text: The SMAW system (launcher, ammunition and logistics support) was fielded in 1984 as a United States Marine Corps–unique system. The Mod 0 demonstrated several shortcomings, resulting in a series of modifications in the mid-2000s. These modifications included a re-sleeving process for bubbled launch tubes, rewriting/drafting operator and technical manuals, and a kit to reduce environmental intrusion into the trigger mechanism. This also includes an optical sight modification to allow the high-explosive anti-armor (HEAA) rocket to be used effectively against moving armor targets. The U.S. Armed Forces fielded boresight bracket kits which correct the loss of accurate boresight issues between the launch tube and spotting rifle. During Operation Desert Storm, 150 launchers and 5,000 rockets were deployed by the United States Army. Initially the Army showed interest in the system but ultimately returned the launchers and any unused rockets to the Marine Corps. Later, the U.S. Army developed the SMAW-D ("Disposable"), designated by the Army as the M141 Bunker Defeat Munition.


title: Mk 153 Shoulder-Launched Multipurpose Assault Weapon

text: In 2002, the Corps began a program to develop a successor to the SMAW system, tentatively titled "Follow-On To SMAW". The contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin and Israel Military Industries (IMI); this resulted in the enhanced FGM-172 SRAW. In combat operations, it was ultimately used to augment, rather than replace, the SMAW system.


text: In 2008, a replacement program was again initiated and titled the SMAW II. It was developed in tandem with a round capable of being fired from an enclosed area without ill effects on the environment and personnel. Its combined weight is — for the launcher, for the rocket. The contract was worth up to


text: In 2012, Raytheon Missile Systems developed a SMAW II launcher called "Serpent", and Nammo Talley developed new rounds for the Serpent. The Serpent is similar in many respects to the first SMAW launcher, except that it replaces the standard SMAW launcher's spotting gun with sophisticated fire control electronics. The sighting unit on the launcher is enclosed in a unique roll-cage to protect it. The roll-cage also serves as a carry handle. The development reduced the over-all weight by from the older SMAW launcher. The Serpent fires the same rounds as the standard SMAW and supports new and improved/enhanced rounds.


text: Compared to the Israel Military Industries' B-300 weapon that it was developed from, the SMAW has slower projectile velocities, it and its ammunition are both heavier, and it takes a second crew member to keep up with the B-300's rate-of-fire, but some of its projectile options have longer ranges than the B-300. The Mk 153 SMAW has an diameter tube and fires rockets. It is a man-portable weapon system consisting of the Mk 153 launcher, the Mk 3 Mod 0 Encased High-Explosive, Dual-Purpose (HEDP) rocket, the Mk 6 Mod 0 Encased High-Explosive, Anti-Armor (HEAA) Rocket, the Mk 7 Mod 0 Common Encased Practice Rocket, the Mk 80 Mod 0 Encased Novel Explosive (NE) rocket, and the Mk 217 Mod 0 spotting rifle cartridge.


text: The launcher consists of the launch tube, spotting rifle, electro-mechanical firing mechanism, mounting brackets, open battle sights and a mount for the Mk 42 Mod 0 day sight or AN/PVS-4 or AN/PVS-17B night sights. The launch tube is made of fiberglass-epoxy composite material with a gelcoat on the bore. The spotting rifle is mounted on the right side of the launch tube. It functions semi-automatically by primer actuation, meaning that when fired the primer sets back and unlocks the breech of the spotting rifle, ejecting the spent round. The firing mechanism mechanically fires the spotting rifle and uses a magnet to fire the rocket. The mounting brackets connect the components and provide the means for boresighting the weapon, while the encased rockets are loaded at the rear of the launcher. The spotting cartridges are stored in a magazine in the cap of the encased rocket.


text: The 9×51mm Mk 217 spotting round is ballistically matched to the rocket and serves to increase the gunner's first-round hit probability. Each round consists of a special 9 mm projectile which contains a tracer compound, crimped into a 7.62×51mm NATO casing with a .22 Hornet primer. The system can be used in conjunction with the AN/PEQ-2 aiming light in place of the spotting rifle.


text: As with all of these types of recoilless rocket weapons, the backblast that is created when it is fired is a primary safety concern. When the rocket is fired, the rocket propellant is expended entirely within the rocket encasement. This is the cause of the extremely loud and violent backblast. This backblast extends in a 90-meter, 60° cone to the rear of the weapon. The backblast is lethal out to and still extremely dangerous to . An assistant gunner is often used during employment of the weapon system to monitor the backblast area and clear it of fellow troops, or to notify the gunner of obstructions that could reflect the force of the backblast back at the gun team. The gunner is only cleared to launch a rocket when he hears the command "Backblast area secure" from his assistant gunner. Rounds are under development that would enable a user to fire the rocket from an enclosed building without risk of injury.


text: The Mk 153 Mod 2 is an enhanced variant, featuring an electronic modular ballistic sight (MBS) in place of the 9 mm spotting system. The MBS has a laser rangefinder and thermal weapon sight to provide a firing solution using a displaced reticle, where crosshairs are adjusted for distance and environmental factors; it is lighter, more reliable, and can be detached from the launcher. While the Mod 0 weighs , the Mod 2 weighs with the MBS attached, and with the MBS detached. Other improvements include increased pad size on the forward grip and foldable backup iron sights. The Mod 2 systems were expected to replace the existing inventory by October 2020.


text: The Mk 4 Mod 0 Encased High-Explosive, Anti-Armor, Practice Rocket is used in training. The warhead consists of a blue plastic projectile attached to a rocket motor similar to the HEDP rocket. The rocket has no explosive capability against the target except for kinetic energy. Upon impact against a target, the plastic warhead ruptures, dispensing an inert white spotting powder.


text: The Mk 3 Mod 0 Encased High-Explosive, Dual Purpose (HEDP) rocket is effective against bunkers, masonry and concrete walls and light armor. Initiated by a crush switch in its nose, the HEDP rocket is able to distinguish between hard and soft targets resulting in greater penetration into soft targets for increased damage potential. The HEDP round is capable of penetrating of concrete, of brick or up to of wood-reinforced sandbags.


text: The Mk 6 Mod 0 Encased High-Explosive, Anti-Armor (HEAA) rocket is effective against current tanks without additional armor and utilizes a standoff rod on the detonator, allowing the explosive force to be focused on a small point and for maximum damage against armored targets. The HEAA round is capable of penetrating up to the equivalent of 600 mm of rolled homogeneous steel.


text: The Mk 80 Mod 0 Encased Novel Explosive (SMAW-NE) rocket is effective against caves and bunkers. The SMAW-NE has a charge of PBXIH-135, an enhanced-blast warhead. The Indian Head Naval Surface Warfare Center teamed with Marine Corps Systems Command and Talley Defense Systems to respond to an urgent U.S. Marine Corps need for a shoulder-launched enhanced-blast warhead in 2003. It was used in combat during both the First and Second offensives in Fallujah, in 2004.


title: Shortbread

text: Shortbread or shortie is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter, and three to four parts plain wheat flour. Unlike many other biscuits and baked goods, shortbread does not contain any leavening, such as baking powder or baking soda. Shortbread is widely associated with Christmas and Hogmanay festivities in Scotland, and some Scottish brands are exported around the world.


title: Shortbread

text: Shortbread originated in Scotland. Although it was prepared during much of the 12th century, and probably benefited from cultural exchange with French pastry chefs during the Auld Alliance between France and Scotland, the refinement of shortbread is popularly credited to Mary, Queen of Scots in the 16th century. This type of shortbread was baked, cut into triangular wedges, and flavoured with caraway seeds.


title: Shortbread

text: The triangular wedges became known as "petticoat tails" in Scots and this form of shortbread has become particularly associated with Mary, Queen of Scots. It has been suggested that a French term for the wedges of shortbread was "petits gâteaux" or "petites gatelles" - little cakes, and this became "petticoat tails". It is now thought the Scots term derives from the decorated round edge of the segments which resemble petticoats.


title: Shortbread

text: Shortbread was expensive and reserved as a luxury for special occasions such as Christmas, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year's Eve), and weddings. In Scotland, it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake (infar-cake or dreaming bread) over the head of a new bride on the entrance of her new house. Shortbread was also given as a gift.


title: Shortbread

text: Shortbread is so named because of its crumbly texture (from an old meaning of the word "short", as opposed to "long", or stretchy). The cause of this texture is its high fat content, provided by the butter. The short or crumbly texture is a result of the fat inhibiting the formation of long protein (gluten) strands. The related word "shortening" refers to any fat that may be added to produce a "short" (crumbly) texture.


title: Shortbread

text: In British English, "shortbread" and "shortcake" were synonyms for several centuries, starting in the 1400s; both referred to the crisp, crumbly cookie-type baked good, rather than a softer cake. The "short-cake" mentioned in Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor", first published in 1602, was a reference to the cookie-style of shortbread.


title: Shortbread

text: In American English, shortbread is different from shortcake. Shortcake usually has a chemical leavening agent such as baking powder, which gives it a different, softer texture, and it was normally split and filled with fruit. The most popular example of this difference is strawberry shortcake.


title: Shortbread

text: Other ingredients are often substituted for part of the flour to alter the texture. Rice flour or semolina makes it grittier, and cornflour makes it more tender. Bere or oat flour may be added for flavour.


title: Shortbread

text: Modern recipes also often deviate from the original by splitting the sugar into equal parts granulated and icing sugar and many add a portion of salt.


title: Shortbread

text: In one of the oldest shapes, bakers pinched the edges of a shortbread round to suggest the rays of the sun.


title: Shortbread

text: The stiff dough retains its shape well during cooking. The biscuits are often patterned before cooking, usually with the tines of a fork or with a springerle-type mold. Shortbread is sometimes shaped into hearts and other shapes for special occasions.


title: Shortbread

text: In ancient Scottish folklore, sun-shaped cakes, such as shortbread, had magic powers over the Sun during the Scottish New Year's Eve.


title: Shortbread

text: Shortbread is generally associated with and originated in Scotland, but due to its popularity it is also made in the rest of the United Kingdom, and similar biscuits are also made in Denmark, Ireland and Sweden. The Scottish version is the best-known, and is widely exported.


