 January 2011, Spanish club Valencia confirmed on its website it had reached an agreement with Lille for the transfer of Rami, with the La Liga outfit paying Lille a reported transfer fee believed to be in the range of €6–10 million. Rami finished the 2010–11 campaign with Lille on loan from Valencia and officially joined his parent club on 13 June after successfully passing a medical.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami made his debut for Valencia against Racing de Santander in a 4–3 home win. In the same match, he scored his first goal for the club from a corner kick, making it 2–3.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 25 September 2013, Valencia temporarily suspended Rami from his contract after he gave an interview on Radio Valencia in which he openly criticised his teammates and his coach, Miroslav Đukić. He was also fined €275,000 (€130,000 net) of his remaining salary owed for the half of the season, the largest ever imposed by Valencia. Meanwhile, Rami left the Spanish club and started training with AC Milan. On 16 October 2013, Valencia gave him permission to train with the Italian club and an agreement was reached between the clubs that the player would be loaned to Milan when the winter transfer window opened, on 3 January 2014, with an option to purchase.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 6 January 2014, Rami made his debut in Serie A, coming on as a substitute for Cristián Zapata in a match against Atalanta, a 3–0 win. On 1 February, he scored his first goal in Serie A, against Torino. On 23 February, he scored his second goal against Sampdoria. His third and last goal of the Serie A season came on 16 March, against Parma.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 12 July 2014, Milan signed Rami on a three-year contract with a £3.37 million (€4.25 million) fee to Valencia. Rami personally paid €500,000 to cover the payment difference with Valencia, as Milan refused to pay the original buy-out clause of €7.5 million, only offering €3.75 million. He scored his first goal in the 2014–15 season on 28 September 2014 with a glancing header in a 1–1 draw with Cesena.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 1 July 2015, Spanish newspaper "Marca" confirmed that Sevilla had reached an agreement with Milan to sign Rami for four seasons, with the transfer fee believed to be €3.5 million.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 13 July 2017, Rami joined Ligue 1 club Olympique de Marseille on a four-year contract for a €6 million transfer fee. On 27 July, he made his competitive debut for Marseille, in their 2017–18 UEFA Europa League third qualifying round, first leg match against Oostende at the Stade Vélodrome, playing the full 90 minutes of the 4–2 victory. He made his Ligue 1 debut for Marseille on 6 August in their home match against Dijon, again playing the full 90 minutes of the match, which Marseille won 3–0. On 14 September, he headed home Dimitri Payet's corner to score his first competitive goal for Marseille in their 2017–18 UEFA Europa League group stage 1–0 home win over Konyaspor. On 3 May 2018, he played every minute of the Europa League semi-final second leg match away to FC Red Bull Salzburg which Marseille lost 2–1 after extra-time but won 3–2 on aggregate to secure a place in the 2018 UEFA Europa League Final which was played at the Parc Olympique Lyonnais in Décines-Charpieu, Lyon, France on 16 May 2018, against Atlético Madrid. Rami played the full 90 minutes of the final, which Atlético Madrid won 3–0.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 11 November 2018, Rami scored his first Ligue 1 goal of the 2018-19 season and also assisted the opening goal that was scored by Lucas Ocampos in the 2–0 home win over Dijon. On 19 December, Rami missed the last penalty of the penalty shoot-out of the 2018–19 Coupe de la Ligue round of 16 home match against Strasbourg, resulting in Marseille's elimination from the competition.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami was left out of Marseille's pre-season tour to the United States in the summer of 2019 and left out of the squad for the club's opening competitive match of the 2019–20 season on 10 August 2019 under newly appointed head coach André Villas-Boas, a 2–0 Ligue 1 home defeat to Stade de Reims. On 13 August 2019, Rami was sacked by Marseille for 'gross misconduct'. He had been under investigation by the club for missing a training session at the end of the 2018–19 season after claiming that he had an injury. But on the same day as the missed training session, Rami took part in the recording of an episode of the French TV game show "Fort Boyard" where contestants compete in a set of challenges to win prize money, including participation in a variation of mud wrestling and performing demanding physical stunts.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 27 August 2019, 2 weeks after being sacked by Olympique de Marseille for 'gross misconduct' and as a free agent, Rami signed a short-term contract with Turkish Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe that would run until the end of the 2019–20 season and included the option of a second season.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 21 February 2020, by mutual agreement with the club, he terminated his contract with Fenerbahçe and joined the Russian team PFC Sochi on the same day. While the championship was stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic, his contract was terminated on 27 May 2020 without him having played a single match. Rami claims not to have been paid.


title: Adil Rami

text: After terminating his contract with Sochi, Rami went to Portugal's top flight by joining Boavista on a two-year deal on 4 September 2020 meeting his friend Ricardo Costa. He played 22 games and left by mutual accord the following 29 July.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami is a French international, having made his debut on 11 August 2010 in a friendly match against Norway. Prior to representing France, he drew interest from the Moroccan national team. Ahead of the 2008 Africa Cup of Nations, Rami was offered a chance to play with Morocco at the competition by manager Henri Michel. However, Rami declined the offer, citing his ambition to play for France. He has stated on several occasions that he would prefer to "represent Morocco within the France team".


