title: Ēostre

text: Grimm notes that "all of the nations bordering on us have retained the Biblical ; even Ulphilas writes , not ( not ), though he must have known the word". Grimm details that the Old High German adverb "expresses movement towards the rising sun", as did the Old Norse term , and potentially also Anglo-Saxon and Gothic (). Grimm compares these terms to the identical Latin term , and contends that the cult of the goddess may have been centred around an Old Norse form, , or that her cult may have already been extinct by the time of Christianization.


title: Ēostre

text: Grimm notes that the Old Norse "Prose Edda" book attests to a male being called , whom he describes as a "spirit of light." Grimm comments that a female version would have been , yet that the High German and Saxon peoples seem to have only formed and , feminine, and not and , masculine. Grimm additionally speculates on the nature of the goddess and surviving folk customs that may have been associated with her in Germany:


title: Ēostre

text: , seems therefore to have been the divinity of the radiant dawn, of upspringing light, a spectacle that brings joy and blessing, whose meaning could be easily adapted by the resurrection-day of the Christian's God. "Bonfires" were lighted at Easter and according to popular belief of long standing, the moment the sun rises on Easter Sunday morning, he gives "three joyful leaps", he dances for joy ... Water drawn on the Easter morning is, like that at Christmas, holy and healing ... here also heathen notions seems to have grafted themselves on great Christian festivals. Maidens clothed in white, who at Easter, at the season of returning spring, show themselves in clefts of the rock and on mountains, are suggestive of the ancient goddess.


title: Ēostre

text: In the second volume of , Grimm picked up the subject of Ostara again, speculating on possible connections between the goddess and various German Easter customs, including Easter eggs:


title: Ēostre

text: But if we admit, goddesses, then, in addition to Nerthus, has the strongest claim to consideration. To what we said on p. 290 I can add some significant facts. The heathen Easter had much in common with May-feast and the reception of spring, particularly in the matter of bonfires. Then, through long ages there seem to have lingered among the people "Easter-games" so-called, which the church itself had to tolerate : I allude especially to the custom of "Easter eggs", and to the "Easter tale" which preachers told from the pulpit for the people's amusement, connecting it with Christian reminiscences.


title: Ēostre

text: Grimm commented on further Easter time customs, including unique sword dances and particular baked goods ("pastry of heathenish form"). In addition, Grimm weighed a potential connection to the Slavic spring goddess and the Lithuanian .


title: Ēostre

text: According to anthropologist Krystal D'Costa, there is no evidence to connect the tradition of Easter eggs with Ostara. Eggs became a symbol in Christianity associated with rebirth as early as the 1st century AD, via the iconography of the Phoenix egg. D'Costa theorizes that eggs became associated with Easter specifically in medieval Europe, when eating them was prohibited during the fast of Lent. D'Costa highlights that a common practice in England at that time was for children to go door-to-door begging for eggs on the Saturday before Lent began. People handed out eggs as special treats for children prior to their fast.


title: Ēostre

text: In Northern Europe, Easter imagery often involves hares and rabbits. The first scholar to make a connection between the goddess Eostre and hares was Adolf Holtzmann in his book "Deutsche Mythologie". Holtzmann wrote of the tradition, "the Easter Hare is inexplicable to me, but probably the hare was the sacred animal of Ostara; just as there is a hare on the statue of Abnoba." Citing folk Easter customs in Leicestershire, England, where "the profits of the land called Harecrop Leys were applied to providing a meal which was thrown on the ground at the 'Hare-pie Bank'", late 19th-century scholar Charles Isaac Elton speculated on a connection between these customs and the worship of . In his late 19th-century study of the hare in folk custom and mythology, Charles J. Billson cited numerous incidents of folk customs involving hares around the Easter season in Northern Europe. Billson said that "whether there was a goddess named , or not, and whatever connection the hare may have had with the ritual of Saxon or British worship, there are good grounds for believing that the sacredness of this animal reaches back into an age still more remote, where it is probably a very important part of the great Spring Festival of the prehistoric inhabitants of this island."


title: Ēostre

text: Adolf Holtzmann had also speculated that "the hare must once have been a bird, because it lays eggs" in modern German folklore. From this statement, numerous later sources built a modern legend in which the goddess Eostre transformed a bird into an egg-laying hare. A response to a question about the origins of Easter hares in the 8 June 1889 issue of the journal "American Notes and Queries" stated: "In Germany and among the Pennsylvania Germans toy rabbits or hares made of canton flannel stuffed with cotton are given as gifts on Easter morning. The children are told that this Osh’ter has laid the Easter eggs. This curious idea is thus explained: The hare was originally a bird, and was changed into a quadruped by the goddess Ostara; in gratitude to Ostara or Eastre, the hare exercises its original bird function to lay eggs for the goddess on her festal day." According to folklorist Stephen Winick, by 1900, many popular sources had picked up the story of Eostre and the hare. One described the story as one of the oldest in mythology, "despite the fact that it was then less than twenty years old."


title: Ēostre

text: Some scholars have further linked customs and imagery involving hares to both and the Norse goddess . Writing in 1972, John Andrew Boyle cited commentary contained within an etymology dictionary by A. Ernout and A. Meillet, where the authors write that "Little else ... is known about [], but it has been suggested that her lights, as goddess of the dawn, were carried by hares. And she certainly represented spring fecundity, and love and carnal pleasure that leads to fecundity." Boyle responded that nothing is known about outside of Bede's single passage, that the authors had seemingly accepted the identification of with the Norse goddess , yet that the hare is not associated with either. Boyle writes that "her carriage, we are told by Snorri, was drawn by a pair of cats — animals, it is true, which like hares were the familiars of witches, with whom seems to have much in common." However, Boyle adds that "on the other hand, when the authors speak of the hare as the 'companion of Aphrodite and of satyrs and cupids' and point out that 'in the Middle Ages it appears beside the figure of Luxuria', they are on much surer ground and can adduce the evidence of their illustrations."


title: Ēostre

text: The earliest evidence for the Easter Hare ("Osterhase") was recorded in south-west Germany in 1678 by the professor of medicine Georg Franck von Franckenau, but it remained unknown in other parts of Germany until the 18th century. Scholar Richard Sermon writes that "hares were frequently seen in gardens in spring, and thus may have served as a convenient explanation for the origin of the colored eggs hidden there for children. Alternatively, there is a European tradition that hares laid eggs, since a hare's scratch or form and a lapwing's nest look very similar, and both occur on grassland and are first seen in the spring. In the nineteenth century the influence of Easter cards, toys, and books was to make the Easter Hare/Rabbit popular throughout Europe. German immigrants then exported the custom to Britain and America where it evolved into the Easter Bunny."


title: Ēostre

text: The concept of * as reconstructed by Jacob Grimm and Adolf Holtzmann has had a strong influence on European culture since the 19th century, with many fanciful legends and associations growing up around the figure of the goddess in popular articles based on the speculation of these early folklorists.


title: Ēostre

text: A holiday named for the goddess is part of the neopagan Wiccan Wheel of the Year (Ostara, 21 March). In some forms of Germanic neopaganism, (or Ostara) is venerated. Regarding this veneration, Carole M. Cusack comments that, among adherents, is "associated with the coming of spring and the dawn, and her festival is celebrated at the spring equinox. Because she brings renewal, rebirth from the death of winter, some Heathens associate with , keeper of the apples of youth in Scandinavian mythology".


title: Ēostre

text: The name has been adopted for an asteroid (343 Ostara, 1892 by Max Wolf), In music, the name has been adopted as a name by the musical group Ostara, and as the names of albums by :zoviet*france: ("Eostre", 1984) and The Wishing Tree ("Ostara", 2009).


title: Ēostre

text: Politically, the name of Ostara was in the early 20th century invoked as the name of a German nationalist magazine, book series and publishing house established in 1905 at , Austria.


title: Ēostre

text: In the first season of the TV series "American Gods," based on the novel of the same name, Ostara is portrayed by Kristin Chenoweth. In the series, Ostara has survived into the modern age by forming an alliance with the Goddess of Media (Gillian Anderson) and capitalising on the Christian holiday. Odin (Ian McShane) forces her to accept that those who celebrate Easter are worshipping Jesus and not her, causing her to join his rebellion against the New Gods.


title: Ēostre

text: In 1853, Scottish protestant minister Alexander Hislop published "The Two Babylons", an anti-Catholic tract. In the tract, Hislop connects modern English "Easter" with the East Semitic theonym "Ishtar" by way of folk etymology. For example, from "The Two Babylons", third edition:


title: Ēostre

text: What means the term Easter itself? It is not a Christian name. It bears its Chaldean origin on its very forehead. Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Ninevah, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country. This name as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments, is Ishtar.


title: Ēostre

text: Because Hislop's claims have no linguistics foundation, his claims were rejected, but the "Two Babylons" would go on to have some influence in popular culture. In the 2000s, a popular Internet meme similarly claimed an incorrect linguistic connection between English "Easter" and "Ishtar".


title: Ēostre

text: The Danish TV series "Equinox" has the concept of the Ostara and the Hare King as a central theme in the plot.


title: SIG MPX

text: The SIG MPX is a gas-operated submachine gun designed and manufactured by SIG Sauer, and is primarily chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It is a gas-operated firearm featuring a closed, rotating bolt. These design features, rare in submachine guns, were chosen to enhance the safety of the user and to have a more reliable firearm. It was designed in 2013 and was released to the general public in 2015. It features the SIG Sauer short stroke push-rod gas system to reduce the recoil and improve the reliability of the weapon.