title: Shortbread

text: Scottish chef John Quigley, of Glasgow's Red Onion, describes shortbread as "the jewel in the crown" of Scottish baking.


title: Shortbread

text: An early variety of shortbread, using ginger, was reportedly eaten during sittings of the Parliament of Scotland, and therefore the variety was sometimes called "Parliament cake" or "Parlies" into the 19th century. The biscuits were sold in Mrs Flockhart's tavern and shop in Bristo Street in Edinburgh's Potterrow. Known as "Luckie Fykie", the landlady was thought to be the inspiration for Mrs Flockhart in Walter Scott's Waverley.


title: Shortbread

text: In the UK tax code, shortbread is taxed as a flour confection (baked good) rather than as a common biscuit.


title: Ms.

text: Ms. (American English) or Ms (British English; normally , but also , or when unstressed) is an English-language honorific used with the last name or full name of a woman, intended as a default form of address for women regardless of marital status. Like "Miss" and "Mrs.", the term "Ms." has its origins in the female English title once used for all women, "Mistress". It originated in the 17th century and was revived into mainstream usage in the 20th century. In the UK, Ireland and the majority of Commonwealth countries, a full stop is usually not used with the title; in Canada and the United States a full stop is usually used (see Abbreviation).


title: Ms.

text: Miss and Mrs., both derived from the then formal Mistress, like Mister did not originally indicate marital status. Ms. was another acceptable abbreviation for Mistress in England in the 17th and 18th centuries. During the 19th century, however, Mrs. and Miss came to be associated almost exclusively with marital status. Ms. was popularized as an alternative in the 20th century.


title: Ms.

text: The earliest known proposal for the modern revival of Ms. as a title appeared in "The Republican" of Springfield, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1901:


title: Ms.

text: The term was again suggested as a convenience to writers of business letters by such publications as the "Bulletin of the American Business Writing Association" (1951) and "The Simplified Letter", issued by the National Office Management Association (1952).


title: Ms.

text: In 1961, Sheila Michaels attempted to put the term into use when she saw what she thought was a typographical error on the address label of a copy of "News & Letters" sent to her roommate. Michaels "was looking for a title for a woman who did not 'belong' to a man". She knew the separation of the now common terms "Miss" and "Mrs." had derived from "Mistress", but one could not suggest that women use the original title with its now louche connotations. Her efforts to promote use of a new honorific were at first ignored.


title: Ms.

text: In 1969, during a lull in an interview with "The Feminists" group on WBAI-FM radio in New York City, Michaels suggested the use of "Ms." A friend of Gloria Steinem heard the interview and suggested it as a title for her new magazine. The magazine "Ms." debuted on newsstands in January 1972, and its much-publicized name quickly led to widespread usage. In February 1972, the US Government Printing Office approved using "Ms." in official government documents. In 1976, Marvel Comics introduced a new superhero named Ms. Marvel, billing her as the "first feminist superhero".


title: Ms.

text: Even several public opponents of such usage, including William Safire, were finally convinced that "Ms." had earned a place in English by the case of US Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro. Ferraro, a United States vice-presidential candidate in 1984, was a married woman who used her birth surname professionally rather than her husband's (Zaccaro). Safire, though saying "it breaks my heart," admitted in 1984 that it would be equally incorrect to call her "Miss Ferraro" (as she was married) or "Mrs. Ferraro" (as her husband was not "Mr. Ferraro")—and that calling her "Mrs. Zaccaro" would confuse the reader.


title: Ms.

text: "The Daily Telegraph" states in its style guide that "Ms" should only be used if a subject requests it herself and it "should not be used merely because we do not know whether the woman is Mrs or Miss". "The Guardian", which restricts its use of honorific titles to leading articles, states in its style guide: "use Ms for women ... unless they have expressed a preference for Miss or Mrs". A BBC Academy style guide states, "In choosing between Miss, Mrs and Ms, try to find out what the person herself uses, and stick to that." "The New York Times" embraces the use of all three: Mrs., Miss, and Ms., and will follow the individual’s preferences.


title: Ms.

text: Some etiquette writers and famous figures do not support the use of "Ms", including Charles Kidd, the editor of Debrett's Peerage and Baronetage, who claims the usage is "not very helpful" and that he had been "brought up to address a married woman as Mrs John Smith, for example". Debrett's itself, concerning the case of a married woman who chooses not to take her husband's name, states, "The ugly-sounding Ms is problematic. Although many women have assumed this bland epithet, it remains incorrect to use it when addressing a social letter." The former British Conservative Party Member of Parliament (MP) Ann Widdecombe has stated, "I can't see the point of Ms and I don't see it as an issue", whilst author and journalist Jessica Fellowes describes the title Ms as "ghastly". The Queen's English Society has criticised the use of Ms as "an abbreviation that is not short for anything", describing it as a "linguistic misfit [that] came about because certain women suddenly became sensitive about revealing their marital status".


title: Ms.

text: The default use of "Ms.", especially for business purposes, is championed by some American sources, including Judith Martin ("a.k.a." Miss Manners). Concerning business, the Emily Post Institute states, "Ms. is the default form of address, unless you know positively that a woman wishes to be addressed as Mrs." "The American Heritage Book of English Usage" states, "Using Ms. obviates the need for the guesswork involved in figuring out whether to address someone as Mrs. or Miss: you can't go wrong with Ms. Whether the woman you are addressing is married or unmarried, has changed her name or not, Ms. is always correct."


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: The 2001–02 FA Premier League (known as the FA Barclaycard Premiership for sponsorship reasons) was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling. The title race turned into a battle among four sides – Arsenal, Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle United.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Arsenal clinched the title on 8 May 2002 after a convincing win against Manchester United at Old Trafford, in the penultimate game of the season. This new attacking Arsenal side had won the FA Cup five days before and made history by accomplishing their third double, their second under the reign of Arsène Wenger, who showed his commitment by signing a new four-year deal with Arsenal.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: At the start of 2002 the title race was wide open, with the likes of Newcastle United and Leeds United contesting at the top of the table along with the usual likes of Arsenal and Manchester United. Newcastle, after back-to-back away wins at Arsenal and Leeds during the Christmas period, confirmed themselves as genuine title challengers and led the league at the turn of the year. Leeds had topped the table at Christmas prior to losing at Elland Road to Newcastle.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Despite being top of the table at the start of December – eleven points clear of Manchester United – Liverpool underwent a severe slump, falling to fifth place, five points behind United. Would-be contenders Chelsea, Newcastle United and Leeds United had by this point disappeared into the chasing pack.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: January saw Liverpool travelling to both Highbury and Old Trafford in the space of a fortnight. Liverpool's Danny Murphy scored a late winner to give the Merseyside club all three points against United, and John Arne Riise then salvaged a point for Liverpool against Arsenal, allowing Manchester United to top the table for the first time that season.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: In March, Arsenal were installed as strong favourites for the Premiership title after Liverpool's defeat to Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal's April triumph against Bolton Wanderers brought them to within three points of a second Premier League title under Arsène Wenger.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Fittingly, the Premiership title would be decided at Old Trafford as Arsenal and Manchester United faced one another in a decisive encounter. Arsenal only required a draw to guarantee their second title in five seasons to go with their FA Cup victory against London rivals Chelsea four days previously; United had to win to take the title race to the last day. In the end, Arsenal emerged victorious as their record signing Sylvain Wiltord scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal was confirmed Premiership champions with a game to spare. Manchester United's disappointment was compounded by Liverpool leapfrogging them into second place by virtue of their 4–3 victory against Blackburn Rovers.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: On the final day of the season Liverpool confirmed second place by trashing soon to be relegated Ipswich Town 5–0 at Anfield. Arsenal rounded off their successful league campaign in style, beating Everton 4–3 at Highbury. Manchester United limped to a poor draw against Charlton Athletic, completing a disappointing campaign for the deposed league champions.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: For the first time in the history of the Premier League, all three promoted teams avoided relegation – Fulham, Bolton Wanderers and Blackburn Rovers. Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers avoided relegation until 2011–12, when the three promoted teams of 2010–11 coincidentally avoided relegation again, whilst Fulham avoided relegation until the 2013–14 season.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Fulham had splashed out £34 million on new players during the close season, with their owner Mohamed Al-Fayed being one of the wealthiest benefactors in English football. He even boasted that they would win the Premiership title in 2001–02, and most pundits tipped Fulham, managed by former French international Jean Tigana, to push for a place in Europe. However, Fulham finished thirteenth, 47 points away from Arsenal.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Bolton Wanderers went top of the Premiership after winning their first three fixtures of the season, causing an upset by beating Gérard Houllier's Liverpool in the latter stage of the game. Manager Sam Allardyce was boasting that his side were good enough to win their first ever league title, but Bolton's league form slumped after the first two months of the season and they finished 16th place – their survival confirmed in the penultimate game of the season.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Blackburn Rovers were the most successful of the promoted sides. Graeme Souness' men beat Tottenham Hotspur 2–1 in the League Cup final to lift the trophy for the first time, and then climbed from 18th place in the Premiership in late February to finish in a secure 10th place – higher than any other newly promoted team that season. Blackburn secured a UEFA Cup place for 2002–03.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Leicester City was the first team officially relegated from the Premiership, finishing bottom of table with just five Premiership wins in their last season at 111-year-old Filbert Street before relocation to the new 32 000-seat Walkers Stadium. The club went through the regime of two managers during the season – Peter Taylor was replaced by Dave Bassett in early October; six months later Bassett joined the club's board to be replaced by former assistant manager Micky Adams.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Just after the start of the 2002–03 season, Leicester's relegation (which cost them extensive television revenue) and the cost of their new stadium had created debts in excess of £30 million, and the club went into administration before being taken over by a new owner. Despite this setback, Leicester gained promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking, although they slipped back down again after just one season and Adams had since resigned to make way for new manager Craig Levein.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Next to go down were Derby County, who had been promoted alongside Leicester six years earlier. Manager Jim Smith resigned in early October to be replaced by assistant manager Colin Todd, who was sacked three months later after Derby were knocked out of the FA Cup by Division Three strugglers Bristol Rovers.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: The last team to be relegated were Ipswich Town, who had qualified for the UEFA Cup and earned manager George Burley the Manager of the Year award the previous season after finishing fifth. Ipswich made a terrible start to the season, winning just one of their first 18 Premiership games. They then went on a strong run of form, winning seven out of eight games, which looked to have secured their Premiership survival, but they then suffered another setback which George Burley's men were unable to reverse, and their relegation was confirmed on the final day of the season by a 5–0 thrashing at Liverpool.