title: Adil Rami

text: On 20 March 2008, Rami received his first call-up to the France national team by then head coach Raymond Domenech for a friendly match against England. Rami was informed of the call-up by Lille teammate and captain Rio Mavuba, which Rami initially considered a joke. The call-up was indeed considered surprising by the French media and supporters, as Rami had only played 17 Ligue 1 matches. Rami featured with the B team in its friendly against Mali on 25 March 2008. Due to the match being unofficial, Rami was again offered the chance to play for Morocco after being called up for the team's friendly match against the Czech Republic on 11 February 2009 by new manager Roger Lemerre. Rami again declined the opportunity. On 19 March, he was called up again by Lemerre for the team's FIFA World Cup qualification match against Gabon. For the third time, Rami declined the opportunity and later accepted his call-up to the France squad for its FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Lithuania. On 11 May 2010, despite having not made a single appearance for France, Rami was named to the 30-man preliminary list by Domenech to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals, but failed to make the final 23-men squad.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 5 August 2010, Rami was called up to the senior team by the new manager Laurent Blanc for the team's friendly match against Norway on 11 August 2010. He earned his first senior cap in that match, starting at centre-back alongside Philippe Mexès. After appearing regularly in UEFA Euro 2012 qualifying, on 29 May 2012, Rami was named to the squad to participate in the finals of that competition. Two days earlier, he had scored his first international goal in a 3–2 friendly comeback win over Iceland. Rami made his debut in the finals of a World Cup or UEFA European Championship on 11 June in his team's Euro 2012 opening match against England. He started and played the entire match, which ended in a 1–1 draw. He also played every minute of France's last three matches of the tournament – the remaining two Group D matches against Ukraine and Sweden, and the quarter-final against defending champions – and eventual winners – Spain.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami took part in the finals of the UEFA Euro 2016 tournament, called up to replace the injured Raphael Varane, Rami played every minute of the first four matches (group stage and round of 16) of the finals, against Romania, Albania, Switzerland and the Republic of Ireland. However, he did not play the quarter-final, semi-final and final matches against Iceland, Germany and Portugal respectively. The host-nation France finished as runners-up of the tournament after losing to Portugal 1–0 after extra time in the final.


title: Adil Rami

text: On 17 May 2018, Rami was called up to the 23-man French squad for the 2018 World Cup finals in Russia. He announced his retirement from the national team after winning the trophy. Rami was the only unused outfield player in that tournament.


title: Adil Rami

text: Despite his retirement announcement, Rami was named in Deschamps' squad for three of the four league phase matches of the inaugural 2018–19 UEFA Nations League against Germany and the Netherlands. He was an unused substitute for all those three matches, with France failing to reach the finals that was held in Portugal.


title: Adil Rami

text: Rami is the father of twins, Zayn and Madi (b. 2016), with former companion Sidonie Biémont. In 2017, he began dating Canadian actress Pamela Anderson and as of November 2018, the two were living together in a mansion in Cassis, near Marseille, in the French Riviera. In June 2019, Anderson declared in an Instagram post that they had ended their relationship.


title: Mirin

text: Three types of mirin are common. The first is "hon mirin" (literally: true mirin), which contains about 14% alcohol and is produced by a 40 to 60 day mashing (saccharification) process. The second is "shio mirin" (literally: salt mirin), which contains a minimum of 1.5% salt to prevent consumption in order to avoid alcohol tax. The third is "shin mirin" (literally: new mirin), or "mirin-fu chomiryo" (literally: mirin-like seasoning), which contains less than 1% alcohol, yet retains the same flavor.


title: Mirin

text: In the Edo period, mirin was consumed as "amazake". O-toso, traditionally consumed for the Japanese New Year, can be made by soaking a spice mixture in mirin.


title: Mirin

text: In the Kansai style of cooking, mirin is briefly boiled before use, allowing some alcohol to evaporate. In the Kantō regional style, the mirin is used untreated. Kansai-style boiled mirin is called "nikiri mirin" () (literally: thoroughly boiled mirin).


title: Mirin

text: Mirin adds a bright touch to grilled or broiled fish or erases the fishy smell. A small amount is often used instead of sugar and soy sauce. Its flavor is quite strong. It is sometimes used to accompany sushi.


title: Mirin

text: November 30 has been designated the day of "hon-mirin" by the "mirin" industry because in Japanese wordplay, the date words sound like '11' (, good) and '30' (, "mirin").