title: SIG MPX

text: The MPX, in its second generation, features a system that would allow for conversion from 9mm to .357 SIG or .40 S&W. However, since its inception, first party conversion kits have not been made available for either of the two production generations of the gun.


title: SIG MPX

text: The standard variant of the MPX comes with an 8.0 inch (20.3 cm) barrel and is chambered in 9×19mm Parabellum cartridge. It comes with a collapsible stock and a free-floating rail. It has a cyclic rate of fire of 850 rounds per minute (RPM).


title: SIG MPX

text: The MPX is also available with different barrel lengths, ranging from 114 to 406mm (4.5- to 16-inch). The MPX submachine gun is only available for military and law enforcement use, while a semi-automatic only version is also available for the civilian market.


title: SIG MPX

text: The semi-automatic version of the weapon can be registered as a Short-Barreled Rifle in most states in the United States.


title: SIG MPX

text: The standard MPX submachine gun comes with no sights and a full-length Picatinny rail system on the top of the weapon. Gen 2 MPX's come with a flat faced Timney trigger and M-LOK rail.


title: SIG MPX

text: The MPX has a short-stroke gas piston system in order to increase the accuracy of the weapon which operates in closed bolt. It is designed in this way to prevent water or dirt from entering the chamber and causing malfunctions as well as to use a suppressor with greater ease. It features an ambidextrous selector switch for fully automatic (law enforcement/military models) and semi-automatic. It also features an ambidextrous bolt catch, and the weapon's exterior appears to be a cross between an AR-15 and a Heckler & Koch MP5A3. The barrel is free-floating and is surrounded by polymer/steel Picatinny rail (later M-LOK) mounts.


title: SIG MPX

text: The charging handle of the weapon is at the back of the weapon, based on the AR-15 design. This is to ensure that cocking the weapon does not interfere with any optics mounted onto the Picatinny rail. The weapon's rails are made out of cast steel and the standard weapon overall weighs .


title: SIG MPX

text: A pistol variant with a three-position collapsible arm support with a stock-like appearance, three-position fire selector if it supports full automatic and an 14” blind pined and welded muzzle brake 16”, 8.0, 6.0 4.5 inch barrel.


title: SIG MPX

text: A fully suppressed variant with an MP5SD-like integral suppressor, a longer fore-end and an 203 mm (8.0 inch) barrel.


title: SIG MPX

text: A semi-automatic only pistol variant with a SIG SBX pistol stabilizing brace and an 203 mm (8.0 inch) barrel. In the US in 2015 the BATFE warned users of weapons using SIG stabilizing braces that shouldering a weapon fitted with a brace constituted the making of a Title II NFA weapon, reversing a prior ruling that it did not. In early 2017, however, the BATFE withdrew this opinion.


title: SIG MPX

text: A semi-automatic only carbine variant, featuring a 165 mm (6.5 inch) barrel with a 241 mm (9.5 inch) muzzle device permanently welded to it, which is actually a modified version of the baffle core of the integrally suppressed variant. SIG contended that this device was a muzzle brake, but in 2013 the BATFE ruled that the component was a suppressor, and classified the MPX-C as possessing an integral suppressor and thus as a Title II NFA weapon. The BATFE rejected an appeal against this ruling in February 2014; SIG responded by filing a civil lawsuit against the BATFE, alleging they had acted in an "arbitrary and capricious manner". In September 2015, Federal Judge Paul Barbadora upheld the BATFE's ruling.


title: SIG MPX

text: As a result of this SIG has announced a carbine variant with a 406 mm (16 inch) barrel without the muzzle device, designated as the MPX PCC.


title: Nikola Jović

text: Nikola Jović (, ; born 9 June 2003) is a Serbian professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Standing at and weighing , he plays the power forward position. He was selected by the Miami Heat in the 2022 NBA Draft.


title: Nikola Jović

text: Jović was born in the Royal Infirmary in Leicester, Leicestershire, England due to his professional basketball player father Ilija playing there at the time. He grew up playing water polo for VK Partizan as well as basketball. Jović was playing basketball for the KK Sava youth system before he joined the Mega Basket youth system in 2018. At the 2020–21 Euroleague Basketball Next Generation Tournament in the Serbian capital Belgrade, he averaged 29.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.8 blocks in 28 minutes per game, while shooting 66% from the field and 17% from three and won the MVP award.


title: Nikola Jović

text: Jović made his senior debut for Mega Basket in February 2021 at the Radivoj Korać Cup tournament in Novi Sad. On 19 March, Jović made his ABA League debut in a 74–65 loss to Split recording 10 points and 9 rebounds in 21 minutes of playing time. On 10 June 2021, one day after his 18th birthday he signed his first professional contract with Mega.


title: Nikola Jović

text: In the NBA.com GM Survey for the 2021–22 NBA season, Jović received votes for the best international player not playing in the NBA. In April 2022, he was named the ABA League Top Prospect for the 2021–22 season. During the 2021–22 season, Jović averaged 11.7 points while shooting 42.8 percent from the field, 35.6 percent on threes and 75.4 percent from the free throw, 4.4 rebounds, 3.4 assists to 2.7 turnovers and 0.4 blocks per game in 25 appearances.


title: Nikola Jović

text: In April 2022, Jović declared for the 2022 NBA draft. On 23 June 2022, Jović attended the 2022 NBA draft held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. He was selected with the 27th overall pick by the Miami Heat in the Draft. Jović officially signed a multi-year rookie scale contract with the Heat on 2 July 2022. In July 2022, he joined the Heat for the NBA Summer League.


title: Nikola Jović

text: On October 23, 2022, Jović was suspended for one game without pay for leaving the bench during an altercation between the Heat and the Toronto Raptors the night before.


title: Nikola Jović

text: In July 2021, Jović was a member of the Serbia U19 national team at the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup. Over seven tournament games, he averaged 18.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game. He was named to the all-tournament team.


title: Nikola Jović

text: In February 2022, Jović made his debut for the Serbia national team at the 2023 FIBA World Cup Qualifiers, at the age of 18. Initially at the preliminary Serbia roster for EuroBasket 2022, Jović was cut from the squad due to disapproval of the Heat.


title: Ali Stroker

text: Alyson Mackenzie Stroker (born June 16, 1987) is an American actress, author and singer. She is the first wheelchair-using actor to appear on a Broadway stage, and also the first to be nominated for and win a Tony Award. Stroker was a finalist on the second season of "The Glee Project" and later appeared as a guest star on "Glee" in 2013. She played Anna in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 revival of "Spring Awakening", and won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance in "Oklahoma!"


title: Ali Stroker

text: Ali Stroker grew up in New Jersey with her parents, Jody and Jim Stroker, as well as an older brother, Jake, and a younger sister, Tory. At the age of two, Stroker and her brother were in a car accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury that left Ali paralyzed from the waist down. Unable to walk, she uses a wheelchair. She attended Ridgewood High School, where she was senior class president and starred in school musicals.


title: Ali Stroker

text: Stroker trained with the Summer Musical Theater Conservatory program at the Paper Mill Playhouse in Millburn, New Jersey.


title: Ali Stroker

text: In 2009, Stroker became the first actor who uses a wheelchair, to earn a degree from the New York University Tisch Drama Department, with a degree in Fine Arts.


title: Ali Stroker

text: Stroker has given solo performances at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., and New York's Town Hall in addition to concert performances at Lincoln Center in New York City.


title: Ali Stroker

text: Stroker starred in the Paper Mill Playhouse's production of "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee". She later reprised her role in this show at Philadelphia Theatre Company, and that performance earned her a Barrymore Award nomination.


title: Ali Stroker

text: In 2012, she auditioned for "The Glee Project" and was cast for the 12-episode series. She made it to the final episode and placed second, earning a guest role on "Glee", playing Betty Pillsbury, Ms. Pillsbury's niece, in Season 4, Episode 14: "I Do".


title: Ali Stroker

text: In 2015, she made history by becoming the first actor who uses a wheelchair to appear on a Broadway stage. She originated the role of Anna in Deaf West Theatre's 2015 revival of "Spring Awakening".


title: Ali Stroker

text: In 2018, she played Ado Annie in St. Ann's Warehouse's critically acclaimed revival of "Oklahoma!" The production transferred to Broadway's Circle in the Square Theatre in 2019, earning Stroker a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, making her the first person with a disability to be nominated for and to receive that award.


title: Ali Stroker

text: In 2021, she played Detective Allison Mulaney on the police procedural television series "Blue Bloods", and played Paulette on the mystery-comedy television series "Only Murders in the Building".


title: Ali Stroker

text: Stroker co-chaired an awards luncheon in 2016 for Women Who Care, which supports United Cerebral Palsy of New York City. She is a founding member of Be More Heroic, an anti-bullying campaign which tours the country connecting with thousands of students each year. She has gone to South Africa with ARTS InsideOut where she has held theater classes and workshops for women and children affected by AIDS.


title: Ali Stroker

text: Stroker attended the 2019 Tony Awards with her then-boyfriend (now husband), theater director and actor David Perlow. She and Perlow reconnected in 2015 and are founding directors of ATTENTIONTheatre.


title: Ali Stroker

text: In addition to celebrating their first anniversary on July 17, 2022, Stroker announced that she and her husband are expecting their first child.


title: Minnale

text: Minnale () is a 2001 Indian Tamil-language romance film directed by Gautham Vasudev Menon. The story was written by Menon and Vipul D. Shah, starring Madhavan, Abbas, Reema Sen (in her Tamil debut), Vivek and Nagesh. The film tells the story of a love-struck man, stealing the identity of his former college foe, to pursue his lady love, and the eventual repercussions he has to face when his cover is blown before he could come clean. The film's original soundtrack composed by debutant music composer Harris Jayaraj, became popular prior to the film's release. The cinematography of the film was handled by R. D. Rajasekhar and it was edited by Suresh Urs.