title: 2001–02 FA Premier League

text: Twenty teams competed in the league – the top seventeen teams from the previous season and the three teams promoted from the First Division. The promoted teams were Fulham, Blackburn Rovers and Bolton Wanderers, returning after a top flight absence of thirty-three, two and three years respectively. This was also Fulham's first season in the Premier League. They replaced Manchester City, Coventry City and Bradford City, ending their one, thirty-four and two-year top flight spells respectively.


title: Limpet

text: Limpets are a group of aquatic snails that exhibit a conical shell shape (patelliform) and a strong, muscular foot. Limpets are members of the class Gastropoda, but are polyphyletic, meaning the various groups called "limpets" descended independently from different ancestral gastropods. This general category of conical shell is known as "patelliform" (dish-shaped). All members of the large and ancient marine clade Patellogastropoda are limpets. Within that clade, the members of the Patellidae family in particular are often referred to as "true limpets".


title: Limpet

text: Other groups, not in the same family, are also called limpets of one type or another, due to the similarity of their shells' shape. Examples include the Fissurellidae ("keyhole limpet") family, which is part of the Vetigastropoda clade (many other members of the Vetigastropoda do not have the morphology of limpets) and the Siphonariidae ("false limpets"), which use a siphon to pump water over their gills.


title: Limpet

text: The two kidneys are very different in size and location. This is a result of torsion. The left kidney is diminutive and in most limpets is barely functional. The right kidney, however, has taken over the majority of blood filtration and often extends over and around the entire mantle of the animal in a thin, almost-invisible layer.


title: Limpet

text: True limpets in the family Patellidae live on hard surfaces in the intertidal zone. Unlike barnacles (which are not molluscs but may resemble limpets in appearance) and mussels (which are bivalve molluscs that cement themselves to a substrate for their entire adult lives), limpets are capable of locomotion instead of being permanently attached to a single spot. However, when they need to resist strong wave action or other disturbances, limpets cling extremely firmly to the surfaces on which they live, using their muscular foot to apply suction combined with the effect of adhesive mucus. It often is very difficult to remove a true limpet from a rock without injuring or killing it.


title: Limpet

text: All "true" limpets are marine. The most primitive group have one pair of gills, in others only a single gill remains, the lepetids do not have any gills at all, while the patellids have evolved secondary gills as they have lost the original pair. However, because the adaptive feature of a simple conical shell has repeatedly arisen independently in gastropod evolution, limpets from many different evolutionary lineages occur in widely different environments. Some saltwater limpets such as Trimusculidae breathe air, and some freshwater limpets are descendants of air-breathing land snails (e.g. the genus "Ancylus") whose ancestors had a pallial cavity serving as a lung. In these small freshwater limpets, that "lung" underwent secondary adaptation to allow the absorption of dissolved oxygen from water.


title: Limpet

text: Limpets have a mutualistic relationship with several other beings. Clathromorphum, a type of algae, provides food to limpets, which clean the algae's surface and allow its persistence.


title: Limpet

text: The rough keyhole limpet ("Diodora aspera") is host to the scale worm copepod "Anthessius nortoni," which bites predatory starfish to discourage them from eating the limpet.


title: Limpet

text: Limpets wander over the surface of the rocks during high tide and tend to return to their favourite spot by following a trail of mucus left whilst grazing. Over a period of time the edges of the limpets shell wear a shallow hollow in the rock called a homescar. The homescar helps the limpet to stay attached to the rock and not to dry out during low tide periods.


title: Limpet

text: Limpets are known to cause bio-erosion on sedimentary rocks by the formation of homescars and by ingesting tiny particles of rock through the action of feeding. C.Andrews & R.B.G. Williams in their research paper titled "Limpet erosion of chalk shore platforms in southeast England" from Oct 2000 estimate from the amount of calcium carbonate deposits in faeces of captive limpets, that an adult limpet will ingest around 4.9 g of chalk per year. Suggesting that limpets are on average responsible for 12% of the chalk platform erosion in areas that they frequent, potentially rising to 35% + in areas where the limpet population has reached its maximum.


title: Limpet

text: The common name "limpet" also is applied to a number of not very closely related groups of sea snails and freshwater snails (aquatic gastropod mollusks). Thus the common name "limpet" has very little taxonomic significance in and of itself; the name is applied not only to true limpets (the Patellogastropoda), but also to all snails that have a simple shell that is broadly conical in shape, and either is not spirally coiled, or appears not to be coiled in the adult snail. In other words, the shell of all limpets is "patelliform", which means the shell is shaped more or less like the shell of most true limpets. The term "false limpets" is used for some (but not all) of these other groups that have a conical shell.


title: Limpet

text: Thus, the name limpet is used to describe various extremely diverse groups of gastropods that have independently evolved a shell of the same basic shape (see convergent evolution). And although the name "limpet" is given on the basis of a limpet-like or "patelliform" shell, the several groups of snails that have a shell of this type are not at all closely related to one another.


title: Limpet

text: In order to obtain food, limpets rely on an organ called the radula, which contains iron-mineralized teeth. Although limpets contain over 100 rows of teeth, only the outermost 10 are used in feeding. These teeth form via matrix-mediated biomineralization, a cyclic process involving the delivery of iron minerals to reinforce a polymeric chitin matrix. Upon being fully mineralized, the teeth reposition themselves within the radula, allowing limpets to scrape off algae from rock surfaces. As limpet teeth wear out, they are subsequently degraded (occurring anywhere between 12 and 48 hours) and replaced with new teeth. Different limpet species exhibit different overall shapes of their teeth.


title: Limpet

text: Development of limpet teeth occurs in conveyor belt style, where teeth start growing at the back of the radula, and move toward the front of this structure as they mature. The growth rate of the limpet's teeth is around 47 hours per row. Fully mature teeth are located in the scraping zone, the very front of the radula. The scraping zone is in contact with the substrate that the limpet feeds off of. As a result, the fully mature teeth are subsequently worn down until they are discarded – at a rate equal to the growth rate. To counter this degradation, a new row of teeth begin to grow.


title: Limpet

text: Currently, the exact mechanism behind the biomineralization of limpet teeth is unknown. However, it is suggested that limpet teeth biomineralize using a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism. Specifically, this mechanism is associated with the dissolution of iron stored in epithelial cells of the radula to create ferrihydrite ions. These ferrihydrite ions are transported through ion channels to the tooth surface. The build-up of enough ferrihydrite ions leads to nucleation, the rate of which can be altered via changing the pH at the site of nucleation. After one to two days, these ions are converted to goethite crystals. The unmineralized matrix consists of relatively well-ordered, densely packed arrays of chitin fibers, with only a few nanometers between adjacent fibers. The lack of space leads to the absence of pre-formed compartments within the matrix that control goethite crystal size and shape. Because of this, the main factor influencing goethite crystal growth is the chitin fibers of the matrix. Specifically, goethite crystals nucleate on these chitin fibers and push aside or engulf the chitin fibers as they grow, influencing their resulting orientation.


title: Limpet

text: Looking into limpet teeth of "Patella vulgata", Vickers hardness values are between 268 and 646 kg⋅m⋅s, while tensile strength values range between 3.0 and 6.5 GPa. As spider silk has a tensile strength only up to 4.5 GPa, limpet teeth outperforms spider silk to be the strongest biological material. These considerably high values exhibited by limpet teeth are due to the following factors:


title: Limpet

text: The first factor is the nanometer length scale of goethite nanofibers in limpet teeth; at this length scale, materials become insensitive to flaws that would otherwise decrease failure strength. As a result, goethite nanofibers are able to maintain substantial failure strength despite the presence of defects.


title: Limpet

text: The second factor is the small critical fiber length of the goethite fibers in limpet teeth. Critical fiber length is a parameter defining the fiber length that a material must be to transfer stresses from the matrix to the fibers themselves during external loading. Materials with a large critical fiber length (relative to the total fiber length) act as poor reinforcement fibers, meaning that most stresses are still loaded on the matrix. Materials with small critical fiber lengths (relative to the total fiber length) act as effective reinforcement fibers that are able to transfer stresses on the matrix to themselves. Goethite nanofibers express a critical fiber length of around 420 to 800 nm, which is several orders of magnitude away from their estimated fiber length of 3.1 μm. This suggests that the goethite nanofibers serve as effective reinforcement for the collagen matrix and significantly contribute to the load-bearing capabilities of limpet teeth. This is further supported by the large mineral volume fraction of elongated goethite nanofibers within limpet teeth, around 0.81.


title: Limpet

text: Applications of limpet teeth involve structural designs requiring high strength and hardness, such as biomaterials used in next-generation dental restorations.


title: Limpet

text: The structure, composition, and morphological shape of the teeth of the limpet allow for an even distribution of stress throughout the tooth. The teeth have a self-sharpening mechanism which allows for the teeth to be more highly functional for longer periods of time. Stress wears preferentially on the front surface of the cusp of the teeth, allowing the back surface to stay sharp and more effective.


title: Limpet

text: There is evidence that different regions of the limpet teeth show different mechanical strengths. Measurements taken from the tip of the anterior edge of the tooth show that the teeth can exhibit an elastic modulus of around 140 GPa. Traveling down the anterior edge toward the anterior cusp of the teeth however, the elastic modulus decreases ending around 50 GPa at the edge of the teeth. The orientation of the goethite fibers can be correlated to this decrease in elastic modulus, as towards the tip of the tooth the fibers are more aligned with each other, correlating to a high modulus and vice versa.


