title: Electronic business

text: Encryption, which is actually a part of cryptography, involves transforming texts or messages into a code that is unreadable. These messages have to be decrypted in order to be understandable or usable for someone. There is a key that identifies the data to a certain person or company. With public-key encryption, there are actually two keys used. One is public and one is private. The public one is used for encryption and the private one for decryption. The level of the actual encryption can be adjusted and should be based on the information. The key can be just a simple slide of letters or a completely random mix-up of letters. This is relatively easy to implement because there is software that a company can purchase. A company needs to be sure that its keys are registered with a certificate authority.


title: Electronic business

text: The point of a digital certificate is to identify the owner of a document. This way the receiver knows that it is an authentic document. Companies can use these certificates in several different ways. They can be used as a replacement for user names and passwords. Each employee can be given these to access the documents that they need from wherever they are.


title: Electronic business

text: These certificates also use encryption. They are a little more complicated than normal encryption, however. They actually used important information within the code. They do this in order to assure the authenticity of the documents as well as confidentiality and data integrity which always accompany encryption.


title: Electronic business

text: Digital certificates are not commonly used because they are confusing for people to implement. There can be complications when using different browsers, which means they need to use multiple certificates. The process is being adjusted so that it is easier to use.


title: Electronic business

text: A final way to secure information online would be to use a digital signature. If a document has a digital signature on it, no one else is able to edit the information without being detected. That way if it is edited, it may be adjusted for reliability after the fact. In order to use a digital signature, one must use a combination of cryptography and a message digest. A message digest is used to give the document a unique value. That value is then encrypted with the sender's private key.


title: Electronic business

text: When looking at e-business we have many advantages, which are mostly connected to making doing business easier. The benefits of implementing e-business tools are in the streamlining of business processes and not so much in the use of technology. Here are some:


title: Electronic business

text: Despite all the limits, there are also some disadvantages that we need to address. The most common limitations of electronic business are:


The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) is an international agreement regulating treaties between states. Known as the "treaty on treaties", it establishes comprehensive rules, procedures, and guidelines for how treaties are defined, drafted, amended, interpreted, and generally operated. An international treaty is a written agreement between international law subjects reflecting their consent to the creation, alteration, or termination of their rights and obligations. The VCLT is considered a codification of customary international law and state practice concerning treaties.


title: Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties

text: The convention was adopted and opened to signature on 23 May 1969, and it entered into force on 27 January 1980. It has been ratified by 116 states as of January 2018. Some non-ratifying parties, such as the United States, recognize parts of it as a restatement of customary international law and binding upon them as such.


text: The VCLT is regarded as one of the most important instruments in treaty law and remains an authoritative guide in disputes over treaty interpretation.


text: The VCLT was drafted by the International Law Commission (ILC) of the United Nations, which began work on the convention in 1949. During the 20 years of preparation, several draft versions of the convention and commentaries were prepared by special rapporteurs of the ILC, which included prominent international law scholars James Brierly, Hersch Lauterpacht, Gerald Fitzmaurice, and Humphrey Waldock.


text: In 1966, the ILC adopted 75 draft articles, which formed the basis for its final work. Over two sessions in 1968 and 1969, the Vienna Conference completed the convention, which was adopted on 22 May 1969 and opened for signature on the following day.


text: The convention codifies several bedrocks of contemporary international law. It defines a treaty as "an international agreement concluded between states in written form and governed by international law" and affirms that "every state possesses the capacity to conclude treaties." Article 1 restricts the application of the convention to written treaties between States, excluding treaties concluded between the states and international organizations or international organizations themselves. Article 26 defines "pacta sunt servanda", Article 53 proclaims peremptory norm, and Article 62 proclaims Fundamental Change of Circumstance.


text: The convention has been referred to as the "treaty on treaties" and is widely recognized as the authoritative guide regarding the formation and effects of treaties. Even those countries who have not ratified it recognize its significance. For example, the United States recognizes that parts of the Convention constitute customary law binding on all states. The Supreme Court of India has also recognised the customary status of the convention.