title: Minnale

text: "Minnale" released on 2 February 2001 to positive reviews and became a commercial success. Menon remade the film the same year in Hindi as "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein", with Madhavan reprising his role and also making his debut in Bollywood films. The film was also unofficially remade in Kannada as "Mr. Duplicate" (2011).


title: Minnale

text: Rajesh Shivakumar and Sam are students at an engineering college in Ooty. Sam is a top-performing student who is popular with the students and faculty, while Rajesh, an underperforming student, is notorious for his rebellious, violent and misogynistic attitude. This contrast in personalities puts the two students at loggerheads throughout their college days, with both of them engaging in constant fights and pranks with each other. Upon graduating, Sam and Rajesh decide to never see each other ever again. Sam goes to the United States as he has secured a job while Rajesh decides to stay in India.


title: Minnale

text: Two years later, Rajesh is a software engineering instructor in Chennai and roams around in his free time with his close friend Chockalingam "Chokku". He stays with his grandfather Subbuni, a librarian from the Aminjikarai neighbourhood of Chennai. Rajesh's affection for his grandfather is such that he even refuses to accept an on-site opportunity in Singapore so that he can be with him. While on a trip to Bangalore, he comes across a young woman dancing with children in the rain and gets immediately smitten by her when he sees her face lit by the flash of a lightning bolt. He comes across this woman again during a friend's wedding and soon learns that the woman's name is Reena Joseph and she works as a chartered accountant at Ford, Bangalore. Some days later, Rajesh, who is back in Chennai, notices Reena again, this time exiting a Ford office cab. He and Chokku pursue Reena, but lose track of her in a mall.


title: Minnale

text: Rajesh and Chokku meet Reena's best friend Vasuki at a market, and enquire about Reena. Vasuki informs them that Reena has been transferred to Chennai, however, when she realises that Rajesh is in love with Reena, she angrily mentions that Reena has already been engaged to an Indian American software engineer from Seattle named Rajiv Samuel, who happens to be her childhood friend, hence it would be futile to pursue her. Rajesh is upset at this development; however, on learning that Reena has never seen Rajiv since her childhood, and on the goading and encouragement of Subbuni and Chokku, decides to pursue Reena. He comes to her house impersonating Rajiv. Reena is smitten by Rajesh and within a few days, she reciprocates Rajesh's love. Rajesh decides to reveal his true identity to her, but before he can, the real Rajiv arrives in Chennai. When Reena realises that the "Rajiv" she loves is an impostor, she breaks up with him and warns him never to come near her again.


title: Minnale

text: Rajesh, Chokku and their friends decide to meet Rajiv to somehow convince him to break his engagement with Reena. To Rajesh's shock, he finds out that Rajiv is his old nemesis Sam. Enraged that Rajesh cheated Reena, Sam refuses to break up their engagement. Rajesh also tries to seek Reena's forgiveness, to no avail, and stalks her while she is on a date with Sam at a restaurant. Sam notices this and both he and Rajesh engage in a brawl which is stopped by Reena, who again warns Rajesh never to come near her. Rajiv also threatens to kill Rajesh if he sees him at the same place as Reena ever again. Enraged, Rajesh, Chokku and their friends decide to beat up Sam in a parking lot, but Rajesh backs out at the last minute, accepting the bitter truth that Sam and Reena are going to get married as well as realising what he did all this while was wrong.


title: Minnale

text: Rajesh decides to accept the on-site opportunity in Singapore which he had earlier rejected, to forget Reena. Meanwhile, Reena realises that she has fallen in love with Rajesh, despite having been cheated by him. On the wedding day, Sam realises the love Reena has for Rajesh. He immediately cancels the wedding and takes Reena to the airport, where Rajesh is about to board a flight to Singapore. Sam tells with a very heavy heart to Rajesh that although they will always be enemies, he cannot marry a girl who does not love him. He tells him to take good care of Reena and he leaves by telling that they both should never ever meet again in life. Rajesh and Reena are happily united.


title: Minnale

text: Gautham Vasudev Menon launched a Tamil romantic film titled, "O Lala" in 2000 with the project eventually changing producers and title into "Minnale" with Madhavan, who was at the beginning of his career, being signed on to portray the lead role. About the making of the film, Menon revealed that he found it difficult as the team was new to the industry with only the editor of the film, Suresh Urs, being a prominent technician in the industry. Menon had come under further pressure when Madhavan had insisted that Menon narrated the story to his mentor, Mani Ratnam, to identify if the film was a positive career move after the success of his "Alai Payuthey". Despite initial reservations, Menon did so and Ratnam was unimpressed; however Menon has cited that he thought that Madhavan "felt sorry" and later agreed to continue with the project.


title: Minnale

text: Miss World 1999, Yukta Mookhey was considered to play the film's heroine during July 2000, as was Isha Koppikar, but eventually they were left out and Reema Sen, who appeared in her first Tamil film, was cast. "Minnale" also saw Madhavan collaborating with Abbas for second time after Kannada film "Shanti Shanti Shanti". Post-release, Abbas felt that his scenes had been cut from the film and accused Madhavan of playing a role in editing his sequences out from the film.


title: Minnale

text: The music and background score of the movie were composed by Harris Jayaraj. The audio cassette of the film was released in Chennai at a function in January 2001, where the songs were also screened. Upon release, the soundtrack received critical acclaim and was a major contributor to the film's commercial success. Harris Jayaraj won his first Filmfare Best Music Director award in Tamil breaking A. R. Rahman's successive win for 9 years. The song "Vaseegara" is set in Natabhairavi raga marked the debut of poet Thamarai as a film song lyricist.


title: Minnale

text: All songs except "Ivan Yaaro" and "Iru Vizhi Unadhu (Ore Nyabagam)" were reused in the film's Hindi version "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein" by Harris himself.


title: Minnale

text: The film was advertised as a Valentine's Day release in 2001 in Tamil Nadu, but was released on 2 February 2001, and upon release it went on to become a large success commercially. Madhavan became extremely popular among the youth after the release of "Alai Payuthey", but had a setback as his next film underperformed. "Minnale" made him once again popular among the youth. Savitha Padmanabhan of "The Hindu" claimed that the film had a "lot of verve and vigour" and that it was "sure to go down well" with the "yuppie, college-going youngsters". A reviewer, Shilpa Kannan from "Zee Next", also gave the film a positive review, writing "the entire movie is given an advertisement like treatment by the director. It is glossy, stylish, youthful and trendy". Visual Dasan of "Kalki" rated the film "above average".


title: Minnale

text: "Minnale" was dubbed into Telugu under the name "Cheli" and also performed well at the box office, owing to Madhavan's popularity in Andhra Pradesh. The success of "Minnale" led to producer Vashu Bhagnani signing Menon on to direct the Hindi language remake of the film, "Rehnaa Hai Terre Dil Mein", which featured Madhavan reprising his role. The Hindi version gained mixed reviews and subsequently went on to become an above average grosser at the box office. However, the film belatedly gained popularity through screenings on television and subsequently developed a cult following amongst young audiences and the actors released a video thanking the film's admirers for their adulation on the fifteenth anniversary of the film's release.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University (PKU; ) is a public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University was established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 when it received its royal charter by the Guangxu Emperor. A successor of the older "Guozijian" Imperial College, the university's romanized name 'Peking' retains the older transliteration of 'Beijing' that has been superseded in most other contexts. Perennially ranked as one of the top academic institutions in China and the world; as of 2021 Peking University was ranked 16th globally and 1st in the Asia-Pacific & emerging countries by Times Higher Education, while as of 2022 it was ranked 12th globally and 1st in Asia by QS University Rankings.


title: Peking University

text: Throughout its history, Peking University has had an important role "at the center of major intellectual movements" in China. Abolished of its status as a royal institution after the fall of the Qing dynasty and the Xinhai Revolution; from the early 1920s, the university became a center for China's emerging, progressive, and republican movements. Faculty and students held important roles in originating the New Culture Movement, the May Fourth Movement protests, and other significant cultural and sociopolitical events, to the extent that the university's history has been closely tied to that of modern China. Peking University has educated and hosted many prominent modern Chinese figures, including Mao Zedong, Lu Xun, Gu Hongming, Hu Shih, Mao Dun, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, and current Premier Li Keqiang.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, former Project 985 and former Project 211. The university library contains over 8 million volumes. The university also operates the PKU Hall, a professional performing arts center, and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Arts and Archaeology. The university is also renowned for its campus grounds and the beauty of its traditional Chinese architecture. Additionally, it hosts one of the only undergraduate liberal arts colleges in Asia, and is a Class A institution under the Chinese Double First Class University program. Peking University's staff include 76 members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 25 members of the World Academy of Sciences.


title: Peking University

text: Following China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, intellectuals - including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Yan Fu - called for reforms to the country's education system. In June 1896, Minister Li Duanfen proposed to create a university in the capital. On 11 June 1898, the Guangxu Emperor, as part of the Hundred Days' Reform, authorised the creation of the Imperial University of Peking (). The Imperial University was formally established on 3 July 1898 when the emperor approved the royal charter written by Liang. Minister Sun Jianai was charged with the implementation. IUP served as the country's foremost institute for higher learning, but also as its highest educational authority. William Alexander Parsons Martin was appointed as the first president. Most of the reforms were abolished when the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi seized power on 21 September. The university survived with altered objectives and reduced scope. It opened on 31 December with 160 students, instead of the planned 500.