title: Limpet

text: Critical length of the goethite fibers is the reason the structural chitin matrix has extreme support. The critical length of goethite fibers has been estimated to be around 420 to 800 nm and when compared with the actual length of the fibers found in the teeth, around 3.1 um, shows that the teeth have fibers much larger than the critical length. This paired with orientation of the fibers leads to effective stress distribution onto the goethite fibers and not onto the weaker chitin matrix in the limpet teeth.


title: Limpet

text: The overall structure of the limpet teeth is relatively stable within most natural conditions given the limpet's ability to produce new teeth at a similar rate to the degradation. Individual teeth are subjected to shear stresses as the tooth is dragged along the rock. Goethite as a mineral is a relatively soft iron based material, which increases the chance of physical damage to the structure. Limpet teeth and the radula have also been shown to experience greater levels of damage in CO acidified water.


title: Limpet

text: Goethite crystals form in at the start of the tooth production cycle and remain as a fundamental part of the tooth with intercrystal space filled with amorphous silica. Existing in multiple morphologies, Prisms with rhomb-shaped sections are the most frequent". The goethite crystals are stable and well formed for a biogenic crystal. The transport of the mineral to create the crystal structures has been suggested to be a dissolution-reprecipitation mechanism as of 2011. Limpet tooth structure is dependent upon living depth of the specimen. While deep water limpets have been shown to have the same elemental composition as shallow water limpets, deep water limpets do not show crystalline phases of goethite.


title: Limpet

text: The initial event that takes place when the limpet creates a new row of teeth is the creation of the main macromolecular α-chitin component. The resulting organic matrix serves as framework for the crystallization of the teeth themselves. The first mineral to be deposited is goethite (α-FeOOH), a soft iron oxide which forms crystals parallel to the chitin fibers. The goethite, however, has varying different crystal habits. The crystals arrange in various shapes and even thicknesses throughout the chitin matrix. Still, depending on the formation of the chitin matrix, this can have varying profound effects on the formation of the goethite crystals. The space in between the crystals and the chitin matrix is filled with an amorphous hydrated silica (SiO).


title: Limpet

text: The most prominent metal by percent composition is iron in the form of goethite. Goethite has the chemical formula of FeO(OH) and belongs to a group known as oxy-hydroxides. There exists amorphous silica between the goethite crystals; surrounding the goethite is a matrix of chitin. Chitin has a chemical formula of CHON. Other metals have been shown to be present with the relative percent compositions varying on geographic locations. The goethite has been reported to have a volume fraction of approximately 80%.


title: Limpet

text: Limpets from different locations were shown to have different elemental ratios within their teeth. Iron is consistently most abundant however other metals such as sodium, potassium, calcium, and copper were all shown to be present to varying degrees. The relative percentages of the elements have also been shown to differ from one geographic location to another. This demonstrates an environmental dependency of some kind; however the specific variables are currently undetermined.


title: Limpet

text: Some species of limpet live in fresh water, but these are the exception. Most marine limpets have gills, whereas all freshwater limpets and a few marine limpets have a mantle cavity adapted to breathe air and function as a lung (and in some cases again adapted to absorb oxygen from water). All these kinds of snail are only very distantly related.


title: Limpet

text: Many species of limpets have historically been used, or are still used, by humans and other animals for food.


title: Limpet

text: Limpet mines are a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. They are named after the tenacious grip of the limpet.


title: Limpet

text: The humorous author Edward Lear wrote "Cheer up, as the limpet said to the weeping willow" in one of his letters. Simon Grindle wrote the 1964 illustrated children's book of nonsense poetry "The Loving Limpet and Other Peculiarities," said to be "in the great tradition of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll".


title: Limpet

text: In his book "South", Sir Ernest Shackleton relates the stories of his twenty-two men left behind on Elephant Island harvesting limpets from the icy waters on the shore of the Southern Ocean. Near the end of their four-month stay on the island, as their stocks of seal and penguin meat dwindled, they derived a major portion of their sustenance from limpets.


title: Limpet

text: The light-hearted comedy film "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" is about a patriotic but weak American who desperately clings to the idea of joining the U.S. military to serve his country; by the end of the film, having been transformed into a fish, he is able to use his new body to save U.S. naval vessels from disaster. Although he does not become a snail but a fish, his name limpet hints at his tenacity.


title: SW postcode area

text: The SW (South Western) postcode area, also known as the London SW postcode area, is a group of 20 postcode districts within the London post town in England. The area comprises the South Western operational district (covering the subdivisions of postcode district SW1, plus SW2 through SW10) and the Battersea operational district (covering SW11 through SW20), and is the only area within the London post town to lie on both sides of the River Thames.


title: SW postcode area

text: Mail for the area is sorted at the Jubilee Mail Centre in Hounslow, along with mail for the TW, KT and GU postcode areas.


title: SW postcode area

text: The postcode area originated in 1857 as the SW district. In 1868 it gained some of the area of the very short-lived S district, with the rest going to SE. It was divided into numbered districts in 1917. The South Western district consists of the postcode districts SW1–SW10 and the once Battersea-headquartered component consists of the postcode districts SW11–SW20. The South Western head district was designated as SW1 and the rest of the numbering followed, alphabetically, by their most important parish, chapelry, topological or built environment feature names, up to 10. Similarly as to the Battersea SW11 once "head district".


title: SW postcode area

text: The approximate coverage of the postcode districts, with the historic postal district names shown in "italics":


title: SW postcode area

text: SW1 is the South Western head district. Since about the 1890s it has had a surplus of addresses and buildings for practical division into one set of inwards codes so is divided into smaller postcode districts since 1917 used for mail purposes. SW1 is used in geographic reference, street signs and colloquial use across most communities. Its eight subdivisions continue to be classed as one 'district'. Within SW1A are keynote inward codes including:


title: SW postcode area

text: SW19 is the postcode that covers Wimbledon and is used as a synonym for the Wimbledon Championships tennis tournament.


title: SW postcode area

text: The SW postcode area covers parts of nine London Boroughs. North of the River Thames, it covers the southern parts of the City of Westminster, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. South of the river, it covers all of the London Borough of Wandsworth, the western part of the London Borough of Lambeth, the northern parts of the London Boroughs of Merton and Croydon and the northeastern parts of the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Kingston upon Thames.


title: Frank Castle (Marvel Cinematic Universe)

text: Francis David "Frank" Castle Sr. is a fictional character portrayed by Jon Bernthal in two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) television series—based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name—commonly known by his alias, The Punisher. Introduced in the 2016 second season of "Daredevil", Bernthal signed a deal to return for a spin-off series, "The Punisher" (2017–2019); his portrayal of the character has been positively received.


text: In October 2013, Marvel and Disney announced that Marvel Television and ABC Studios would provide Netflix with live-action series centered around the Marvel Comics characters Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist, and Luke Cage, leading up to a miniseries based on the Defenders. In September 2014, Anthony and Joe Russo expressed interest in a Marvel One-Shot being produced about the Punisher, following having the character appear in a background cameo appearance in "" (2014). In June 2015, Marvel announced that Jon Bernthal had been cast as Frank Castle / Punisher for the second season of "Daredevil". Steven DeKnight and the first-season's writers had discussed introducing the character in a post-credits scene during the first-season finale, but were unable to due to the way that Netflix then-began auto-playing the next episode during the credits of the current one. The scene would have seen Leland Owlsley escape rather than be killed by Wilson Fisk, only to be killed by Castle, whose face would not be revealed, but whose iconic skull insignia would have been featured. DeKnight felt that this "was the right decision. I think there's a better, more organic way to introduce him to the world." A spin-off series centered on Castle had entered development by January 2016. The series, "The Punisher", was officially ordered that April, and the first season was released on Netflix in November 2017.


text: DeKnight said this version of Punisher would be "completely the Marvel version", as previous portrayals did not appear under the Marvel Studios / Marvel Television banner. He also felt Bernthal's Punisher would not be as "graphically violent" as in "".


text: In the second season of "Daredevil", Matt Murdock / Daredevil first encounters Frank Castle when he targets some gangs in Hell's Kitchen, the killings for which he is dubbed "The Punisher" in the news media. After Frank is arrested, Karen Page investigates his past to find his motivation for the killings: his family having been gunned down in a carousel earlier in the year by members of the gang. After Daredevil helps Frank fake his death, he returns in the season finale to assist Daredevil by sniping the Hand ninjas attempting to kill him.


text: In the first season of "The Punisher", Frank has retired from being the Punisher, working as a construction worker under the name "Pete Castiglione". After uncovering a larger conspiracy beyond what was done to him and his family linked to Frank's wartime experience with the CIA-affiliated "Cerberus Squad", Frank allies with ex-NSA analyst David "Micro" Lieberman to seek the truth.


text: In the second season of "The Punisher", Frank Castle is drawn into the mystery surrounding the attempted murder of Amy Bendix where she is targeted by John Pilgrim under the orders of Anderson and Eliza Schwartz. At the same time, Frank's former best friend Billy Russo is slowly turned into the psychotic Jigsaw.


text: In February 2020, Adam Simon stated that he had previously pitched a Marvel Cinematic Universe "The Punisher" film to Marvel Studios set after the events of the Netflix television series, starring Jon Bernthal and Samuel L. Jackson, described as ""Falling Down" by way of "Full Metal Jacket"":


text: "You got to let this thing live in R-Rated territory and it has to have the same grit and unapologetic boldness of "Logan". In my take, we find Frank Castle as we left him at the end of the series, only now completely aware of . So, Frank Castle has to go gunning for the person who he feels is responsible for the innumerable civilian casualties. The one who started it all by organizing these weapons of mass destruction to come together. Nick Fury. The twist is that Frank is being used, he spots the double-cross early at the end of act one. From that point on, we have a situation. Frank and Fury on the run from everyone, heroes and villains. It's "3:10 to Yuma" meets "" by way of ."