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" is a song written and recorded by British hip hop artist M.I.A. for her second studio album, "Kala" (2007). Produced and co-written by her and Diplo, the song features an interpolation of English rock band the Clash's 1982 song "Straight to Hell", leading to its members being credited as co-writers. A downtempo alternative hip hop track combining African folk music elements, the song has a less dance-oriented sound compared to other songs on the album. Its lyrics, inspired by M.I.A.'s own problems obtaining a visa to work in the US, satirise American perceptions of immigrants from Third World nations.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" was released in February 2008 as the album's third single by XL Recordings in Europe and Interscope Records in the US. The accompanying music video, filmed in Bedford-Stuyvesant, depicts M.I.A. as an undercover dealer and features images of paper planes flying overhead. While the video proved popular on MTV, the network censored the song's cannabis reference and gunshot sounds, which disappointed M.I.A. The song was M.I.A.'s biggest commercial success, entering the top 20 on charts in several countries including Denmark and the UK. It peaked at number four on the US "Billboard" Hot 100, becoming M.I.A.’s first and only song to chart in the US top 100 as a lead artist. The song was certified multi-platinum in Canada, the UK and the US and gold in New Zealand.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: The unexpected success of "Paper Planes" paralleled M.I.A.'s condemnations of the Sri Lankan government's war crimes against the Tamils, with whom M.I.A. shares ethnic and cultural backgrounds, generating accusations that she supported terrorism. The song received widespread acclaim from contemporary critics, who complimented its musical direction and the subversive, unconventional subject matter. It won awards from the Canadian Independent Music Awards and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), and earned a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year. The song has received praise in publications such as "NME", "Pitchfork" and "Rolling Stone", each naming it among either the best songs of the 2000s decade or of all time.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: M.I.A. (Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam) released her debut studio album "Arular" in 2005 to critical acclaim. The album, inspired by her father Arul Pragasam's involvement in the Tamil independent movement in Sri Lanka, heavily incorporates themes of conflict and revolution into dance songs. While M.I.A. wanted to work with American producer Timbaland for "Arular"s follow-up album "Kala" (2007), her application for a long-term US work visa was rejected. This was allegedly due to her family's connection to the Tamil guerrillas, commonly known as the Tamil Tigers, a claim M.I.A. denied. Her visa problems were also attributed to her criticism of the Sri Lankan government's discrimination and alleged atrocities committed against the Tamils, with whom M.I.A. shares an ethnic and cultural heritage. She expressed this on her politicised album "Arular".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: M.I.A. began work on "Paper Planes" with American producer Diplo and English DJ Switch in London. The track's downtempo production sets it apart from the rest of "Kala", which features dense electronic sounds. Diplo came up with the idea of sampling English rock band the Clash's 1982 song "Straight to Hell" and produced the instrumental track with assistance from Switch. As a result, all members of the Clash were credited as co-writers. M.I.A. said that she recorded her vocals without paying much attention to her singing and finished the song in one take. She drew inspiration for the lyrics from her own troubles gaining a work permit to the US, complaining that the issue was probably "them thinking that I might "sic" to fly a plane into the Trade Center". From her frustration with US immigration policy, M.I.A. developed "Paper Planes" as a satire of American perception of immigrants from war-torn countries.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: M.I.A. invited street kids she came across in Brixton to sing the song's chorus. After regaining entry to the US, M.I.A. finalised the track at her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, a Brooklyn neighbourhood with a high concentration of African Americans, in mid-2007. She recalled that her time living there prompted her to think, "People don't really feel like immigrants or refugees contribute to culture in any way". She added the sound effects of gunshots and a cash register to the chorus. Saying these sounds symbolise stereotypes of immigrants, M.I.A. refused to elaborate and wanted listeners to interpret the song for themselves noting, "America is so obsessed with money, I'm sure they'll get it". She told "The Daily Beast" that the gunshots embodied political refugees' experiences in war-torn areas, which she described as "a part of our culture as an everyday thing". Revisiting the song in 2013, M.I.A. expressed to "Rolling Stone" that "Paper Planes" was "a really Baltimore/Brooklyn song for me", partly inspired by her immersion in New York and Baltimore street culture.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" is a downtempo alternative hip hop song with a duration of three minutes and twenty-four seconds. The song takes a musical approach which incorporates elements of hip hop and African folk music. "Paper Planes" follows what M.I.A. characterised as the "nu world" music style of "Kala". It contains an interpolation of Clash's song "Straight to Hell". According to the sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Universal Music Publishing Group, it is written in the time signature of common time with a moderate tempo of 86 beats per minute. The song is composed in the key of D major while M.I.A.'s vocal range spans one octave, from the low-note of F♯ to the high-note of F♯. The musical composition incorporates verse-chorus form, with a bridge preceding the fourth and final chorus, where a distorted guitar riff provides accompaniment to the piece playing out the coda. The chorus features children chanting and singing, and sound effects of gunshots and a cash register, and was compared to the chorus on Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 song "Rump Shaker". BBC Radio 1's Fraser McAlpine commented on the discordance between M.I.A.'s "icy, distant" vocals and the "calm and serene" backing track.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: The lyrics, epitomising "Kala"s central theme, satirise American perceptions of visa-seeking foreigners and immigrants from Third World nations. "Billboard" commented that the content is about class conflict, in which M.I.A. plays the role of a "revolutionary". M.I.A. explained that the "paper planes" in the title and opening lines—"I fly like paper, get high like planes / If you catch me at the border I got visas in my name / If you come around here I make 'em all day"—are counterfeit visas made by the immigrants. "The Stranger" described the chorus's sound effects as "rock'n'roll swindle, anti-colonial cash register liberation", which complements the song's meaning. The lyrics "No one on the corner had swagger like us / Hit me on the burner prepaid wireless" encapsulate the restrained living conditions of immigrants struggling with monthly mobile phone bills. At the bridge, M.I.A. jokingly plays with her alleged connection to the Tamil militants and the visa problems stemming from it, "Some I murder, some (a some) I let go".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" is the eleventh track on "Kala", which was released in August 2007 by XL Recordings in Europe, Oceania, and through Interscope Records in the US. On 11 February 2008, an extended play (EP) containing "Paper Planes" and five remixes of the song, titled "Homeland Security Remixes EP", was released digitally in Europe through XL Recordings, and physically (in 12-inch vinyl format) in the US through Interscope Records. The following day, the remixes EP was made available online in the US. The song was released as a digital single on 15 September through iTunes Stores in Europe. Another EP containing three tracks was released in the UK on 13 October. On the same day, "Paper Planes" was re-released as a two-track CD single in the UK following the song's unexpected commercial success; it contains a remix subtitled "Diplo Street Remix" featuring American rappers Bun B and Rich Boy. The CD was distributed in Australia five days following its UK release. A 7-inch single, featuring a remix by DFA as the B-side, was distributed on 18 November.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" received widespread acclaim from contemporary publications. "The Stranger"s Eric Grandy selected the song as "Kala"s highlight, calling it the album's "most exciting synthesis of the political and the pop, a playful dig into the real, dirty business of rump shaking". Andy Kellman of AllMusic, Michael Hubbard of "musicOMH", Jon Pareles of "Blender" and Emma Warren of "The Observer" named it a standout on the well-received "Kala". "Stylus Magazine"s Ewen McGarvey described the song as "narcotic, gorgeous". Alex Miller from "NME" commented that "Paper Planes" was "Kala"s only radio-friendly track, but still reflected M.I.A. as "the inheritor of true rebel music in an era of corporate punks". The "Houston Chronicle"s Joey Guerra complimented the song's gunshot and cash register sounds that showcased M.I.A.'s "stunning international flow" and joked that the US should "immediately extend an open-door policy" to welcome the artist. BBC Radio 1's Fraser McAlpine awarded the song a five-out-of-five-stars rating, labelling it a "clever song" that demands listeners pay attention.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: Writing for "Clash", Colm Larkin characterised "Paper Planes" as a "downtempo masterpiece that's like a torch song for the world's disaffected and poor" and said of M.I.A.'s seemingly "meaningless" lyrics about visa problems: "When the music is this profound she doesn't need to make sense". For "Pitchfork"s Mark Pytlik, the track's "island-tinged nursery rhyme" epitomised M.I.A.'s combination of "island patois and Westernized slang", which "always leads her to interesting places". Tom Breihan of "The Village Voice" noted the song included M.I.A.'s trademark political overtones in her music, and lauded it for employing "layers of implication". Karim Maksoud from "DIY" praised the song's theme of "coarse fatalism, superficiality and backstabbing acerbity of the modern urban life" and dubbed the track a "tuneful amalgam of influences and exotic dynamic". Ann Powers of the "Los Angeles Times" called "Paper Planes" the epitome of the album that conveys multiple layers of meaning. "The Independent"s Andy Gill was less complimentary, opining that the track's gun and murder references blemished "an otherwise fine album".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: At the end of 2007, "Paper Planes" was named one of the year's best songs on contemporary publications' lists, including rankings at number 44 ("Stylus Magazine"), number eight ("PopMatters") and number six ("Fact"). The Diplo remix featuring Bun B and Rich Boy was ranked at numbers 27 and four by "Vibe" and "Pitchfork", respectively. The song placed at number six on the 2007 Pazz & Jop poll, an annual mass critics' poll conducted by "The Village Voice". Following its single release in 2008, "Paper Planes" continued to appear on multiple year-end lists, being placed at number 26 ("NME"), number eight ("Mixmag"), number three ("Entertainment Weekly"), number two ("Blender") and number one ("Spin", "Slant Magazine" and "Rolling Stone Brasil"). It topped the 2008 Pazz & Jop poll by "The Village Voice". "Paper Planes" received a Grammy nomination for Record of the Year at the 51st annual ceremony in 2009. The track won a 2009 PRS Award from the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Favourite International Single at the 2009 Canadian Independent Music Awards.