text: The Convention applies only to treaties that came after it was made and to those concluded between states and so does not govern agreements between states and international organizations or between international organizations themselves, but if any of its rules are independently binding on such organizations, they remain so. The VCLT applies to treaties between states within an intergovernmental organization.


text: However, agreements between states and international organizations or between international organizations themselves are governed by the 1986 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties between States and International Organizations or Between International Organizations if it enters into force. Furthermore, in treaties between states and international organizations, the terms of the Convention still apply between the state members. The Convention does not apply to unwritten agreements.


text: As of January 2018, there are 116 state parties that have ratified the convention, and a further 15 states have signed but have not ratified the convention. In addition, the Republic of China (Taiwan), which is currently recognized by only , signed the Convention in 1970 prior to the UN General Assembly's 1971 vote to transfer China's seat to the People's Republic of China, which subsequently acceded to the convention. There are 66 UN member states that have neither signed nor ratified the convention.


text: International treaties and conventions contain rules about what entities could sign, ratify or accede to them. Some treaties are restricted to states that are members of the UN or parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice. In rare cases, there is an explicit list of the entities that the treaty is restricted to. More commonly, the aim of the negotiating states (most or all of which usually end up becoming the founding signatories) is that the treaty is not restricted to particular states and so a wording like "this treaty is open for signature to "States" willing to accept its provisions" is used (the "all states formula").


text: In the case of regional organisations, such as the Council of Europe or the Organization of American States, the set of negotiating states that once agreed upon may sign and ratify the treaty is usually limited to its own member states, and non-member states may accede to it later. However, sometimes a specific set of non-member states or non-state actors may be invited to join negotiations. For example, the Council of Europe invited the "non-member States" Canada, the Holy See (Vatican City), Japan, Mexico and the United States to "participate in the elaboration" of the 2011 Istanbul Convention and specifically allowed the European Union (described as an "International Organisation," rather than a "State") to sign and ratify the convention, rather than accede to it, and "other non-member States" were allowed only accession.


text: The act of signing and ratifying a treaty as a negotiating state has the same effect as the act of acceding to a treaty (or "acceding a treaty") by a state that was not involved in its negotiation. Usually, accessions occur only after the treaty has entered into force, but the UN Secretary General has occasionally accepted accessions even before a treaty went into force. The only downside of not being a negotiating state is that one has no influence over the contents of a treaty, but one is still allowed to declare reservations with respect to specific provisions of the treaty that one wishes to accede to (Article 19).


text: When a treaty is open to "States", it may be difficult or impossible for the depositary authority to determine which entities are States. If the treaty is restricted to Members of the United Nations or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, there is no ambiguity. However, a difficulty has occurred as to possible participation in treaties when entities that appeared otherwise to be States could not be admitted to the United Nations or become Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice because of the opposition for political reasons of a permanent member of the Security Council or have not applied for ICJ or UN membership. Since that difficulty did not arise as concerns membership in the specialized agencies, on which there is no "veto" procedure, a number of those States became members of specialized agencies and so were in essence recognized as States by the international community. Accordingly, to allow for as wide a participation as possible, a number of conventions then provided that they were also open for participation to States members of specialized agencies. The type of entry-into-force clause used in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties was later called the "Vienna formula," and its wording was used by various treaties, conventions and organizations.


text: Some treaties that use it include provisions that in addition to these States any other State invited by a specified authority or organization (commonly the United Nations General Assembly or an institution created by the treaty in question) can also participate, thus making the scope of potential signatories even broader.


text: Articles 31-33 of the VCLT entail principles for interpreting conventions, treaties etc. These principles are recognized as representing customary international law, for example by the International Law Commission (ILC).


text: The interpretational principles codified in Article 31 are to be used before applying those of Article 32, which explicitly states that it offers supplementary means of interpretation.


text: The European Court of Justice has also applied the interpretational provisions of the VCLT in different cases, including the "Bosphorus Queen Case" (2018), in which the court interpreted the extent of the term "any resources" in Article 220(6) of UNCLOS.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Robert James "Rob" Thomas (born August 15, 1965) is an American author, producer, director and screenwriter. He created the television series "Veronica Mars" (2004–2007, 2019), co-developed "90210" (2008–2013), and co-created "Party Down" (2009–2010, 2022-), and "iZombie" (2015–2019).