text: In September 2014, Anthony and Joe Russo indicated that the Punisher had a cameo appearance twice throughout their feature film "" (2014), as a Penske truck driver who runs over two different Hydra agents, expressing interest in a Marvel One-Shot being produced about the character. In April 2020, the Russo brothers stated Castle had made another cameo appearance in "" (2019), as a bystander in the distant background of a scene hit by a bench thrown by Bruce Banner / Hulk.


text: Jon Bernthal portrays Frank Castle / Punisher in two Marvel Cinematic Universe Netflix television series, debuting as the character in the second season of "Daredevil" in 2016 in a supporting role, before starring as the character in the spin-off series "The Punisher" (2017–2019).


text: "The Punisher" season two showrunner Doug Petrie stated that Travis Bickle from "Taxi Driver" was an influence on the character, as well as current events, saying, "Taking lethal justice into your own hands in America in 2015 is tricky shit. We have not shied away from the rich complicated reality of Now. If you've got a gun and you're not the police you're going to incite strong feelings." Bernthal added that "This character has resonated with law enforcement and military ... and the best thing about him is that if he offends you, he just doesn't care." Bernthal studied all the previous portrayals of Punisher, saying, "once you devour and eat up as much as you can, my way is to make it as personal as possible". On how Castle resonates with him, Bernthal said, "He ain't got a fucking cape. He ain't got any superpowers. He's a fucking tortured, angry father and husband who's living in this unbelievable world of darkness and loss and torment." Bernthal added that there would be "a military component" in the series since Castle is "a soldier... [The series] will be somewhat centered on that". He also stated that "the character that was portrayed on "Daredevil" season two was sort of the origin tale of how this guy became the Punisher, why he put on the vest." Bernthal noted he "always want[ed] to preserve the essence of" Castle, who Bernthal described as "brutal", "damaged" and "tortured", by exploring "the pain and what's behind the violence and the reason why he's committing the violence" that is "utterly satisfying and addictive for him".


text: Drew Goddard felt that television was the best fit for the character, as the writers are "able to do things on the small screen that fit that character better than if we had to water him down for the movies." Petrie and Marco Ramirez talked about creating their version of the character following the film versions, with Ramirez saying, "even if you know the character, you've never seen him like this. That was the big thing we wanted. There are four movies, eight hours and four actors. We've seen this guy. We think we know who he is, but even we learned that he's so much more." Petrie said, "We hope to make people forget what they've seen before, whether they've loved it or not." In order to get in the correct mindset to portray Castle, Bernthal trained with military members, along with receiving weapon training. Bernthal also "had to put myself in as dark of place as possible" to connect with "the emptiness inside" Castle, and isolate himself, including walking across the Brooklyn Bridge to get to set "to shed any outside influence of joy." Rosario Dawson, who felt Matt Murdock behaved like the Punisher in "Daredevil" season one, felt it would "be really interesting to see how [the writers] differentiate" the two in the second season. Describing the character, Bernthal said, "As a man who put his [life] on the line and really went through the ultimate sacrifice for this country in his involvement in the military. He's a guy who brought the war home with him [in] the worst possible way. There are a lot of iterations of this character and in all of them it's a man who's gone through this unbelievable trauma and what's interesting about our take on him is how this trauma reshapes his own philosophy." Bernthal also talked about the character's 'superpowers', saying, "If I got one thing from the comics, I think, as far as superpowers... his superpower is his rage. His superpower is that he is not going to quit, and he is going to go forward no matter what. And that's as human and grounded a quality as I think as this sort of genre could have".


text: Stuntman Eric Linden, who worked on "The Punisher" as a stunt coordinator, second unit director and stunt double of Jon Bernthal, directed and played the lead role of the Punisher in the 2020 short fan film "Skull: Punisher Reawakened", produced in association with FXitinPost.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: Five Races Under One Union was one of the major principles upon which the Republic of China was founded in 1911 at the time of the Xinhai Revolution. Its central tenet was the harmonious existence under one nation of what were considered the five major ethnic groups in China: the Han, the Manchu, the Mongols, the Hui, and the Tibetans.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: This principle emphasized harmony between what were considered the five major ethnic groups in China, as represented by the colored stripes of the Five-Colored Flag of the Republic: the Han (red); the Manchus (yellow); the Mongols (blue); the Hui (white); and the Tibetans (black).


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: The term , , primarily referred in this context to Muslims, as a whole, and as such for a certain period of time (before the Xinhai Revolution) the term also referred to the Uyghurs in Western China, since the term "Muslim Territory" (; ) was an older name for Xinjiang during the Qing dynasty. The meaning of the term "Hui people" gradually shifted to its current sense—a group distinguished from Han Chinese by their Muslim faith and distant foreign ancestry—around 1911–49 in the Republic of China.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: Historical records from the Sui dynasty show a system of military banners using the five colors to represent the Five Elements: red for fire, yellow for earth, blue for wood/wind, white for metal, and black for water. The Tang dynasty inherited this system, and has arranged the colors in a united flag according to the above order of the elements, for military use.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: In the Liao and Song periods, the Khitan people used the same flag design, as depicted in Chinese painting. During the reign of the Mongol Yuan dynasty the five colors started to symbolize ethnicities () in a multiethnic state.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: In later historical periods, this "flag of the five united elements" was altered and readapted for military and official uses. A Qing dynasty painting depicting the Banners victory over the Muslim Du Wenxiu rebellion in Yunnan, includes a Qing military flag with the five elements arranged in the order of yellow, white, black, green and red.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: After the Wuchang uprising, the Qing dynasty regime was replaced by the Republic of China. Prior to the adoption of the five colors flag by the Republic, a number of different flags were promoted by revolutionaries. For example, the military units of Wuchang wanted a 9-star flag featuring a Taijitu symbol, while Sun Yat-sen preferred the Blue Sky and White Sun flag to honor Lu Haodong.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: Despite the uprisings targeting a Manchu-dominated regime, Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren and Huang Xing unanimously advocated racial integration, which was symbolized by the five-color flag. They promoted a view of the non-Han ethnicities as also being Chinese, despite them being a relatively small percentage of the population.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: The "five ethnic groups under one union" flag was no longer used after the Northern Expedition ended in 1928.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: A variation of this flag was adopted by Yuan Shikai's empire and the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo (see Flag of Manchukuo). In Manchukuo, a similar slogan (五族協和) was used, but the five races it represented were the Yamato (red), Han Chinese (blue), Mongols (white), Koreans (black) and Manchus (yellow). Some of its own variations also made the yellow more prominent, rather than display each color equally.


title: Five Races Under One Union

text: During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the flag was used by several Japanese puppet governments, including the Provisional Government of the Republic of China in the northern part of the country and the Reformed Government of the Republic of China in central China.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos (; literally "lakes"; ) is a city and municipality at the mouth of Bensafrim River and along the Atlantic Ocean, in the Barlavento region of the Algarve, in southern Portugal. The population of the municipality in 2011 was 31,049, in an area of 212.99 km. The city of Lagos proper (which includes only the civil parish of São Sebastião e Santa Maria) has a population of approximately 22,000. Typically, these numbers increase during the summer months, with the influx of visiting tourists and seasonal residents. While the majority of the population lives along the coast and works in tourism and services, the inland region is sparsely inhabited, with the majority of the people working in agriculture and forestry.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos is one of the most visited cities in the Algarve and Portugal, due to its variety of tourist-friendly beaches, rock formations (Ponta da Piedade), bars, restaurants and hotels, renowned for its vibrant summer nightlife and parties. Yet, Lagos is also a historic centre of the Portuguese Age of Discovery, frequent home of Henry the Navigator, historical shipyard and, at one time, centre of the European slave trade. In 2012, travel website TripAdvisor, classified Lagos as the number one travel destination, on a list of "15 destinations on the rise" worldwide.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos, Nigeria, may have been named after it, since, at the time of the 15th century, Lagos, Portugal, was the main centre of Portuguese maritime expeditions down the African coast.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos is an ancient maritime town with more than 2000 years of history. The name "Lagos" comes from a Celtic settlement, derived from the Latin "Lacobriga", the name of the settlement was established during the pre-Punic civilizations. It became an early settlement of the Carthaginians, who recruited Celtic tribesmen in their war against the Romans (the Punic Wars). Owing to its already important harbour, it was colonized by the Romans and integrated into the Roman province of Lusitania, becoming known as Lacobriga. Quintus Sertorius, a rebellious Roman general, helped by the Lusitanians of Lacobriga (who had been oppressed under Roman Generals and members of Lucius Cornelius Sulla party), successfully defeated the Roman army of Caecilius Metellus Pius probably at nearby Monte Molião.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: With the fall of Rome, the town of Lagos was occupied in the sixth century by the Visigoths from the Kingdom of Toledo and later by the Byzantines.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: The Moors arrived in the 8th century from North Africa, renaming the settlement "Zawaia" (meaning "lago", or "lake"). It became part of the much larger coastal region of "al-Gharb", which eventually became known as the "Algarve". The Moors fortified the town with Lagos Castle and established important trade links to Northern Africa from their bases in the Iberian peninsula. In 1174, the local Wāli gave permission for the Christian peoples to construct a church dedicated to São João Baptista, which was built outside the town's walls (becoming the oldest church in the Algarve).