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: Director Bernard Gourley, known for his work with hip hop artists, directed the music video for "Paper Planes". Shot in Bedford-Stuyvesant, it depicts M.I.A. as an undercover dealer. Initially planning to record the video in a factory on the border of Ecuador, M.I.A. was unable to do so because she was touring the US and had only one day off to shoot it. The visual begins with several paper planes flying over Brooklyn Bridge, shot in black-and-white. Throughout the clip, coloured scenes show M.I.A. singing and dancing along streets in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighbourhood, selling food from a van to locals, and dealing valuables such as chains, watches and cash. Nigerian rapper Afrikan Boy portrays M.I.A.'s food vending partner, and Mike D & Ad-Rock from the hip hop group Beastie Boys make a cameo appearance as their buyers. The video ends with a black-and-white scene of paper planes flying over a neighbourhood.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: The music video premiered on MTV's website on 15 December 2007 and received its first broadcast on the network's series "Total Request Live" ("TRL") the following day. MTV censored the song's cannabis reference in the lyric "Sticks and stones and "weed" and bongs" and the gunshot sound effects. M.I.A. expressed disappointment on her MySpace account, saying that the network "sabotaged" the video's message, despite it having, "No violence. Ambiguous. MTV-friendly" "[sic]". "New York" magazine felt that MTV's removing the gunshot sounds was not unexpected. Its writer commented, "What does surprise us is that MTV ever considered showing the video at all. We had no idea they still aired music videos, much less ones by talented artists like M.I.A." "The Village Voice"s Tom Breihan wrote that this censorship undermined the song's implications. He noted this incident was part of a general trend by networks like MTV, BET and radio towards hip hop songs where references to drugs, sex and violence are always removed—a "double standard" applied to hip hop artists that is never applied to songs by mainstream rock bands with similar lyrical overtones. Despite the censorship, the video proved successful on "TRL" and was the programme's top on-demand video for its 19 August 2008 broadcast. Following the series' final run in September 2008, "Slate" ranked the video third on their list of the best videos in "TRL" history, calling it "the only one clever enough to make paranoid puns about blowing up and getting paid". It was also placed at number 56 on BET's "Notarized: Top 100 Videos of 2008" countdown.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: M.I.A. performed "Paper Planes" live on US television for the first time on the CBS talk show "Late Show with David Letterman" on 13 September 2007. The song's cannabis reference and gunshot sounds were censored. This took M.I.A. aback, and she was visibly surprised because what was broadcast live was different from her soundcheck for the show. She thanked the show's host David Letterman for letting her "into the American mainstream" at the Austin City Limits festival a few days after her "Letterman" appearance, where she also performed the song. M.I.A. frequently performed "Paper Planes" as the encore song on her Kala Tour, which ran from May to December 2007. She also added the song to the set list of its extension, the People vs. Money Tour, which visited North America during the first half of 2008. As part of the tour, M.I.A. performed at the 2008 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on 26 April. During her performance of "Paper Planes", she called on fans to dance with her on stage resulting in a mass rush to the stage by concertgoers and a standoff with security. "Rolling Stone"s Jenny Eliscu dubbed M.I.A.'s gig at Coachella "one of this weekend's most buzzed about performances".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: Following her gig at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in June 2008, M.I.A. announced that she was going to withdraw from performing live to focus on recording new material. She returned to perform shortly in October 2008, when she sang "Paper Planes" with N.E.R.D. at the Diesel XXX party in Brooklyn. M.I.A. appeared onstage at the 51st Grammy Awards to perform a medley of "Paper Planes" and "Swagga Like Us" with Jay-Z, Kanye West, T.I. and Lil Wayne on 8 February 2009, when she was nine months pregnant. The five artists received a standing ovation at the ceremony, and M.I.A. was praised in several publications for her energetic performance despite being heavily pregnant. "Billboard" placed the "Paper Planes" / "Swagga Like Us" medley at number 38 on its list of The 100 Greatest Award Show Performances of All Time in 2017, saying it had, "About as much cool on one stage as the Grammys has ever assembled". At the 2009 Coachella Festival in April, she dedicated the song to photographer Shawn Mortensen, who died the previous week. M.I.A. performed the song as part of her set list at the Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival in August 2009.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" was a sleeper hit and M.I.A.'s breakthrough commercial success. The song debuted at number 89 on the Canadian Hot 100 chart dated 1 March 2008. It peaked at number seven on 27 September 2008 chart, becoming M.I.A.'s only top-ten entry as a lead artist in Canada. It received a quadruple platinum certification from Music Canada (MC) for surpassing domestic shipments of 320,000 copies. In the US, the single charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 at number four on the chart dated 17 May 2008. After the song was featured in the popular 2008 films "Pineapple Express" and "Slumdog Millionaire", it received increasing attention in the US, where it peaked at number four on the "Billboard" Hot 100 on 27 September 2008, becoming M.I.A.'s first top-five entry on the chart and her highest-charting single at the time. The song remained her highest peaking single on the chart for twelve years until she debuted atop the chart in 2020. Paper Planes remained on the Hot 100 for 20 weeks. By August 2008, the song had sold 888,000 digital units. It surpassed the three million sales mark in August 2009. In June 2010, the single was awarded a triple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), denoting sales of three million units. As of August 2013, "Paper Planes" had sold four million digital copies in the US.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: The single entered the UK Singles Chart at number 69 on 7 September 2008. It peaked at number 19 on 4 October 2008, becoming M.I.A.'s highest-charting single on that chart spending a total of 35 weeks there. It was certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), signifying sales and streams of 1,200,000 units domestically. "Paper Planes" reached number four in the Czech Republic. It entered the top 20 on charts in Belgium's Dutch-speaking area Flanders and Denmark, peaking at number 18 in both territories. The single appeared in the top 40 in Ireland (number 23) and achieved moderate rankings at lower-tier positions in Austria (number 51), the Netherlands (number 57), Australia (number 66), Germany (number 76) and France (number 91). Despite failing to chart in New Zealand, the track was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ) for domestic sales exceeding 7,500 copies. An artist in the underground scene, M.I.A. was happy with the unexpected mainstream success of "Paper Planes", saying, "'Paper Planes' is my underdog song and it's about the underdog and it's when I felt like an underdog, but it's become the biggest song". She did not emphasise the importance of such success, however, opting to "stay an outsider".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: As a Sri Lankan of Tamil descent, M.I.A. faced political controversies after "Paper Planes" achieved unexpected chart success. In February 2009, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported that her music was not being played on Sri Lankan radio or television due to government pressure as the Sinhalese–Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka dragged on. The success of "Paper Planes" paralleled M.I.A.'s condemnation of the Sri Lankan army's atrocities against the Tamils, which she called "systematic genocide" and "ethnic cleansing". This led to criticism and death threats against her. Journalist Touré, writing for "The Daily Beast", noted that the atrocities were not widely known because of the Sri Lankan government's regulatory efforts to prevent the international press from spreading the news. Responding to M.I.A.'s apparent support for the Tamil Tigers, who are viewed as a terrorist group by 32 countries including the US, "The Guardian"s Randeep Ramesh observed "many" Sri Lankan musicians "respect her creativity", but are angry that she was "spreading blatant terrorist propaganda".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: Among those who openly criticised M.I.A. was a Sinhalese American rapper named DeLon. In August 2008, he circulated a viral video in which he rapped over "Paper Planes" and accused M.I.A. of supporting terrorism by mockingly using images of the tiger and discussing the violence in her lyrics, showing graphic images of acts purportedly linked to the Tamil militant rebel group. M.I.A responded that her music was "the voice of a civilian refugee" and that she was unwilling to discuss anything with "someone looking for self-promotion". Colombo-based writer Thomas Fuller of "The New York Times" published an article in February 2009 that tempered M.I.A.'s comments accusing the Sri Lankan government of "genocide", noting the Tamil Tigers are a terrorist group and that the music scene in Sri Lanka had "remained ethnically diverse". Zach Baron of "The Village Voice" called out Fuller's article for using "chintzy, ad-hominem allegations" to subtly accuse M.I.A. of being a terrorist instead of publicising her efforts to bring aid to war-torn regions where citizens, especially children, lacked access to fundamental healthcare and utilities. M.I.A., commenting on the situation in Sri Lanka to "GQ" in 2010, said, "Every single Tamil person who's alive today, who's seen how the world does nothing, has to find a way to exist that isn't harboring bitterness and hate and revenge".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" has frequently appeared on professional lists of the greatest songs of either the 2000s decade or all time. According to Acclaimed Music, a site which uses statistics to numerically represent critical reception, "Paper Planes" is the second-best received song of the 2000s decade and the 20th most celebrated song of all time, as of April 2021. "Entertainment Weekly" featured the song on its list of the 100 prominent cultural phenomena of the 2000s decade, published in 2009. VH1 placed "Paper Planes" at number 89 on their Greatest Songs of the 2000s list. The track had prominent showings on decade-end lists by "Consequence of Sound" (number 16), "Stylus Magazine" (number 12), "Complex" (number seven), "Rolling Stone" (number five), "NME" (number four), "Pitchfork" (number three) and "Slant Magazine" (number two).