title: Peking University

text: In 1900, the university was paralyzed by the Boxer Rebellion, later in the year, the "Eight-Power Allied Forces" (八国联军) entered Beijing and the university's operation was continually suspended. In 1902, "Jingshi Tongwenguan", a school established by the Qing court in 1862 for foreign language learning was incorporated into the Imperial University of Peking. In 1904, the university sent 47 students to study abroad, which marked the first time for Chinese higher education institution to send students to foreign countries.


title: Peking University

text: Following the Xinhai Revolution, the Imperial University of Peking was renamed "Government University of Peking" in 1912 and then "National University of Peking" in 1919 ().


title: Peking University

text: The noted scholar Cai Yuanpei was appointed president on January 4, 1917, and helped transform Peking University into the country's largest institution of higher learning, with 14 departments and an enrollment of more than 2,000 students. President Cai, inspired by the German model of academic freedom, introduced faculty governance and democratic management to the university. Cai recruited an intellectually diverse faculty that included some of the most prominent figures in the progressive New Culture Movement, including Hu Shih, Liu Bannong, Ma Yinchu, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Lu Xun and Liang Shuming. Meanwhile, leading conservatives Gu Hongming and Huang Kan also taught at the university. A firm supporter for freedom of thought, Cai advocated for educational independence and resigned several times protesting the government's policy and interference.


title: Peking University

text: On May 1, 1919, some students of Peking University learned that the Treaty of Versailles would allow Japan to receive Germany's colonising rights in Shandong province. An assembly at Peking University that included these students and representatives from other universities in Beijing was quickly organised. On May 4, students from thirteen universities marched to Tiananmen to protest the terms of Treaty of Versailles, demanded the Beiyang government to refuse to sign the treaty. Demonstrators also demanded the immediate resignation of three officials: Cao Rulin, Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, Zhang Zongxiang, China's Ambassador to Japan and Lu Zongyu, Minister of Currency, who they believed were in cooperation with Japanese. The protest ended up with some protesters being beaten and arrested, and Cao Rulin's house burned by protesters. Following the protest on May 4, students, workers and merchants from nearly all China's major cities went on strike and boycotted Japanese goods in China. The Beiyang government eventually agreed to release the arrested students and fired the three officials under intense public pressure, China's representatives in Paris refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.


title: Peking University

text: These protests, now known as the May Fourth Movement, has been widely regarded as one of the most important turning points in modern China's history. In its broader sense, the May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical Chinese intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into the Communist party and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the Communist Revolution.


title: Peking University

text: Following the May Fourth Movement, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao cofounded the Chinese Communist Party, and Chen served as its first general secretary. Both Chen and Li served as faculty for Peking. Li served as a head librarian, and Chen served as Peking University's dean.


title: Peking University

text: After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and the resulting expansion of Japanese territorial control in east China, Peking University was relocated to the southwestern city of Changsha and formed the Changsha Temporary University along with nearby schools Tsinghua University and Nankai University. In 1938, the three schools moved again, this time further southwest to Kunming, and formed the National Southwestern Associated University.


title: Peking University

text: In 1946, after the Japanese surrender in World War II, Peking University moved back to Beijing. At that time, the university comprised six schools (Arts, Science, Law, Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture), and a research institute for humanities. The total student enrollment grew up to 3,000.


title: Peking University

text: In 1949, after the People's Republic of China was established, Peking University lost its "national" appellation to reflect the fact that all universities under the new socialist state would be public. In 1952, Mao Zedong's government re-grouped the country's higher education institutions with individual institutions tending to specialize in a certain field of study after the Soviet model. As a result, some arts and science faculties of Tsinghua University and former Yenching University were merged into Peking University. At the same time, however, the university lost its Law, Medicine, Engineering and Agriculture schools. These schools and faculties were either merged into other universities or to found new colleges. During the re-grouping, Yenching University was closed up. Peking University moved from downtown Beijing to the former Yenching campus.


title: Peking University

text: The first disturbances of the Cultural Revolution began at Peking University in 1966; education there ceased between 1966 and 1970.


title: Peking University

text: On May 4, 1998, at the 100th anniversary of Peking University, Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin announced that the government would initiate a national project to promote China's higher education by funding selected universities to achieve world-class level. The project was later named “985” based on the date of its announcement.


title: Peking University

text: In 2000, Beijing Medical University was merged back into Peking University and became the Peking University Health Science Campus. Beijing Medical University, which used to be Medical School of Peking University, was separated from Peking University in 1952. Peking University now has eight affiliated hospitals and 12 teaching hospitals.


title: Peking University

text: In 2001, Peking University established the Yuanpei Program. It was formalized in 2007 as the Yuanpei College, named in honor of the highly respected former university president Cai Yuanpei. The college hosts an elite undergraduate liberal arts program that allows students to freely choose specialisations. In the same year, Peking University set up a satellite campus for graduate students in Shenzhen. The university's second business school, Peking University HSBC Business School was launched on the Shenzhen campus in 2004.


title: Peking University

text: In 2014, Peking University established the Yenching Academy, a fully funded global fellowship program designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding."


title: Peking University

text: In October 2015, Peking University alumni Professor Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin. Having saved millions of lives, artemisinin has made significant contributions to global health in regard to the fight against malaria.


title: Peking University

text: In May 2016, the Peking University Department of Psychology was renamed as Peking University School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences. On July 5, Peking University and Moscow State University signed the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Comprehensive University Alliance between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, proposing the establishment of the China-Russia Comprehensive University Alliance. On August 29, Peking University signed a memorandum with the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to jointly open Peking University Shenzhen Campus. On September 20, Peking University Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences was officially inaugurated.


title: Peking University

text: On February 20, 2017, the university officially signed a contract with the British Open University to establish the Oxford Campus of Peking University HSBC Business School, Peking University Oxford Center and Shenzhen Oxford Innovation Center. In March, the National Engineering Laboratory for Big Data Analysis and Application Technology was unveiled. In September, Peking University was selected as a national "double first-class" university. On December 13, Peking University School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences was established.


title: Peking University

text: On May 4, 2018, Peking University held its 120th  anniversary meeting at the Khoo Teck Puat Gymnasium. On October 24, Peking University led the formation of the medical “Double First-Class” (i.e. world-class universities and first-class disciplines) Construction Alliance, which is the first unofficial non-profit medical higher education and medical discipline construction collaboration organization.


title: Peking University

text: In February 2019, Peking University and the University of Hong Kong signed a cooperation agreement to cooperate in the dual bachelor's degree program in law; in the same month, Peking University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong signed a cooperation agreement to jointly organize undergraduate double-degree programs of Linguistics and Chinese Language and Literature. In December, it joined the “Belt and Road” Think Tank Cooperation Alliance as a governing unit.


title: Peking University

text: In May 2019, Peking University and Beijing Geely University signed an agreement. Peking University will build a new campus on  the original site of Geely Institute in Changping.


title: Peking University

text: On June 29, 2020, the Sino-Russian Mathematics Center was established. The Sino-Russian Mathematics Center is led by Peking University and Moscow State University, and jointly constructed by relevant domestic units and other Russian universities and research institutes such as St. Petersburg University, relying on the “Double First-class” construction alliance in mathematics.


title: Peking University

text: On September 6, 2021, the new Changping campus of Peking University was officially opened, welcoming the first batch of teachers and students. The new campus in Changping is the first real large-scale new campus built by Peking University in recent years, and is also a major strategic deployment of the school for the future. On September 30, Peking University Lanyuan Centre was officially launched. The first dean of Lanyuan Centre is Ke Yang, Professor of Peking University School of Clinical Oncology and a foreign academician of the American Academy of Medical Sciences. In October, Peking University officially announced the establishment of Peking University School of Computer Science, which means the computer major of Peking University was officially upgraded from a department to a school. Yang Fuqing, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, served as the honorary president. In November, the School of Artificial Intelligence of Peking University was established.


title: Peking University

text: In 2021, “Peking University Campus Nature Reserve” was selected for the “Biodiversity 100+ Global Typical Cases” at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) as the first case of campus nature reserve in China.


title: Peking University

text: In June 2022, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) released the first series of “Healthy Campus” list. Peking University, as the only Chinese university that has obtained platinum certification from the International University Sports Federation, participated in 4 projects and became the only representative from China among 130 projects worldwide.


title: Peking University

text: The campus of Peking University was originally located northeast of the Forbidden City in the center of Beijing, and was later moved to the former campus of Yenching University in 1952. The main campus is in northwest Beijing, in Haidian district, near the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace; the area is traditionally where many of Beijing's most renowned gardens and palaces were built.


title: Peking University

text: The university campus is on the former site of Qing dynasty imperial gardens and it retains much traditional Chinese-style landscaping, including traditional houses, gardens, pagodas, and many notable historical buildings and structures. The landscape in campus gives a presentation of western styles combined with traditional Chinese aesthetic standards. American architect and art historian Talbot Hamlin designed some of the university's buildings constructed during the 1919 to 1922 period. There are several gates that lead into campus — East, West and South gates, with the West Gate being the most well known for the painted murals on its ceiling. Weiming Lake is in the north of the campus and is surrounded by walking paths and small gardens. The university hosts many museums, such as the Museum of University History and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology. Notable items in these museums include funerary objects that were excavated in Beijing and date back thousands of years from the graves of royals of the Warring States period. There are ritual pottery vessels as well as elaborate pieces of jewelry on display. There are also human bones set up in the traditional burial style of that period.


title: Peking University

text: Beyond its main campus, Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC) is on Xueyuan Road where the country's most distinguished colleges are, and is a fitting site for academics and research.