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Even as King Afonso Henriques advanced to the south, the Christian Reconquista never made it into Algarve and Alentejo, and the south remained under Moorish control. King Sancho I, with the support of Crusader forces used Lagos as a stepping stone to attack the fortress of Alvôr. Zawaia was eventually captured by King Afonso III of Portugal in 1241, but was only taken definitively in 1249. From this period on the King began self-styling himself as the ""King of Portugal and the Algarve"", stressing the fact that the Algarve (which had for so long been ruled by the Moors as a foreign country) had been annexed into the dominion of the Portuguese.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: King John I assembled his fleet in the harbour of Lagos, before setting sail for the siege and conquest of the city of Ceuta in 1415. This was the first step in opening the Muslim world to medieval Europe, which in fact led to the Age of Discovery with Portuguese explorers sailing across the whole world. By the 15th century, Lagos became the centre of Portuguese maritime exploration, with ships ordered south to trace the shoreline of Africa in order to find routes to India. Infante Henry the Navigator, third son of King John, lived most of the time in Lagos. From here he directed expeditions to Morocco and to the western coast of Africa with caravels, lateen-rigged ships with excellent seafaring capabilities. Lagos was also the home port for Gil Eanes who was the first to sail beyond Cape Bojador in 1434, after a failed attempt in 1433 that put him out of favour with the, then considered the end of the world. The act of rounding the Cape, much like the later rounding of the Cape of Good Hope, permitted Eanes (and the navigators that followed) to advance into the African subcontinent. When, by 1443, Lançarote (then fiscal officer of the crown) had sailed as far as Arguim and brought back 275 Africans, the Portuguese had sufficient slaves to relieve the perpetual handicap of agricultural labour.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Over the following decades, news of discoveries and achievements, and ships loaded with spices and goods would flow into the port of Lagos. It was also the gateway for the first African slaves into post-medieval Europe. Even before Africa was opened-up to the Portuguese, the seamen of Lagos were already unscrupulous slave traders. From the first slave markets in Lagos (the "Mercado de Escravos", which opened in 1444), many Africans were dispersed throughout Europe, bringing a considerable income to the Portuguese monarchy and merchant classes, as well as cheap labour force. As the major sponsor of these expeditions, Prince Henry received one-fifth of the selling price of every slave. The demand for the indentured labour force was so high that, by 1450, profit on Mauritanian slaves was 700 percent. The discovery of gold by Alfonso Gonçales also increased activities in Lagos, whose residents petitioned the Infante Henry to establish a trading company to pursue gold deposits in the region. This included Juan Dias (ancestor of Bartolomeu Dias who rounded the Cape of Good Hope), Gil Eanes, Lançarote de Freitas, Estevan Alfonso and Rodrigo Alvarez, who provisioned a squadron of six caravels to travel to isle of Garças in 1444, but returned with 150 Africans.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Following the death of Prince Henry, and the expansion into the Atlantic and New World, the port of Lagos continued to receive shipments of goods and slaves, but its role began to decrease. Lisbon began to prosper, with ships returning directly from the colonies of the Azores, Madeira and Brazil, while trading houses began to relocate to the capital. But, even as the wealth arrived in Lisbon and Lagos, the ostentation was widely on display in the royal residences.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: King Sebastian, obsessed with his plans for a great crusade against the Kingdom of Fez, assembled a huge fleet in Lagos in 1578. During this ill-fated attempt he and most of Portugal's nobility were killed in the Battle of Ksar El Kebir in Morocco, eventually causing a succession crisis, that eventually resulted in the Iberian Union.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: When Portugal came under Spanish rule, the Portuguese coast became a target for the English fleet. Lagos, close to the Spanish naval base of Cádiz, was attacked by Sir Francis Drake in the late 1580s, but was defended by its inhabitants, resulting in Drakes sack of Faro. But, the coast was under regular attack of other pirates and corsairs, in addition to the Spanish who bombarded the Algarve during the Portuguese Restoration War (1640–1668), which led to the construction of a string of forts all along the coast. One of them was the late-17th-century "Fort of Ponta da Bandeira" in Lagos, which was completed between 1679 and 1690 (according to the stone inscription over the main door).


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: From 1576 to 1755, Lagos was a high-profile capital of the Algarve, until the old Portuguese town was destroyed by the earthquake and tsunami of 1755. Although some walls from the 16th century still remain, as well as the governor's castle, many of the buildings are from the 17th century.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Two well-known naval battles took place off Lagos, reflecting its strategic location: in the Battle of Lagos (1693) a French flotilla defeated a combined Anglo-Dutch force, while in the Battle of Lagos (1759) a British force defeated a French force.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: By its geographical position (east-northeast to west-southwest orientation) and lithological diversity, the Algarve stands out as a unique stratigraphic and morpho-tectonic region. A peripheral Carboniferous unit of the Variscan orogeny, it constitutes the Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary layers, deposited onto two totally distinct superimposed basins. Between the Middle-Upper Triassic to Hettangian, sediments evolved from continental (fluvial red sandstone) to shallow marine over the entire region, which included instances of evaporates, tholeiite fissural magmas, lava flows, volcanic ash and pyroclasts.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: The area of Lagos, conforms to the Middle Miocene Lagos-Portimão formation (a band that extends along the coast from Lagos to Albufeira, abutting the Serra do Caldeirão to the north) and which corresponds to marine sedimentation over relatively stable, but a minorly deformed limestone shelf platform. A period of calm during the intra-Miocene (of approximately 2.4 Ma) led to generalized exposure and development of karst, that influences the present day coastline. The conspicuous horizontal bending of this profile in the cliffs of Lagos, much like the remainder of the Lagos-Portimão formation, is formed by alternating bands of siliciclastic and calcareous lithologies. The low degree of cementation in the layers causes a high degree of instability of the cliffs. The littoral and cliff sands are dominated by various bivalve organisms, bryozoans, larger benthic foraminifers and Coralline algae with minor additions of echinoids and balanids implying a shallow-water depositional system of a warm-temperate climatic regime. The locality of Cerro das Mós, from where a large crocodilian ("Tomistoma schlegelii") tooth was collected long ago, has also produced some Odontoceti teeth. These may be dated from the Serravallian, which, constitute the oldest marine mammal occurrence in the Algarve.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos has a Mediterranean climate (Köppen: "Csa") with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters. Like the rest of the Algarve, Lagos is very sunny, averaging over 3100 hours of sunshine a year. Precipitation is concentrated in the winter months, where highs average around and lows around , wind and humidity are also more prevalent during this season, averaging of wind and around 80 percent humidity. Summers are warm to hot, very sunny and generally still, the coastal sea breeze helps to cool down the often excessive heat of this season.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Sea temperatures have little seasonal variation and are their highest in September-October and their lowest in March, averaging in the summer, and in the winter.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: In 2012 Lagos received the QualityCoast Gold Award for its efforts to become a sustainable tourism destination. Because of this award, Lagos has been selected for inclusion in the global atlas for sustainable tourism DestiNet.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: The municipality of Lagos is located approximately east of the Cape St. Vincent coast, along the southern coast of the Algarve. It is surrounded along its borders by the municipalities of Vila do Bispo (to the west), Aljezur (to the northwest), Monchique (to the northeast) and Portimão (to the east).


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: To the north of Lagos is the road to Silves, the first capital of the Algarve, Monchique (spa town/mountain), Milfontes, a coastal town and port/harbour of the city of Sines, that winds through the scenic protected landscape of the Southwest Natural Park (Costa Sudoeste Alentejana e Vicentina).


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos' economy, like many coastal towns in Portugal, has always been closely linked to the sea, and fishing has been an important activity since very ancient times. Since 1960, the city has embraced tourism, which has become its most important economic activity. It has beautiful beaches, good climate, the sea, a scenic coastline, and historical patrimony.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: The Marina de Lagos has 460 berths and has become an important centre for long-distance cruisers, and it is also known for its modern drawbridge.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Lagos Station is the western terminus of the Linha do Algarve railway line, which connects Lagos to Vila Real de Santo António (via Faro and Tavira). The passenger train service is operated by Comboios de Portugal (CP). Connections are available at Tunes for trains to Lisbon and Porto.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: Many local traditions are celebrated in the municipality and range from gastronomy to traditional handicrafts.


title: Lagos, Portugal

text: In gastronomy, there are the local specialties: "Dom rodrigos" and "morgados" cookies based on local products, such as almonds, figs and eggs. Lagos is also a wine-producing region and is famous for its "moscatel" wine, and also for a strong alcoholic spirit, the "aguardente de medronho", made of berries of strawberry tree.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Lughnasadh or Lughnasa ( , ) is a Gaelic festival marking the beginning of the harvest season. Historically, it was widely observed throughout Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. In Modern Irish it is called , in , and in . Traditionally it is held on 1 August, or about halfway between the summer solstice and autumn equinox. In recent centuries some of the celebrations have been shifted to the Sunday nearest this date.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Lughnasadh is one of the four Gaelic seasonal festivals, along with Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane. It corresponds to other European harvest festivals such as the Welsh and the English Lammas.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Lughnasadh is mentioned in some of the earliest Irish literature and has pagan origins. The festival itself is named after the god Lugh. It inspired great gatherings that included religious ceremonies, ritual athletic contests (most notably the Tailteann Games), feasting, matchmaking, and trading. Lughnasadh occurred during a very poor time of the year for the farming community when the old crops were done and the new ones not yet ready for harvest. Traditionally there were also visits to holy wells. According to folklorist Máire MacNeill, evidence shows that the religious rites included an offering of the First Fruits, a feast of the new food and of bilberries, the sacrifice of a bull, and a ritual dance-play in which Lugh seizes the harvest for mankind and defeats the powers of blight. Many of the activities would have taken place on top of hills and mountains.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Lughnasadh customs persisted widely until the 20th century, with the event being variously named 'Garland Sunday', 'Bilberry Sunday', 'Mountain Sunday' and 'Crom Dubh Sunday'. The custom of climbing hills and mountains at Lughnasadh has survived in some areas, although it has been re-cast as a Christian pilgrimage. The best known is the 'Reek Sunday' pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick on the last Sunday in July. A number of fairs are also believed to be survivals of Lughnasadh, for example, the Puck Fair.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Since the late 20th century, Celtic neopagans have observed Lughnasadh, or something based on it, as a religious holiday. In some places, elements of the festival have been revived as a cultural event.


title: Lughnasadh

text: In Old Irish the name was (). This is a combination of (the god Lugh) and (an assembly), which is unstressed when used as a suffix. Later spellings include , and .


title: Lughnasadh

text: In Modern Irish the spelling is , which is also the name for the month of August. The genitive case is also as in (Month of August) and (Day of Lúnasa). In Modern Scottish Gaelic (), the festival and the month are both called . In Manx (), the festival and the month are both called . The day itself may be called either or .


title: Lughnasadh

text: In Welsh (), the day is known as , originally a Latin term, the "Calends of August" in English. In Breton (), the day was known as , the "Feast of August".