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: In 2009, "The Daily Telegraph" included "Paper Planes" at number five on their list 100 songs that defined the Noughties. In 2012, "Complex" ranked the song at number six on its list of the best songs of The Complex Decade, commemorating the magazine's tenth anniversary. On "Rolling Stone" list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, "Paper Planes" placed at number 236 in 2011 and at number 46 in 2021. It ranked second on "Rolling Stone" 2018 list of the 100 Greatest Songs of the Century – So Far. "NME" ranked the track at number 15 on its 2011 list 150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years, and at number 53 on its 2014 list The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. NPR placed the song atop their 2018 list The 200 Greatest Songs By 21st Century Women, commenting that it "solidified [M.I.A.] as a biting analyst willing to use her pop stardom to expose the flaws in the very system of pop stardom itself".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: Ben Thomson of "The Guardian" selected "Paper Planes" as one of "the 50 key events in the history of world and folk music" in 2009. In his article, Thomson observed that the track's combination of hip hop and African folk music elements, which had been generally seen as distinctively opposite genres, helped maintain folk music's relevancy in the age of globalisation. Eric R. Danton of the "Hartford Courant" noted that the single's success was significant because it defied the manufactured pop music scene by big-name corporations and offered "something to say". In the book "In the Limelight and Under the Microscope" (2011), Diane Negra, a professor at University College Dublin, and Su Holmes, a reader at University of East Anglia, used "Paper Planes" to examine censorship and discrimination by Western media. The authors regarded the censorship by MTV and CBS as a form of cultural discrimination against a non-white female rapper who was "preaching against assimilation into US capitalistic culture", which exemplifies post-9/11 American perception of "terrorism". They also noted that M.I.A.'s US crossover success "presents an example of how social and cultural hierarchies under threat are negotiated by making contestations in a more implicit way" by challenging conservative American viewpoints on feminism and post-racial society.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: Rap rock supergroup Street Sweeper Social Club covered the song on their debut EP, The Ghetto Blaster EP. Barbadian singer Rihanna covered "Paper Planes" as part of a medley on several dates of her Good Girl Gone Bad Tour from 2008 to 2009. American indie rock band Built to Spill covered "Paper Planes" at their live concert in Italy in October 2008. English rapper Dizzee Rascal covered the song at his live concerts in the UK in late 2008. London-based indie band The Clientele performed the track live as part of "The A.V. Club"s "Undercover" series in 2010. English rapper Lowkey featured "Paper Planes" in his 2010 live performances, where he altered the original lyric to "All MPs wanna do is take your money", voicing opposition to the nation's political scene.