title: Peking University

text: In 2001, Peking University's Shenzhen campus, the Shenzhen Graduate School, opened its doors. The campus is located in the northwest part of Shenzhen City.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University consists of 30 schools and 12 departments, with 125 majors for undergraduates, 2 majors for the second Bachelor's degree, 282 programs for Master's degree candidates and 258 programs for doctoral candidates. In addition to basic research, the university also conducts applied research.


title: Peking University

text: At present, Peking University has 216 research institutions and research centres, including 2 national engineering research centers, 81 key national disciplines, and 12 national key laboratories. With 8 million holdings, the university library is the largest of its kind in Asia.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University jointly administer the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. Peking University has become a center for teaching and research, consisting of diverse branches of learning such as pure and applied sciences, social sciences and humanities, and sciences of management and education.


title: Peking University

text: Over the past century, some Peking University alumni have become presidents of other major Chinese universities, including former Tsinghua President Luo Jialun, Renmin University President Yuan Baohua, Zhejiang University President Qian Sanqiang, Fudan University President Zhang Zhirang, Nankai University President Teng Weizao, Chinese University of Science and Technology President Guan Weiyan and many others.


title: Peking University

text: Several rankings have placed Peking University among the top universities in mainland China. In 2015, the Chinese University Alumni Association in partnership with China Education Center considered it first among all Chinese universities.


title: Peking University

text: Typically, Peking University is consistently ranked among the top universities in the Asia-Pacific and the world according to major international university rankings. The joint "THE-QS World University Rankings" 2006 ranked Peking University 1st in the Asia & Oceania region and 14th in the world. In 2014, the "U.S. News & World Report" ranked Peking University 39th in the world, 2nd in the Asia-Pacific and 1st in China. Peking had topped the newly launched "Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies" since its inception in 2014.


title: Peking University

text: The 2023 QS Rankings ranked Peking University 12th in the world and first in Asia. As of 2022, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked Peking University 16th in the world and 1st in China & the Asia-Pacific, with its teaching and research performance indicators placed at 4th and 9th in the world respectively. Peking University was also ranked 15th in the world and 1st in the Asia-Pacific in The Three University Missions Ranking. Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed Peking University 34th in the world, 3rd in Asia, and 2nd in China. The "U.S. News & World Report" ranked Peking University 39th in the world, 4th in Asia and 2nd in China.


title: Peking University

text: In the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017, an annual ranking of university graduates' employability, Peking University was ranked 11th in the world and 2nd in Asia. In 2019, the QS World University Rankings ranked the university as one of the world's top 20 universities for academic reputation where, it ranked 16 globally, and top 10 in the world and first in the Asia-Pacific for employer reputation. Since 2017, Peking has been placed among the world's top 20 most reputable universities by the "Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings," where it ranked 13 globally in 2022.


title: Peking University

text: The 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked Peking University at 8th in the world based on their publications for the time period 2015–2018. For the high quality of research in natural science and life science, Peking University ranked 10th among the leading institutions, and 6th among the leading universities globally in the "Nature Index 2022 Annual Tables" by Nature Research. In 2020, it ranked 13th among the universities around the world by "SCImago Institutions Rankings".


title: Peking University

text: As of 2021, it was ranked 8th globally in "Education", 12th in "Engineering and Technology", 15th in "Physical Science", 17th in "Computer Science", 18th in "Social Science", 19th in "Life Science", 21st in "Arts and Humanities", 22nd in "Business and Economics", 22nd in "Clinical, pre-clinical and Health" and 45th in "Psychology" by the "Times Higher Education Rankings by Subjects".


title: Peking University

text: On October 24, 2018, Peking University Library, the largest library among Asian universities, held the opening ceremony of the 120th anniversary at the Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University has participated in many joint art-research projects, such as the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) with the University of Chicago, and Department of Digital Art and Design with UNESCO.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University partners with Stanford University for its Asian cultural studies programs such as the Stanford Program in Beijing and the Stanford-Peking University Summer Program, which encourages Stanford students interested in exploring Chinese language, history, culture, and society to study on campus at Peking University.


title: Peking University

text: The National School of Development (formerly China Center for Economic Research) is ranked amongst the top five most influential think tanks in China.


title: Peking University

text: In 1998, Justin Yifu Lin et al. jointly founded the Beijing International MBA at Peking University (BiMBA), which is ranked among the top six MBA programs by Quacquarelli Symonds in its TopMBA ranking of the best MBA programs in Asia Pacific for the year 2014–2015. BiMBA has also been ranked as the second most valuable full-time MBA in China by Forbes (after CEIBS) and among Asia's best business schools by Bloomberg Business.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School is a satellite campus of Peking University located in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It was founded in September, 2001 in collaboration with the Shenzhen Municipal Government and is located in University Town of Shenzhen along with satellite campuses of Tsinghua University and Harbin Institute of Technology. Dr. Wen Hai, a renowned economist in China and the vice-president of Peking University is the present chancellor of PKU Shenzhen. The school houses seven research departments as well as the Peking University HSBC Business School and Peking University School of Transnational Law.


title: Peking University

text: On August 29, 2016, Peking University signed a strategic agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to further develop its Shenzhen Graduate School, the university plans build a brand new campus near the existed graduate school and open undergraduate programs.


title: Peking University

text: Every year, there are approximately 7,000 international students studying at Peking University. The dormitories for international students at the main campus are located at "Shaoyuan Garden" (勺园) and "Zhongguanyuan Global Village" (中关新园). Its international students are made up of students from most countries in the world including most of Western Europe, North America, and South America, Asia, Australia and many countries in Africa.


title: Peking University

text: In 2005, Peking University and Cornell University signed an agreement formally establishing the China and Asia-Pacific Studies major at Cornell, which requires students to spend a semester studying at Peking University while working at internships. In 2006, PKU launched a joint undergraduate program with Yale University in which students will spend a semester overseas, living and studying together with the host institute's students. PKU's School of International Studies also launched joint degree programs with London School of Economics, Paris School of International Affairs, Waseda University, Seoul National University, and the University of Tokyo. PKU also has a longstanding relationship with Stanford University which operates a joint research center and base for Stanford students and scholars at the Stanford Center at Peking University, located in the Lee Jung Sen Building. The Peking University HSBC Business School has joint degree programs with University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong.


title: Peking University

text: The university has maintained a partnership with the Freie Universität Berlin since 1981 and the Higher School of Economics since 2015, and in 2019, became a partner of Washington University in St. Louis through the McDonnell International Scholars Academy.


title: Peking University

text: On the 121st founding anniversary, Peking University unveiled the "Global Excellence Strategy", an international blueprint aiming to enhance Peking University's global presence during the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". The "Global Excellence Strategy" aims to strengthen international cooperation, overcome development barriers, gather global resources, and stimulate collegial relationships. The Global Excellence Strategy is based upon the English word "CLOUDS", representing the "cloud era" of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". Each letter stands for a corresponding word, namely creativity, leadership, openness, uniqueness, diversity and shaping.


title: Peking University

text: According to CUAA's 2015 ranking of notable alumni in politics, Peking University has produced the most notable politicians among all universities in China. As of 2017, 88 Peking University alumni currently serve in the government at vice-ministerial positions or higher. Notable alumni include two of the seven member Standing Committee of the CPC, current premier of China Li Keqiang, and current Secretary of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, Zhao Leji. Other alumni in politics include current vice premier of China Hu Chunhua, current minister of Education, Chen Baosheng, current minister of Justice, Current minister of Natural resources, Current Governor of the Central Bank of China, Yi Gang, and former minister of commerce, Bo Xilai.


title: Peking University

text: Notable alumni in the sciences include Nobel laureate Tu Youyou, who for her work in discovering artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin used to treat malaria, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura; nuclear physicists and contributors to Chinese nuclear weapons program Qian Sanqiang and Deng Jiaxian, and "father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb" physicist Yu Min, nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya, particle physicist and discoverer of the partial conservation of the axial current, Zhou Guangzhao; mathematician and MacArthur Fellow Yitang Zhang, neurosurgeon Wang Zhongcheng, pulmonologist and recipient of the Medal of the Republic, Zhong Nanshan, and chief economist of the World Bank, Justin Yifu Lin.


title: Peking University

text: Notable alumni in the humanities and arts include author Lu Xun, philosopher and essayist Hu Shih, polymath Lin Yutang, philosopher Liang Shuming, Qing-dynasty educator Gu Hongming, anthropologist Fei Xiaotong, translator Li Bulou, computer scientist Wang Xuan, and author Jin Yong. Notable international alumni include emeritus professor and linguist Michael Halliday, author Julia Ebner, and philosopher Professor Li Chenyang.


title: Peking University

text: Notable alumni in business include co-founder and CEO of Baidu, billionaire Robin Li, and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun.


title: Peking University

text: Other notable alumni include chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion, and Rhodes Scholar Hou Yifan.


title: Peking University

text: Peking University has benefited from the services of notable academics and staff. These include founder of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong (who worked as a library staff at the university), educator, politician, and revolutionary Cai Yuanpei (served as Chancellor of Peking University), and others.


title: Meera Syal

text: Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created "Goodness Gracious Me" and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, Ummi, in "The Kumars at No. 42". She became one of the UK's best-known Asian personalities.


title: Meera Syal

text: She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1997 New Year Honours and in 2003 was listed in "The Observer" as one of the 50 funniest acts in British comedy. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2015 New Year Honours for services to drama and literature.


title: Meera Syal

text: Syal was born on 27 June 1961 in Wolverhampton and grew up in Essington, Staffordshire, a mining village a few miles to the north. Her Indian Punjabi parents; Surinder Syal (father) and Surinder Kaur Uppal (mother), came to the United Kingdom from New Delhi. Her father was Khatri and her mother was Jat. When she was young, the family moved to Bloxwich, north of Walsall.