title: Lughnasadh

text: In Irish mythology, the Lughnasadh festival is said to have begun by the god Lugh (modern spelling: ) as a funeral feast and athletic competition (see funeral games) in commemoration of his mother or foster-mother Tailtiu. She was said to have died of exhaustion after clearing the plains of Ireland for agriculture. Tailtiu may have been an earth goddess who represented the dying vegetation that fed mankind. The funeral games in her honour were called the or (modern spelling: ) and were held each Lughnasadh at Tailtin in what is now County Meath. According to medieval writings, kings attended this "óenach" and a truce was declared for its duration. It was similar to the Ancient Olympic Games and included ritual athletic and sporting contests, horse racing, music and storytelling, trading, proclaiming laws and settling legal disputes, drawing-up contracts, and matchmaking. At Tailtin, trial marriages were conducted, whereby young couples joined hands through a hole in a wooden door. The trial marriage lasted a year and a day, at which time the marriage could be made permanent or broken without consequences.


title: Lughnasadh

text: A similar Lughnasadh festival, the , was held in what is now County Kildare. Carman is also believed to have been a goddess, perhaps one with a similar tale as Tailtiu. The included a food market, a livestock market, and a market for foreign traders. After the 9th century the was celebrated irregularly and it gradually died out. It was revived for a period in the 20th century as the Tailteann Games.


title: Lughnasadh

text: A 15th century version of the Irish legend "Tochmarc Emire" ("the Wooing of Emer") is one of the earliest documents to record these festivities.


title: Lughnasadh

text: From the 18th century to the mid 20th century many accounts of Lughnasadh customs and folklore were recorded. In 1962 "The Festival of Lughnasa", a study of Lughnasadh by folklorist Máire MacNeill, was published. MacNeill studied surviving Lughnasadh customs and folklore as well as the earlier accounts and medieval writings about the festival. She concluded that the evidence testified to the existence of an ancient festival around 1 August that involved the following:


title: Lughnasadh

text: A solemn cutting of the first of the corn of which an offering would be made to the deity by bringing it up to a high place and burying it; a meal of the new food and of bilberries of which everyone must partake; a sacrifice of a sacred bull, a feast of its flesh, with some ceremony involving its hide, and its replacement by a young bull; a ritual dance-play perhaps telling of a struggle for a goddess and a ritual fight; an installation of a [carved stone] head on top of the hill and a triumphing over it by an actor impersonating Lugh; another play representing the confinement by Lugh of the monster blight or famine; a three-day celebration presided over by the brilliant young god [Lugh] or his human representative. Finally, a ceremony indicating that the interregnum was over, and the chief god in his right place again.


title: Lughnasadh

text: According to MacNeill, the main theme that emerges from the folklore and rituals of Lughnasadh is a struggle for the harvest between two gods. One god – usually called Crom Dubh – guards the grain as his treasure. The other god – Lugh – must seize it for mankind. Sometimes, this was portrayed as a struggle over a woman called Eithne, who represents the grain. Lugh also fights and defeats a figure representing blight. MacNeill says that these themes can be seen in earlier Irish mythology, particularly in the tale of Lugh defeating Balor, which seems to represent the overcoming of blight, drought and the scorching summer sun. In surviving folklore, Lugh is usually replaced by Saint Patrick, while Crom Dubh is a pagan chief who owns a granary or a bull and who opposes Patrick, but is overcome and converted. Crom Dubh is likely the same figure as Crom Cruach and shares some traits with the Dagda and Donn. He may be based on an underworld god like Hades and Pluto, who kidnaps the grain goddess Persephone but is forced to let her return to the world above before harvest time.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Many of the customs described by MacNeill and by medieval writers were being practised into the modern era, though they were either Christianized or shorn of any pagan religious meaning. Many of Ireland's prominent mountains and hills were climbed at Lughnasadh. Some of the treks were eventually re-cast as Christian pilgrimages, the most well-known being Reek Sunday—the yearly pilgrimage to the top of Croagh Patrick in late July. Other hilltop gatherings were secular and attended mostly by the youth. In Ireland, bilberries were gathered and there was eating, drinking, dancing, folk music, games and matchmaking, as well as athletic and sporting contests such as weight-throwing, hurling and horse racing. At some gatherings, everyone wore flowers while climbing the hill and then buried them at the summit as a sign that summer was ending. In other places, the first sheaf of the harvest was buried. There were also faction fights, whereby two groups of young men fought with sticks. In 18th-century Lothian, rival groups of young men built towers of sods topped with a flag. For days, each group tried to sabotage the other's tower, and at Lughnasadh they met each other in 'battle'. Bull sacrifices around Lughnasadh time were recorded as late as the 18th century at Cois Fharraige in Ireland (where they were offered to Crom Dubh) and at Loch Maree in Scotland (where they were offered to Saint Máel Ruba). Special meals were made with the first produce of the harvest. In the Scottish Highlands, people made a special cake called the , which may have originated as an offering to the gods.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Another custom that Lughnasadh shared with Imbolc and Beltane was visiting holy wells, some specifically clootie wells. Visitors to these wells would pray for health while walking sunwise around the well; they would then leave offerings, typically coins or clooties. Although bonfires were lit at some of the open-air gatherings in Ireland, they were rare and incidental to the celebrations.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Traditionally, Lughnasadh has always been reckoned as the first day of August. In recent centuries, however, much of the gatherings and festivities associated with it shifted to the nearest Sundays – either the last Sunday in July or first Sunday in August. It is believed this is because the coming of the harvest was a busy time and the weather could be unpredictable, which meant work days were too important to give up. As Sunday would have been a day of rest anyway, it made sense to hold celebrations then. The festival may also have been affected by the shift to the Gregorian calendar.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Lughnasadh was a time of unpredictable weather in Ireland. Heavy rains known as "Lammas floods" often coincided with beginning of August and were responsible for destroying the corn. There are many folk sayings that relate to the unpredictable weather conditions during Lughnasadh and the importance of these conditions to the harvest:


title: Lughnasadh

text: In Ireland some of the mountain pilgrimages have survived. By far the most popular is the Reek Sunday pilgrimage at Croagh Patrick, which attracts tens of thousands of pilgrims each year.


title: Lughnasadh

text: The Puck Fair is held each year in early August in the town of Killorglin, County Kerry. It has been traced as far back as the 16th century but is believed to be a survival of a Lughnasadh festival. At the beginning of the three-day festival, a wild goat is brought into the town and crowned 'king', while a local girl is crowned 'queen'. The festival includes traditional music and dancing, a parade, arts and crafts workshops, a horse and cattle fair, and a market. It draws a great number of tourists each year.


title: Lughnasadh

text: In recent years, other towns in Ireland have begun holding yearly Lughnasa Festivals and Lughnasa Fairs. Like the Puck Fair, these often include traditional music and dancing, arts and crafts workshops, traditional storytelling, and markets. Such festivals have been held in Gweedore, Sligo, Brandon, Rathangan and a number of other places. Craggaunowen, an open-air museum in County Clare, hosts a yearly Lughnasa Festival at which historical re-enactors demonstrate elements of daily life in Gaelic Ireland. It includes displays of replica clothing, artefacts, weapons and jewellery. A similar event has been held each year at Carrickfergus Castle in County Antrim. In 2011 RTÉ broadcast a "Lughnasa Live" television program from Craggaunowen.


title: Lughnasadh

text: In the Irish diaspora survivals of the Lughnasadh festivities are often seen by some families still choosing August as the traditional time for family reunions and parties, though due to modern work schedules these events have sometimes been moved to adjacent secular holidays, such as the Fourth of July in the United States.


title: Lughnasadh

text: The festival is referenced in the 1990 play "Dancing at Lughnasa" by Brian Friel, which was adapted into a 1998 film of the same name.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Lughnasadh, or similar festivities based on it, is observed by some modern Pagans in general and Celtic Neopagans in particular. Despite their common name, such Lughnasadh celebrations can differ widely. While some attempt to emulate the historic festival as much as possible, others base their celebrations on many sources, the Gaelic festival being only one of them.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Neopagans usually celebrate Lughnasadh on 1 August in the Northern Hemisphere and 1 February in the Southern Hemisphere, often beginning their festivities at sunset the evening before. Some Neopagans celebrate it at the astronomical midpoint between the summer solstice and autumn equinox, or the full moon nearest this point. In 2022, this astronomical midpoint falls on 7 August (Northern hemisphere) or 4 February (Southern hemisphere).


title: Lughnasadh

text: Celtic Reconstructionist pagans strive for continuity with pre-Christian practices of the Celts, based on research and historical accounts, but may be modified slightly to suit modern life. Reconstructionists avoid syncretic or eclectic approaches that combine practises from different cultures.


title: Lughnasadh

text: Celtic Reconstructionists who follow Gaelic traditions tend to celebrate at the time of "first fruits", or on the full moon nearest this time. In the Northeastern United States, this is often the time of the blueberry harvest, while in the Pacific Northwest the blackberries are often the festival fruit. In Celtic Reconstructionism, is seen as a time to give thanks to the spirits and deities for the beginning of the harvest season, and to propitiate them with offerings and prayers not to harm the still-ripening crops. The god is honoured by many at this time, and gentle rain on the day of the festival is seen as his presence and his bestowing of blessings. Many Celtic Reconstructionists also honour the goddess Tailtiu at , and may seek to keep the from damaging the crops, much in the way appeals are made to .


title: Lughnasadh

text: Wiccans use the names "Lughnasadh" or "Lammas" for the first of their autumn harvest festivals. It is one of the eight yearly "Sabbats" of their Wheel of the Year, following Midsummer and preceding Mabon. It is seen as one of the two most auspicious times for handfasting, the other being at Beltane. Some Wiccans mark the holiday by baking a figure of the "corn god" in bread, and then symbolically sacrificing and eating it.


title: Blood brother

text: Blood brother can refer to two or more men not related by birth who have sworn loyalty to each other. This is in modern times usually done in a ceremony, known as a blood oath, where each person makes a small cut, usually on a finger, hand or the forearm, and then the two cuts are pressed together and bound, the idea being that each person's blood now flows in the other participant's veins.