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: The song's lyric "No one on the corner has swagger like us" was sampled in "Swagga Like Us", a song recorded by American rappers T.I., Jay-Z, Kanye West and Lil Wayne, and produced by West, taken from T.I.'s 2008 studio album "Paper Trail". "Rolling Stone" complimented delivery of the four rappers, but felt that the sampling of "Paper Planes" undermined M.I.A.'s creativity. 50 Cent, State Property members Young Chris and Freeway, and Jim Jones released their respective unofficial remixes of the song. M.I.A. was grateful for the song's reception among American hip hop artists, saying: "It's cool when you bring all these rappers and artists like the Clash together. It's cool that they support it ... It's great, especially coming from London".


title: Paper Planes (M.I.A. song)

text: "Paper Planes" was used in the theatrical trailer for the 2008 stoner comedy "Pineapple Express", directed by David Gordon Green, and starring Seth Rogen and James Franco. This catapulted the song to mainstream success in the US. The "Los Angeles Times" described its incorporation in the trailer as "the most impressive use of M.I.A.'s 'Paper Planes' ever". "Paper Planes" and the DFA remix appear on the to Danny Boyle's drama "Slumdog Millionaire", released in 2008 after "Pineapple Express". Boyle admired M.I.A. and the song before the "Pineapple Express" trailer, and hailed "Paper Planes" as one of the crucial songs in conveying the film's content. Both "Pineapple Express" and "Slumdog Millionaire" proved popular at the box office and buoyed the single's mainstream success. The video game "Far Cry 3" (2012) begins with "Paper Planes" used in the opening cinematic sequence. The song was featured on the season 2 premiere of the television series, "The Last Man on Earth". Black Dresses' 2017 debut single is a 7-minute long cover of "Paper Planes" on a 3-track EP also featuring Laura Les and 99jakes.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The "Deepwater Horizon" drilling rig explosion was an April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the "Deepwater Horizon" semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the "Deepwater Horizon" and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused an oil well fire and a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: "Deepwater Horizon" was a floating semi-submersible drilling unit — a fifth-generation, ultra-deepwater, dynamically positioned, column-stabilized drilling rig owned by Transocean and built in South Korea. The platform was long and wide and could operate in waters up to deep, to a maximum drill depth of . Press releases from Transocean state the platform had historically been used for deeper wells, including the deepest underwater gas and oil well. The platform was built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in South Korea and completed in 2001. It was owned by Transocean, operated under the Marshalese flag of convenience, and was under lease to BP until September 2013. At the time of the explosion, the "Deepwater Horizon" was on Mississippi Canyon Block 252, referred to as the Macondo Prospect, in the United States sector of the Gulf of Mexico, about off the Louisiana coast. In March 2008, the mineral rights to drill for oil on the Macondo Prospect were purchased by BP at the Minerals Management Service's lease sale. The platform commenced drilling in February 2010 at a water depth of approximately . At the time of the explosion the rig was drilling an exploratory well. The planned well was to be drilled to below sea level, and was to be plugged and suspended for subsequent completion as a subsea producer. Production casing was being run and cemented at the time of the accident. Once the cementing was complete, it was due to be tested for integrity and a cement plug set to temporarily abandon the well.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The rig owner, Transocean, had a "strong overall" safety record with no major incidents for 7 years. However an analysts' review "painted a more equivocal picture" with Transocean rigs being disproportionately responsible for safety related incidents in the Gulf and industry surveys reporting concerns over falling quality and performance. Between 2005 and 2007, Transocean was the owner of 30% of oil rigs active in the Gulf, and 33% of the incidents that triggered a Minerals Management Service (MMS) investigation took place on Transocean rigs. However, in the 3 years from 2008 to February 15, 2010, Transocean was the owner of 42% of rigs active in the Gulf, but was responsible for 73% of incidents. Industry surveys saw this as an effect of its November 2007 merger with rival GlobalSantaFe. Transocean was described as having had previous problems with both cement seals (in 2005) and blowout preventers (in 2006), both the suspected cause of the "Deepwater Horizon" disaster; however, the company stated that cementing was a task completed by third party labourers, and that it had "a strong maintenance program to keep blowout preventers working". According to the "Wall Street Journal online":