title: Meera Syal

text: This landscape, and the family's status as the only Asian family in the small Midlands mining village of Essington, was later to form the backdrop to her novel (later filmed) "Anita and Me", which Syal described in a 2003 BBC interview as semi-autobiographical. She attended Queen Mary's High School in nearby Walsall and then studied English and Drama at Manchester University, graduating with a Double First.


title: Meera Syal

text: During her studies, Syal joined the Stephen Joseph Studio, acting and latterly writing stage plays. On graduation, she had secured a place to study for an MA in drama and psychotherapy at the University of Leeds, and then to study for a PGCE to teach. However, she had also co-written the one-woman play "One of Us" with Jackie Shapiro, in which Syal performed all fifteen parts, about a West Midlands-born ethnic Indian girl who ran away from home to become an actress. First performed at the Stephen Joseph Studio, she then performed it at the National Student Drama Festival where it won a prize to perform at the Edinburgh International Festival, where it also won a prize. As a result, a director from the Royal Court Theatre contacted Syal, and asked her to perform in a play at the Royal Court on a three-year contract.


title: Meera Syal

text: Syal wrote the screenplay for the 1993 film "Bhaji on the Beach", directed by Gurinder Chadha, of "Bend It Like Beckham" fame. In 1996 she played Miss Chauhan, a high school soccer coach in the film Beautiful Thing. She was on the team that wrote and performed in the BBC comedy sketch show "Goodness Gracious Me" (1996–2001), originally on radio and then on television. She was a scriptwriter on A.R. Rahman and Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Bombay Dreams" and she played the grandmother Sushila in the International Emmy-award-winning series "The Kumars at No. 42", which ran for seven series, reviving the character in 2021 for BBC Radio 4's "Gossip and Goddesses with Granny Kumar".


title: Meera Syal

text: In October 2008, she starred in the BBC Two sitcom "Beautiful People". This role, as Aunty Hayley, continued in 2009. Syal starred in the eleventh series of "Holby City" as consultant Tara Sodi. In 2009, she guest starred in "Minder" and starred in the film "Mad, Sad & Bad". In 2010, she played Shirley Valentine in a one-woman show at the Menier Chocolate Factory, later transferring to Trafalgar Studios. In the same year she played Nasreen Chaudhry in two episodes of "Doctor Who" alongside Matt Smith.


title: Meera Syal

text: Syal is an occasional singer, having achieved a number one record with Gareth Gates and her co-stars from "The Kumars at No. 42" with "Spirit in the Sky", the Comic Relief single. She earlier (1988) provided vocals for a bhangra version of "Then He Kissed Me", composed by Biddu and with the Pakistani pop star Nazia Hassan, as part of the short-lived girl band Saffron. In June 2003 she appeared as a guest on BBC Radio 4's "Desert Island Discs" programme with a selection of music by Nitin Sawhney, Madan Bala Sindhu, Joni Mitchell, Pizzicato Five, Sukhwinder Singh, Louis Armstrong and others. The luxury she chose to ease her life as a castaway was a piano.


title: Meera Syal

text: Having studied English at university and penned two novels and a variety of scripts and screenplays, Syal was chosen as one of the guests on "The Cultural Exchange" slot of "Front Row" on 30 April 2013, when she nominated "To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee as a piece of art work which she loved.


title: Meera Syal

text: Syal won the National Student Drama Award for performing in "One of Us" which was written by Jacqueline Shapiro while at university. She won the Betty Trask Award for her first book "Anita and Me" and the Media Personality of the Year award at the Commission for Racial Equality's annual "Race in the Media" awards in 2000. She was given the Nazia Hassan Foundation award in 2003.


title: Meera Syal

text: In 2011–12, Syal was appointed visiting professor of contemporary theatre at St Catherine's College, Oxford. She has an honorary degree from SOAS, University of London and from the University of Roehampton.


title: Meera Syal

text: Syal married journalist Shekhar Bhatia in 1989; they had a daughter together before divorcing in 2002. In January 2005, Syal married her frequent collaborator, Sanjeev Bhaskar, who plays her grandson in "The Kumars at No. 42"; the marriage ceremony took place in Lichfield register office, Staffordshire. They have a son, born in 2005.


title: Meera Syal

text: In 2004, Syal took part in one episode of the BBC series "Who Do You Think You Are?", which investigated her family history. Syal discovered that both her grandfathers were supporters of the Indian independence movement: one as a communist journalist, the other as a Punjab protester who was briefly imprisoned in the Golden Temple.


title: Meera Syal

text: In January 2011, Syal took part in the BBC Radio 4 programme "My Teenage Diary", discussing growing up as the only British Asian girl in a small English town, feeling overweight and unattractive.


title: Meera Syal

text: Syal's brother is investigative journalist Rajeev Syal, who covers Whitehall, writing stories for "The Guardian".


title: Meera Syal

text: In February 2009, Syal was one of a number of British entertainers who signed an open letter printed in "The Times" protesting against the persecution of Baháʼís in Iran.


title: Meera Syal

text: Her book "Anita and Me" has found its way onto school and university English syllabuses both in Britain and abroad. Scholarly literature on it includes:


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: A sequel, , was published in 2020, which combines the characters of "The Tatami Galaxy" with the plot of Makoto Ueda's play and film "Summer Time Machine Blues". English translations of both novels by Emily Balistrieri are planned for publication by HarperCollins in December 2022 and September 2023, respectively.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: "The Tatami Galaxy" was adapted into an 11-episode anime television series produced by Madhouse and directed by Masaaki Yuasa, which aired on Fuji TV's late-night Noitamina programming block in 2010. The adaptation was critically acclaimed, winning the 2010 Japan Media Arts Festival Grand Prize in the Animation Division and the 2011 Tokyo Anime Award in the Television Category. An original net animation adaptation of "The Tatami Time Machine Blues" produced by Science Saru premiered in September 2022 on Disney+.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: "The Tatami Galaxy" follows an unnamed third-year student at Kyoto University, using parallel universes as a plot device to explore how his life would have differed had he joined a particular student society (called a "circle" in Japan). The majority of the series' episodes follow the same basic structure: the protagonist joins a circle as a freshman, but is disillusioned when the activity does not lead to the idealized "rose-colored campus life" he dreamed of. He meets Ozu, another student, whose encouragement sets him on a mission of dubious morality. He becomes close to Akashi, a second year engineering student, and makes a promise to her, usually of and within a romantic subtext. He encounters a fortune teller, who cryptically informs him of an opportunity "dangling" in front of his eyes; this prompts him to remember a mochiguman keychain lost by Akashi and recovered by the protagonist, which he leaves hanging from a pull switch in his apartment and perpetually forgets to return to her. The dubious mission ends poorly for the protagonist, causing him to bemoan the state of his life and wonder how things would have differed had he joined a different circle. Time rewinds, and the subsequent episode depicts the protagonist once again as a freshman, joining a different circle.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: "The Tatami Galaxy" was first published in Japanese in December 2004 as a "tankōbon" by Ohta Publishing; it was republished in March 2008 as a "bunkoban" by Kadokawa Shoten. The novel was published in Korean by Viche in August 2008, in traditional Chinese by China Times Publishing in December 2009, and in simplified Chinese by Shanghai People's Publishing House in August 2010.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: Morimi's 2006 novel "The Night Is Short, Walk On Girl" serves as a spiritual successor to "Tatami Galaxy", with a shared setting and some recurring characters. The novel was published in English in the United States in 2019 by Yen Press.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: "The Tatami Galaxy" received a sequel, titled , inspired by Makoto Ueda's stage play and film "Summer Time Machine Blues". It was published in Japan on July 29, 2020.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: Both "The Tatami Galaxy" and "The Tatami Time Machine Blues" are licensed for publication in the United States by HarperCollins, and will be published in December 2022 and summer 2023, respectively.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: An anime television series adaptation of "The Tatami Galaxy" was produced by Madhouse, with Masaaki Yuasa as director, series composition by Makoto Ueda, teleplays by Ueda and Yuasa, and music by Michiru Ōshima. The series premiered on April 22, 2010, as a part of Fuji TV's Noitamina programming block. Two theme songs are used for the series: "Maigoinu to Ame no Beat" by Asian Kung-Fu Generation as the opening theme, and by Etsuko Yakushimaru as the closing theme.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: Three seven-minute animated shorts were included with the Japanese DVD and Blu-ray Disc releases of the series. The first DVD/BD volume was released on August 20, 2010, and contained the first short; the second and third shorts were released on the third and fourth DVD/BD volumes on October 22, 2010, and November 26, 2010, respectively.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: In North America, the series was simulcast by Funimation, and it was first licensed in United Kingdom by Beez Entertainment. In June 2019, Funimation announced the release of the series on Blu-ray and DVD with subtitles only on September 3.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: On August 12, 2021, it was announced that "The Tatami Time Machine Blues" novel would be receiving an anime adaptation. The series, later revealed to be an original net animation (ONA), is produced by Science Saru, directed by Shingo Natsume and written for television by Makoto Ueda, with character designs by Yusuke Nakamura, music composed by Michiru Ōshima, and the majority of the original Japanese voice cast reprising their roles. The 6-episode series premiered exclusively on Disney+ in Japan on September 14, 2022, while a theatrical compilation film version followed on September 30. The Disney+ release of the series includes an original episode that was not covered by the theatrical compilation, which was released on October 12, 2022 along with the series finale. The series was also released in the U.S. on November 9, 2022. It was slated to appear on Disney+, but was unexpectedly moved over to Hulu with no promotion or announcement. Asian Kung-Fu Generation performed the theme song "Demachiyanagi Parallel Universe".