title: Blood brother

text: The act carries a risk due to blood-borne diseases. The process usually provides a participant with a heightened symbolic sense of attachment with the other participant.


title: Blood brother

text: The Norsemen entering the pact of foster brotherhood () involved a rite in which they let their blood flow while they ducked underneath an arch formed by a strip of turf propped up by a spear or spears. An example is described in "Gísla saga". In "Fóstbræðra saga", the bond of Thorgeir Havarsson (Þorgeir Hávarsson) and Thormod Bersason (Þormóð Bersason) is sealed by such ritual as well, the ritual being called a "leikr".


title: Blood brother

text: "Örvar-Oddr's saga" contains another notable account of blood brotherhood. Örvar-Oddr, after fighting the renowned Swedish warrior Hjalmar to a draw, entered a foster brotherhood with him by the turf-raising ritual. Afterwards, the strand of turf was put back during oaths and incantations.


title: Blood brother

text: In the mythology of Northern Europe, Gunther and Högni became the blood brothers of Sigurd when he married their sister Gudrun. In Wagner's opera "Götterdämmerung", the concluding part of his "Ring Cycle", the same occurs between Gunther and Wagner's version of Sigurd, Siegfried, which is marked by the "Blood Brotherhood Leitmotiv". Additionally, it is briefly stated in Lokasenna that Odin and Loki are blood brothers.


title: Blood brother

text: Among the Scythians, the covenantors would allow their blood to drip into a cup; the blood was subsequently mixed with wine and drunk by both participants. Every man was limited to having three blood brotherhoods at any time lest his loyalties be distrusted. As a consequence, blood brotherhood was highly sought after and often preceded by a lengthy period of affiliation and friendship (Lucian, "Toxaris"). The


title: Blood brother

text: 4th-century BC depictions of two Scythian warriors drinking from a single drinking horn (most notably in a gold appliqué from Kul-Oba) have been associated with the Scythian oath of blood brotherhood.


title: Blood brother

text: The Hungarian hajduks had a similar ceremony, but the wine was often replaced with milk so that the blood would be more visible.


title: Blood brother

text: In Asian cultures, the act and the ceremony of becoming blood brothers is generally seen as a tribal relationship for bringing about alliance between tribes. It was practiced for that reason most notably by the Mongols, Turkic and early Chinese.


title: Blood brother

text: In "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", the Chinese classical literature, the three main characters took an oath of blood brother, the Oath of the Peach Garden, by sacrificing a black ox and a white horse and by swearing faith. Other blood oaths involving animal sacrifice were characteristic of rebel groups, such as the uprising led by Deng Maoqi in the 1440s, of criminal organizations, such as the triads or the pirates of Lin Daoqian, and of non-Han ethnic minorities such as the Mongols and the Manchu. Genghis Khan had an "anda" called Jamukha. The term also exist in Old Turkic: "ant ičmek" ("to take an oath"), derived from the "ancient test by poison". The Turkic term, if it's not a loanword in Middle Mongol, is related to Mongol "anda".


title: Blood brother

text: In the Philippines, blood compacts ("sandugo" or "sanduguan", literally "one blood") were ancient rituals that were intended to seal a friendship or treaty or to validate an agreement. They were described in the records of the early Spanish and Portuguese explorers to the islands. The most well-known version of the ritual from the Visayan people involves mixing a drop of blood from both parties into a single cup of wine that is then drunk. Other versions also exist, like in Palawan which describes a ritual involving making a cut on the chest and then daubing the blood on the tongue and forehead.


title: Blood brother

text: The blood oath was used in much the same fashion as has already been described in much of Sub-Saharan Africa. The British colonial administrator Lord Lugard is famous for having become blood brothers with numerous African chiefs as part of his political policy in Africa. A powerful blood brother was the Kikuyu chieftain Waiyaki Wa Hinga. David Livingstone wrote of a similar practice called 'Kasendi'.


title: Blood brother

text: Blood brothers among larger groups were common in ancient Southeastern Europe, where, for example, whole companies of soldiers would become one family through the ceremony. It was perhaps most prevalent in the Balkans during the Ottoman era, as it helped the oppressed people to fight the enemy more effectively. Blood brotherhoods were common in what is today Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Montenegro, Serbia and North Macedonia. Christianity also recognized sworn brotherhood in a ceremony, which was known as , in the Eastern Orthodox Churches and as in the Roman Catholic Church. The tradition of intertwining arms and drinking wine is also believed to be a representation of becoming blood brothers.


title: Miranda July

text: Miranda July (born Miranda Jennifer Grossinger; February 15, 1974) is an American film director, screenwriter, singer, actress and author. Her body of work includes film, fiction, monologue, digital presentations and live performance art.


title: Miranda July

text: She wrote, directed and starred in the films "Me and You and Everyone We Know" (2005) and "The Future" (2011) and wrote and directed "Kajillionaire" (2020). She has authored a book of short stories, "No One Belongs Here More Than You" (2007); a collection of nonfiction short stories, "It Chooses You" (2011); and the novel "The First Bad Man" (2015).


title: Miranda July

text: July was born in Barre, Vermont, in 1974, the daughter of Lindy Hough and Richard Grossinger. Her parents are both writers who taught at Goddard College at the time. They were also the founders of North Atlantic Books, a publisher of alternative health, martial arts, and spiritual titles. Her father was Jewish, and her mother was Protestant.


title: Miranda July

text: July was encouraged to work on her short fiction by author Rick Moody. She was raised in Berkeley, California, where she first began staging plays at 924 Gilman Street, a local punk rock club. She attended The College Preparatory School in Oakland for high school. When she was 16, she wrote and directed "The Lifers", a play for which she cast 20 Latina women. She describes this as an experience that pushed her heavily. She later attended the film school at University of California Santa Cruz, but she dropped out during her second year, moving to Portland.


title: Miranda July

text: She relocated to Portland, Oregon, and took up performance art, or "one woman shows". Her performances were successful; she has been quoted as saying she has not worked a day job since she was 23 years old. In an interview for the Tate, she explains that she still tries to practice performance, partially due to its stark differences from film making, such as its live audience or how "present" it is in comparison. Portland is also where she began participating in the riot grrrl scene that was beginning to grow in the early 1990s.


title: Miranda July

text: In the early stages of her film career, she created several small video projects and performances years prior to her feature film, "Me and You and Everyone We Know." However, while she worked on her art, July had to work several odd jobs; she worked as a waitress, a tastemaker for Coca-Cola, a locksmith, and a stripper.


title: Miranda July

text: July was immersed in the riot grrl scene in Portland and motivated by its do-it-yourself ethos, and she began an effort that she described as "a free alternative distribution system for women movie-makers". One of July's reasons for starting the project was to apply the concepts of riot grrrl into the film making world. The idea was to connect as many women artists as possible, let them see each other's work, and foster a sense of community. Participants sent a self-made short film to July, who mailed back a compilation videotape containing that film and nine others – a "chainletter tape". When it began in 1995, the project was called "Big Miss Moviola" but was soon renamed "Joanie4Jackie". July also credits the project to the loneliness she was experiencing at the time, but felt she learned from the project immensely, saying "that was my film school". July's first film, "Atlanta", appears on the second tape of the series. July continued to run the project for years, handing it off to the film department of Bard College in 2003.


title: Miranda July

text: In Spring 2016, July donated an archive of "Joanie4Jackie" to the Getty Research Institute. The collection includes more than 200 titles from the 1990s and 2000s, videos from "Joanie4Jackie" events, booklets, posters, hand-written letters from participants, and other documentation. Thomas W. Gaehtgens, the director of the Getty Research Institute, stated that the acquisition is "an esteemed addition to our Special Collections that connects to work by many important 20th century artists who are also represented in our archives, such as Eleanor Antin, Yvonne Rainer and Carolee Schneemann."


title: Miranda July

text: "Filmmaker" rated her number one in their "25 New Faces of Indie Film" in 2004. After winning a slot in a Sundance workshop, she developed her first feature-length film, "Me and You and Everyone We Know", which opened in 2005.


title: Miranda July

text: The film won The "Caméra d'Or" prize in The Cannes Festival 2005 as well as the Special Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Best First Feature at the Philadelphia Film Festival, Feature Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the San Francisco International Film Festival, and the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at the Los Angeles Film Festival.


title: Miranda July

text: On May 16, 2007, July mentioned that she was currently working on a new film. This film was originally titled "Satisfaction" but was later renamed "The Future", with July in a lead role. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a Golden Bear at the 61st Berlin International Film Festival.


title: Miranda July

text: In March 2018, it was announced July would write and direct a heist film, with Brad Pitt and Youree Henley producing the film, under their Plan B Entertainment and Annapurna Pictures banners, respectively. That same month, Evan Rachel Wood, Richard Jenkins, Debra Winger and Gina Rodriguez joined the cast of the film. In June 2018, Mark Ivanir joined the cast of the film. Principal photography began in May 2018. Its theatrical release was on September 25, 2020.


title: Miranda July

text: Her short video "The Amateurist" (1998) features a dowdy researcher examining, via her own video monitor, a stereotypical "beautiful woman"; July plays both roles. A lengthier video, the 27-minute "Nest of Tens" (2000), juxtaposes four unrelated scenarios in which "seemingly everyday people go about acting completely normal while demonstrating distinct abnormality". "Nest of Tens" has been placed in the permanent online collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.


title: Miranda July

text: Wayne Wang consulted with July about aspects of his 2001 feature-length film "The Center of the World", for which she received a story credit. July appears as herself in the 2017 documentary "". She was interviewed for the film "!Women Art Revolution". July narrates the documentary "Fire of Love".


title: Miranda July

text: She recorded her first E.P. for Kill Rock Stars in 1996, titled "Margie Ruskie Stops Time", with music by The Need. She released two full-length LPs, "10 Million Hours A Mile" in 1997 and "The Binet-Simon Test" in 1998, both on Kill Rock Stars. She collaborated with Calvin Johnson in his musical project Dub Narcotic Sound System, and in 1999 she made a split EP with IQU, released on Johnson's K Records.