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: In 2008 and 2009, the surveys ranked Transocean last among deep-water drillers for "job quality" and second to last in 'overall satisfaction'. For three years before the merger, Transocean was the leader or near the top in both measures. Transocean ranked first in 2008 and 2009 in a category that gauges its in-house safety and environmental policies. There were few indications of any trouble with the Deepwater Horizon before the explosion. The rig won an award from the MMS for its 2008 safety record, and on the day of the disaster, BP and Transocean managers were on board to celebrate seven years without a lost-time accident. A BP spokesman said rigs hired by BP have had better safety records than the industry average for six years running, according to MMS statistics that measure the number of citations per inspection. BP has been a finalist for a national safety award from the MMS for the past two years. [BP spokesperson Toby Odone] wouldn't comment on BP's relationship with Transocean after the Gulf disaster but said BP continues to use Transocean rigs.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: In February 2009, BP filed a 52-page exploration and environmental impact plan for the Macondo well with the Minerals Management Service (MMS), an arm of the United States Department of the Interior that oversees offshore drilling. The plan stated that it was "unlikely that an accidental surface or subsurface oil spill would occur from the proposed activities". In the event an accident did take place, the plan stated that due to the well being from shore and the response capabilities that would be implemented, no significant adverse impacts would be expected. The Department of the Interior exempted BP's Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact study after concluding that a massive oil spill was unlikely. In addition, following a loosening of regulations in 2008, BP was not required to file a detailed blowout plan.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The BP wellhead had been fitted with a blowout preventer (BOP), but it was not fitted with remote-control or acoustically activated triggers for use in case of an emergency requiring a platform to be evacuated. It did have a dead man's switch designed to automatically cut the pipe and seal the well if communication from the platform is lost, but it was unknown whether the switch was activated. Documents discussed during congressional hearings June 17, 2010, indicated that Transocean previously made modifications to the BOP for the Macondo site which increased the risk of BOP failure, in spite of warnings from their contractor to that effect. Regulators in both Norway and Brazil generally require acoustically activated triggers on all offshore platforms, but when the Minerals Management Service considered requiring the remote device, a report commissioned by the agency as well as drilling companies questioned its cost and effectiveness. In 2003, the agency determined that the device would not be required because drilling rigs had other back-up systems to cut off a well.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The US Coast Guard had issued pollution citations for "Deepwater Horizon" 18 times between 2000 and 2010, and had investigated 16 fires and other incidents. These incidents were considered typical for a Gulf platform and were not connected to the April 2010 explosion and spill. The "Deepwater Horizon" had other serious incidents, including one in 2008 in which 77 people were evacuated from the platform when it tilted and began to sink after a section of pipe was incorrectly removed from the platform's ballast system.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: Internal BP documents show that BP engineers had concerns as early as 2009 that the metal casing that BP wanted to use might collapse under high pressure. According to a number of rig workers, it was understood that workers could get fired for raising safety concerns that might delay drilling. David Rainey, BP Gulf of Mexico Exploration Manager, was putting his staff and the drilling department under extreme pressure to finish the Macondo well and to move the rig to the next exploration prospect. Rainey was angry that the MC 252 well was over budget and needed to be finished. Gulf of Mexico engineers were not satisfied that they had a proper leak off test and had concerns as to cement integrity. Rainey pressured them to complete the well; no Cement Bond log was run. The technical staff wanted to re-squeeze the well and Rainey would not accept this recommendation.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: In March 2010, the rig experienced problems that included drilling mud falling into the undersea oil formation, sudden gas releases, a pipe falling into the well, and at least three occasions of the blowout preventer leaking fluid. The rig's mechanic stated that the well had been experiencing problems for months, and that the drill repeatedly kicked due to resistance from high gas pressure. On March 10, a BP executive emailed the Minerals Management Service about a stuck pipe and well control situation at the drilling site, and stated that BP would have to plugback the well. A confidential survey commissioned by Transocean weeks before the explosion stated that workers were concerned about safety practices and feared reprisals if they reported mistakes or other problems. The survey raised concerns "about poor equipment reliability, which they believed was a result of drilling priorities taking precedence over maintenance." The survey found that "many workers entered fake data to try to circumvent the system. As a result, the company's perception of safety on the rig was distorted".