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: "Night Is Short, Walk On Girl", a feature film and spiritual sequel to "The Tatami Galaxy", based on the novel of the same name, was released by Toho on April 7, 2017.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: "The Tatami Galaxy" won the grand prize in the animation category at the 14th Japan Media Arts Festival on December 8, 2010, making it the first television series to win the award, with the jury describing the series in their justification as a "richly expressive work that turns the limitations of TV on its head" and complimenting its "unique scene layouts, characters' actions and color scheme." It also won the Television Category award at the 10th Tokyo Anime Awards in 2011.


title: The Tatami Galaxy

text: In 2019, "Polygon" staff named "The Tatami Galaxy" as one of the best anime of the 2010s; writer Julia Lee commented, "This is my all-time favorite anime. It's wordy, it's fun, and it has this great, over exaggerated art style". In a 2019 "Forbes" article about the best anime of the 2010s decade, Lauren Orsini considered it to be one of the five best anime of 2010; she wrote, "With thoughtful wordplay and deep insight into the human condition, this Bildungsroman bridges fantasy and reality with a cast of characters just on the other side of absurd".


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Falls is a city in Niagara County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 48,671. It is adjacent to the Niagara River, across from the city of Niagara Falls, Ontario, and named after the famed Niagara Falls which they share. The city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area and the Western New York region.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: While the city was formerly occupied by Native Americans, Europeans who migrated to the Niagara Falls in the mid-17th century began to open businesses and develop infrastructure. Later in the 18th and 19th centuries, scientists and businessmen began harnessing the power of the Niagara River for electricity and the city began to attract manufacturers and other businesses drawn by the promise of inexpensive hydroelectric power. After the 1960s, however, the city and region witnessed an economic decline, following an attempt at urban renewal under then Mayor Lackey. Consistent with the rest of the Rust Belt as industries left the city, old line affluent families relocated to nearby suburbs and out of town.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Despite the decline in heavy industry, Niagara Falls State Park and the downtown area closest to the falls continue to thrive as a result of tourism. The population, however, has continued to decline from a peak of 102,394 in the 1960s due to the loss of manufacturing jobs in the area.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Before Europeans entered the area, it was dominated by the Neutral Nation of Native Americans. European migration into the area began in the 17th century. The first recorded European to visit the area was Frenchman Robert de la Salle, who built Fort Conti at the mouth of the Niagara River early in 1679, with permission from the Iroquois, as a base for boatbuilding; his ship "Le Griffon" was built on the upper Niagara River at or near Cayuga Creek in the same year. He was accompanied by Belgian priest Louis Hennepin, who was the first known European to see the falls. The influx of newcomers may have been a catalyst for already hostile native tribes to turn to open warfare in competition for the fur trade.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The City of Niagara Falls was incorporated on March 17, 1892, from the villages of Manchester and Suspension Bridge, which were parts of the Town of Niagara. Thomas Vincent Welch, a member of the charter committee and a New York state assemblyman and a second-generation Irish American, persuaded Governor Roswell P. Flower to sign the bill on St. Patrick's Day. George W. Wright was elected the first mayor of Niagara Falls.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: By the end of the 19th century, the city was heavily industrialized, due in part to the power potential offered by the Niagara River. Tourism was considered a secondary niche, while manufacturing of petrochemicals, abrasives, metallurgical products and other materials was the main producer of jobs and attracted a large number of workers, many of whom were immigrants.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In 1927, the city annexed the village of La Salle, named for Robert de la Salle, from the Town of Niagara.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Industry and tourism grew steadily throughout the first half of the 20th century due to a high demand for industrial products and the increased mobility of people to travel. Paper, rubber, plastics, petrochemicals, carbon insulators and abrasives were among the city's major industries. This prosperity would end by the late 1960s as aging industrial plants moved to less expensive locations. In addition, the falls were incompatible with modern shipping technology.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In 1956, the Schoellkopf Power Plant on the lower river just downstream of the American Falls was critically damaged by the collapse of the Niagara Gorge wall above it. This prompted the planning and construction of one of the largest hydroelectric plants to be built in North America to that time, generating a large influx of workers and families to the area. New York City urban planner Robert Moses built the new power plant in nearby Lewiston, New York. Much of the power generated there fueled growing demands for power in downstate New York and New York City.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The neighborhood of Love Canal gained national media attention in 1978 when toxic waste contamination from a chemical landfill beneath it forced United States President Jimmy Carter to declare a state of emergency, the first such presidential declaration made for a non-natural disaster. Hundreds of residents were evacuated from the area, many of whom were ill because of exposure to chemical waste.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: After the Love Canal disaster, the city—which had already been declining in population for nearly two decades—experienced accelerated economic and political difficulties. The costs of manufacturing elsewhere had become less expensive, which led to the closure of several factories. The city's population eventually dropped by more than half of its peak, as workers fled the city in search of jobs elsewhere. Then, much like the nearby city of Buffalo, the city's economy plummeted when a failed urban renewal project destroyed Falls Street and the tourist district.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In 2001, the leadership of Laborers Local 91 was found guilty of extortion, racketeering and other crimes following an exposé by Mike Hudson of the "Niagara Falls Reporter". Union boss Michael "Butch" Quarcini died before trial, while the rest of the union leadership was sentenced to prison.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In early 2010, former Niagara Falls Mayor Vincenzo Anello was indicted on federal charges of corruption, alleging the mayor accepted $40,000 in loans from a businessman who was later awarded a no-bid lease on city property. The charges were dropped as part of a plea deal after Anello pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of pension fraud, regarding a pension from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, of which he is a member. He was sentenced to 10 to 16 months in prison.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: On November 30, 2010, the New York State Attorney General entered into an agreement with the city and its police department to create new policies to govern police practices in response to claims of excessive force and police misconduct. The city committed to create policies and procedures to prevent and respond to allegations of excessive force, and to ensure police are properly trained and complaints are properly investigated. Prior claims filed by residents will be evaluated by an independent panel.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The city has multiple properties on the National Register of Historic Places. It also has three national historic districts, including Chilton Avenue-Orchard Parkway Historic District, Deveaux School Historic District and the Park Place Historic District.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Falls is at the international boundary between the United States and Canada. The city is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area and is approximately from Buffalo, New York.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and (16.37%) is water. The city is built along the Niagara Falls and the Niagara Gorge, which is next to the Niagara River.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Falls has a humid continental climate ("Dfa"). The city experiences cold, snowy winters and hot, humid summers. Precipitation is moderate and consistent in all seasons, falling equally or more as snow during the winter. The city has snowier than average winters compared to most cities in the US, however less than many other cities in Upstate New York including nearby Buffalo and Rochester. Thaw cycles with temperatures above are a common occurrence. The hottest and coldest temperatures recorded in the decade through 2015 were in 2005 and in 2003, respectively. 38% of warm season precipitation falls in the form of a thunderstorm.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: As of the census of 2010, there were 50,193 people, 22,603 households, and 12,495 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,987.7 people per square mile (1,153.5 per square km). There were 26,220 housing units at an average density of 1,560.7 per square mile (622.6/km). The racial makeup of the city was 70.5% White, 21.6% African American, 1.9% Native American, 1.2% Asian, 0% Pacific Islander, 0.8% from other races, and 3.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.0% of the population.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: There were 22,603 households, out of which 23.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 29.8% were married couples living together, 19.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.7% were non-families. 38.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 4.02.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In the city, 22% of the population was under the age of 18, 10.1% aged from 18 to 24, 24.2% from 25 to 44, 28.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.5% were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The median income for a household in the city was $26,800, and the median income for a family was $34,377. Males had a median income of $31,672 versus $22,124 for females. 23% of the population was below the poverty line.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Falls has a number of places of worship, including the Salvation Army, First Assembly of God Church, First Unitarian Universalist Church of Niagara, St. Peter's Episcopal Church, First Presbyterian Church, St. Theresa Roman Catholic Church in Deveaux, and the Reform Jewish Temple Beth El. The Conservative Jewish Temple Beth Israel closed in 2012.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Falls has struggled with high rates of violent and property crime; FBI crime data indicate that the city has among the highest crime rates in New York state. In response to gun violence, volunteer groups such as Operation SNUG mobilized to promote positive community involvement in the troubled areas of the city.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: A 2012 profile from the Office of the New York State Comptroller reported that Niagara Falls has "struggled through decades of population losses, rising crime and repeated attempts to reinvent itself from a manufacturing town with some tourism to a major tourist destination." The city became a boomtown with the opening of the New York State Power Authority's hydroelectric Niagara Power Plant in the 1960s; the cheap electricity produced by the plant generated power for a burgeoning manufacturing industry. Along with the rest of Western New York, Niagara Falls suffered a significant economic decline from a decline in industry by the 1970s. Today, the city struggles to compete with Niagara Falls, Ontario; the Canadian side has a greater average annual income, a higher average home price, and lower levels of vacant buildings and blight, as well as a more vibrant economy and better tourism infrastructure. The population of Niagara Falls, New York fell by half from the 1960s to 2012. In contrast, the population of Niagara Falls, Ontario more than tripled. In 2000, the city's median household income was 36% below the national average. In 2012, the city's unemployment rate was significantly higher than the statewide unemployment rate.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Significant sources of economic activity in the region includes the Niagara Falls International Airport, which was renovated in 2009; the Seneca Gaming Corporation's Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel, which opened in the 2000s respectively; and the nearby Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In late 2001, the State of New York established the USA Niagara Development Corporation, a subsidiary to the State's economic development agency, to focus specifically on facilitating development in the downtown area. However, the organization has been criticized for making little progress and doing little to improve the city's economy.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The city is home to the Niagara Falls State Park. The park has several attractions, including Cave of the Winds behind the Bridal Veil Falls, Maid of the Mist, a popular boat tour which operates at the foot of the Rainbow Bridge, Prospect Point and its observation tower, Niagara Discovery Center, Niagara Falls Underground Railroad Heritage Center, and the Aquarium of Niagara.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Several other attractions also near the river, including Whirlpool State Park, De Veaux Woods State Park, Earl W. Brydges Artpark State Park in nearby Lewiston (town), New York, and Fort Niagara State Park in Youngstown, New York.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Attractions in the downtown include the Seneca Niagara Casino & Hotel and Pine Avenue which was historically home to a large Italian American population and is now known as Little Italy for its abundance of shops and quality restaurants.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The Niagara Power of the New York Collegiate Baseball League play at Sal Maglie Stadium. The team is owned by Niagara University. The Cataract City Wolverines of the Gridiron Developmental Football League are a minor league football team based in Niagara Falls. The team played their inaugural season in 2021.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: In 2017, the Tier III junior North American 3 Hockey League team, the Lockport Express, relocated to Niagara Falls as the Niagara Falls PowerHawks.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Former sports teams based in Niagara Falls include the Class-A Niagara Falls Sox Minor League Baseball, the Class-A Niagara Falls Rapids and the Niagara Falls Lancers a Midwest Football League team were located within Niagara Falls.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The City of Niagara Falls functions under a strong mayor-council form of government. The government consists of a mayor, a professional city administrator, and a city council. The current mayor is Robert Restaino.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The city council serves four-year, staggered terms, except in the case of a special election. It is headed by a chairperson, who votes in all items for council action.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: On a state level, Niagara Falls is part of the 145th Assembly District of New York State, represented by Republican Angelo Morinello. Niagara Falls is also part of the 62nd Senate District of New York State, represented by Republican Robert Ortt.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: On a national level, the city is part of New York's 26th congressional district and is represented by Congressman Brian Higgins. In the United States Senate, the city and the state are represented by senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Residents are zoned to the Niagara Falls City School District. Niagara University and Niagara County Community College are the two colleges in Niagara County.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Since Niagara Falls is within the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area, the city's media is predominantly served by the city of Buffalo.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The city has two local newspapers, the "Niagara Gazette", which is published daily except Tuesday and "The Messenger Of Niagara Falls, NY" which is published quarterly. "The Messenger Of Niagara Falls, NY", which is officially Niagara Falls, New York's, first black-owned and operated news publication, founded October 2018. "The Messenger Of Niagara Falls, NY" published its inaugural issue April 2019. "The Buffalo News" is the closest major newspaper in the area and once had a Niagara County, NY bureau that extensively covered Niagara Falls and its surrounding communities. The city also is the home to a weekly tabloid known as the "Niagara Falls Reporter".


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Three radio stations are licensed to the city of Niagara Falls, including WHLD AM 1270, WEBR AM 1440, and WTOR AM 770.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Falls is primarily served by the Buffalo Niagara International Airport for regional and domestic flights within the United States. The recently expanded Niagara Falls International Airport serves the city, and many cross border travellers with flights to Myrtle Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando and Punta Gorda. Toronto's Pearson International Airport on the Canadian side is the closest airport offering long-haul international flights for the Niagara region.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: The city is served by Amtrak's "Maple Leaf" and "Empire" train services, with regular stops at the Niagara Falls Station and Customhouse Interpretive Center at 825 Depot Ave West.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority is the public transit provider in the Buffalo metro area, with hubs at the Portage Road and Niagara Falls transportation centers.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Six New York State highways, one three-digit Interstate Highway, one expressway, one U.S. Highway, and one parkways pass through the city of Niagara Falls. New York State Route 31, New York State Route 104, and New York State Route 182 are east–west state roadways within the city, while New York State Route 61, New York State Route 265, and New York State Route 384 are north–south state roadways within the city. The LaSalle Expressway is an east–west highway which terminates near the eastern edge of Niagara Falls and begins in the nearby town of Wheatfield, New York. The Niagara Scenic Parkway is a north–south parkway that formerly ran through the city along the northern edge of the Niagara River. It remains in sections and terminates in Youngstown, New York.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Interstate 190, also referred to as the Niagara Expressway, is a north–south highway and a spur of Interstate 90 which borders the eastern end of the city. The highway enters the city from the town of Niagara and exits at the North Grand Island Bridge. U.S. Route 62, known as Niagara Falls Boulevard, Walnut Avenue, and Ferry Avenue, is signed as a north–south highway. U.S. Route 62 has an east–west orientation, and is partially split between two one-way streets within Niagara Falls. Walnut Avenue carries U.S. Route 62 west to its northern terminus at NY 104, and Ferry Avenue carries U.S. Route 62 east from downtown Niagara Falls. U.S. Route 62 Business, locally known as Pine Avenue, is an east–west route which parallels U.S. Route 62 to the south. Its western terminus is at NY 104, and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Route 62.


title: Niagara Falls, New York

text: Two international bridges connect the city to Niagara Falls, Ontario. The Rainbow Bridge connects the two cities with passenger and pedestrian traffic and overlooks the Niagara Falls, while the Whirlpool Rapids Bridge, which formerly carried the Canadian National Railway, now serves local traffic and Amtrak's Maple Leaf service.


title: Stevenage

text: Stevenage ( ) is a large town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage was designated the United Kingdom's first New Town under the New Towns Act.


title: Stevenage

text: "Stevenage" may derive from Old English "stiþen āc" / "stiðen āc" / "stithen ac" (various Old English dialects cited here) meaning "(place at) the stiff oak".


title: Stevenage

text: Stevenage lies near the line of the Roman road from Verulamium to Baldock. Some Romano-British remains were discovered during the building of the New Town, and a hoard of 2,000 silver Roman coins was discovered during house-building in the Chells Manor area in 1986. Other artefacts included a dodecahedron toy, fragments of amphorae for imported wine, bone hairpins, and samian ware pottery associated with high status families. Archeological excavations have confirmed the existence of a small Roman farmstead, a malting kiln and a Celtic round house in the Chells area, and a cemetery containing 25 cremations. The most substantial evidence of activity from Roman times is Six Hills, six tumuli by the side of the old Great North Road that are presumably the burial places of members of a local family.


title: Stevenage

text: The first Saxon camp, a little to the east of the Roman sites, was in a clearing in the woods where the church, the manor house and the first village were later built. Settlements also sprang up in Chells, Broadwater and Shephall. Before the New Town was established, Shephall was a separate parish, and Broadwater was split between the parishes of Shephall and Knebworth.


title: Stevenage

text: According to the Domesday Book, in 1086 the Lord of the Manor was the Abbot of Westminster Abbey. The settlement had moved down to the Great North Road. In 1281 it was granted a Royal Charter to hold a weekly market and annual fair, still held in the High Street.


title: Stevenage

text: The earliest part of St Nicholas's Church dates from the 12th century, but it was probably a site of worship much earlier. The list of rectors (parish priests) is relatively complete from 1213. Around 1500 the church was much improved, with decorative woodwork and the addition of a clerestory.


title: Stevenage

text: North of the Old Town is Jack's Hill, associated with the legendary archer Jack O'Legs of Weston. According to local folklore, Jack stole flour from the bakers of Baldock to feed the poor during a famine, like Robin Hood.


title: Stevenage

text: The remains of a medieval moated homestead in Whomerley Wood comprise an 80-yard-square trench almost five feet wide in parts. It was probably the home of Ralph de Homle. Pieces of Roman and later pottery have been found there.


title: Stevenage

text: The oldest surviving house in Stevenage is Tudor House in Letchmore Street, built before 1500. During the 16th century it was a butcher's shop owned by a man named Scott. From 1773 onwards it served as the town's workhouse, and later became a school from 1835 until 1885. It was the headquarters of the local town gas company from c.1885 until 1936, when it was converted into a private dwelling.


title: Stevenage

text: Chells Manor, a medieval hall house located three miles from the Old Town, was built in the 14th century for the Wake family on the foundations of a much older moated manor house mentioned in the Domesday Book. The site of the lost village of Chells was redeveloped during the extension of the New Town in the 1980s, and a hoard of Roman coins was discovered. In the present day, Chells is a suburb of New Stevenage.


title: Stevenage

text: In 1558 Thomas Alleyne, then the Rector of Stevenage, founded a free grammar school for boys, Alleyne's Grammar School, which, despite becoming a boys' comprehensive school in 1967, had an unbroken existence (unlike the grammar school in neighbouring Hitchin) until 1989, when it was merged with Stevenage Girls' School to become the Thomas Alleyne School. Francis Cammaerts was Headmaster of Alleyne's Grammar School from 1952 to 1961. The school, which has been since 1989 a mixed comprehensive school and is now an academy as of 2013, still exists on its original site at the north end of the High Street. It was intended to move the school to Great Ashby, but the Coalition government (2010–15) scrapped the move owing to budget cuts.


title: Stevenage

text: During the 17th century, the Elizabethan house at 37 High Street was the home of greengrocer and churchwarden Henry Trigg. Trigg was a philanthropist who donated another of his properties to serve as Stevenage's first workhouse. When Henry died in 1724 his coffin was placed in the rafters of the adoining barn to prevent resurrection men from stealing his remains. In 1774, Trigg's house became the Old Castle coaching inn, and was used as a staging post by the Royal Mail. From 1999 until 2016 it served as a branch of NatWest, and as of 2022 it has been converted into a dentist's surgery.