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The blowout preventer was damaged in a previously unreported accident in late March. According to Transocean, workers had been performing standard routines and had no indication of any problems prior to the explosion.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: An April draft of a BP memo warned that the cementing of the casing was unlikely to be successful. Halliburton has said that it had finished cementing 20 hours before the blowout, but had not yet set the final cement plug. A nitrogen-foamed cement was used which is more difficult to handle than standard cement.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: Patrick O'Bryan, BP Vice President of drilling, was on the platform two hours prior to the explosion to celebrate seven years without a "lost-time incident" with the rig's crew. A BP official on board the rig directed the crew to replace the drilling mud with lighter seawater even though the rig's chief driller protested.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: Preliminary findings from BP's internal investigation indicated several serious warning signs in the hours prior to the blowout. Equipment readings indicated gas bubbling into the well, which could signal an impending blowout. The heavy drilling mud in the pipes initially held down the gas. A House Energy and Commerce Committee statement in June 2010 noted that in a number of cases leading up to the explosion, BP appears to have chosen riskier procedures to save time or money, sometimes against the advice of its staff or contractors.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: An article released by "The Guardian" in 2010, the year of the explosion, reported that the accident could have been avoided had BP implemented better management and communication.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: Transocean employees on the vessel stated that the electric lights flickered, followed by two strong vibrations. Jim Ingram stated that "on the second [thud], we knew something was wrong." After the explosion, Adrian Rose stated that abnormal pressure had accumulated inside the marine riser and as it came up it "expanded rapidly and ignited." According to BP's internal investigation, a bubble of methane gas escaped from the well and shot up the drill column, expanding quickly as it burst through several seals and barriers before exploding. Rose said the event was basically a blowout. Survivors described the incident as a sudden explosion that gave them less than five minutes to escape as the alarm went off.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The explosion was followed by a fire that engulfed the platform. After burning for more than a day, "Deepwater Horizon" sank on April 22. The Coast Guard stated on April 22 that they received word of the sinking at approximately .


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: On September 8, BP published a report that suggested that the ignition source was the released gas entering the air intakes of the diesel generators, and engulfing the deck area where the exhaust outlets for the main generators were emitting hot exhaust gas.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: According to officials, 126 people were on board, of whom 79 were Transocean employees, seven were from BP, and 40 were contracted; several of the BP and Transocean executives were on board for a tour of the rig, maintenance planning, annual goals review, a "Drops" safety campaign, and to congratulate the senior staff of the rig for 7 years of operations without a lost time incident.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: A total of 115 people were evacuated. Lifeboats took 94 workers to the Tidewater-owned supply boat "Damon Bankston", with no major injuries, four were transported to another vessel, and 17 were evacuated by helicopter to trauma centers in Mobile, Alabama and Marrero, Louisiana. Most were soon released.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: The Coast Guard interviewed the uninjured workers on the "Damon Bankston" for several hours and then transferred them to another rig; the workers arrived in Port Fourchon, Louisiana, more than 24 hours later. The workers were transported to a hotel in Kenner, Louisiana, where they were provided with food, medical attention, and rooms with showers, and asked to fill out incident response forms. An attorney for a worker who brought suit against Transocean claimed that once the workers got to shore, "they were zipped into private buses, there was security there, there was no press, no lawyers allowed, nothing, no family members" and were coerced into signing the forms before being released; Transocean denied the allegation.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: Initial reports indicated that between 12 and 15 workers were missing; reports soon narrowed the number of missing to nine crew members on the platform floor and two engineers. The United States Coast Guard immediately launched a rescue operation involving two Coast Guard cutters, four helicopters, and a rescue plane. The two cutters continued searching through the night and by the morning of April 22, the Coast Guard had surveyed nearly . On April 23, the Coast Guard called off the search for the 11 missing persons, concluding that "reasonable expectations of survival" had passed. Officials concluded that the missing workers may have been near the blast and unable to escape the sudden explosion. A memorial service was held in May for the 11 workers deemed to have been killed in the disaster.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: On the morning of April 22, Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler stated that "oil was leaking from the rig at the rate of about of crude per day." That afternoon Coast Guard Senior Chief Petty Officer Michael O'Berry used the same figure. Two remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) were sent down in an attempt to cap the well but were unsuccessful. Butler warned of a leak of up to of diesel fuel, and BP Vice President David Rainey termed the incident as being a potential "major spill." On April 23 a ROV reportedly found no oil leaking from the sunken rig and no oil flowing from the well. Coast Guard Rear Admiral Mary Landry expressed cautious optimism of zero environmental impact, stating that no oil was emanating from either the wellhead or the broken pipes and that oil spilled from the explosion and sinking was being contained. On April 24 Landry announced that a damaged wellhead was indeed leaking oil into the Gulf and described it as "a very serious spill".


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: In June, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce said BP should have tested cement at the well, which would have cost $128,000 and taken 8–12 hours.


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: On September 8, 2010, BP released a 193-page report on its web site. The report says BP employees and those of Transocean did not correctly interpret a pressure test, and both companies neglected ominous signs such as a riser pipe losing fluid. It also says that while BP did not listen to recommendations by Halliburton for more centralizers (devices to keep the casing from contacting the bore hole), the lack of centralizers probably did not affect the cement. BP also said the crew should have redirected the flow of flammable gases. The blowout preventer, removed on September 4, had not reached a NASA facility in time for it to be part of the report. Transocean, responding to the report, blamed "BP's fatally flawed well design".


title: Deepwater Horizon explosion

text: On November 8, 2010, the inquiry by the Oil Spill Commission revealed its findings that BP had not sacrificed safety in attempts to make money, but that some decisions had increased risks on the rig. However, the panel said a day later that there had been "a rush to completion" on the well, criticizing poor management decisions. "There was not a culture of safety on that rig", co-chair Bill Reilly said. One of the decisions that met with tough questions was that BP refuted the findings of advanced modelling software that had ascertained over three times as many centralizers were needed on the rig. It also decided not to rerun the software when it stuck with only six centralizers, and ignored or misread warnings from other key tests, the panel revealed.