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Thomas was born in Sunnyside, Washington. He graduated from San Marcos High School in 1983 and went to Texas Christian University (TCU) on a football scholarship. Thomas played 11 games for the TCU Horned Frogs football team in 1984 as a backup tight end and special teams player. He had one interception that season, off a fake punt attempt by Kansas State. He later transferred to the University of Texas at Austin and graduated in 1987 with a BA in history from its College of Liberal Arts.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Before he began writing novels for young adults, Thomas taught high-school journalism at John Marshall High School in San Antonio, Texas, and later at John H. Reagan High School in Austin, Texas.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: He advised the University of Texas at Austin student magazine. From August 1993 to June 1995 he worked for Channel One News, an experience which informed his 1998 novel "Satellite Down". Thomas was a member of three San Marcos, Texas bands—Public Bulletin, Hey Zeus, and Black Irish—from the mid-1980s to the early 1990s.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Thomas's first television writing credit came on a 1996 episode of Cartoon Network's "Space Ghost Coast to Coast". He next wrote the script that would eventually become the 1999 film "Fortune Cookie". Based on the script, he was offered a job on the writing staff of "Dawson's Creek" during the show's first season. After reading the same script, then-president of Sony Entertainment Jeff Sagansky suggested Thomas create a romantic comedy pilot. That show soon developed into "Cupid", a critically acclaimed 1998 comedy-drama series canceled after 15 episodes in 1999. This led to Thomas being asked to run ABC's 1999 series "Snoops", although he left due to creative differences with David E. Kelley before the show aired. After "Snoops", Thomas got pilot orders for his U.S. adaptation of the British "Metropolis" and original script "The Sticks", but neither went to series. Thomas has also adapted the screenplay for "Drive Me Crazy", and directed "On Air", a twenty-minute film adaptation of a story from "Doing Time".


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Thomas got his second show picked up in 2004 — the critically successful but again low-rated "Veronica Mars", which battled low ratings until it was canceled after the third season in 2007. He was offered the showrunner position on NBC's "Friday Night Lights" in 2006, which he declined in favor of the possibility (and eventual reality) of a fourth season of "Veronica Mars". Thomas was also offered and declined CBS's "Viva Laughlin" in 2007; he joined ABC's "Miss/Guided" in May 2007 before leaving in July of the same year, again due to creative differences.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Thomas worked as a writer on ABC's short-lived primetime series "Big Shots" from 2007 to 2008, co-wrote and shot the comedy pilot "Party Down" (aired by Starz in 2009, ran for two seasons), and had three pilots ordered for the 2008–2009 television season: a remake of "Cupid" for ABC, that was picked up to air midseason but soon canceled; "Good Behavior", a U.S. adaptation of New Zealand series "Outrageous Fortune" also for ABC although it never aired, and a modern spinoff of "Beverly Hills, 90210" for The CW, which he departed early in favor of his other projects.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: There were various reports in 2011 and 2012 that a "Party Down" film was in the works, to be written by John Enbom, but the film never materialized.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: In June 2010, Thomas told E! Online that he was "writing a drama pilot set in the world of corporate espionage for Showtime", but the series was not picked up. In August 2010, "Variety" reported that NBC had ordered a pilot of a new sitcom, to be called "Temp", for which Thomas, Dan Etheridge, and Enbom would be executive producers. However, in February 2011 Thomas announced on Twitter that NBC had decided against the show because they felt "it skewed 'too young.'" In January 2011, Fox ordered a half-hour single-camera pilot from Thomas, to be called "Little in Common". In August 2011, Fox decided not to pick up "Little in Common" for the fall season, but was attempting to retool it, possibly as a midseason replacement. However, in October Fox decided not to air the show. In a wide-ranging interview with Austinist published soon afterward, Thomas discussed the situation, saying, "we really thought this one was going on the air. So it was both surprising and disappointing that it didn't."


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: Thomas began publicly discussing a possible "Veronica Mars" film in 2009. He eventually got permission from Warner Brothers to make the film, with crowdsourced financing, if he were able to raise more than $2 million. On March 13, 2013, he posted a Kickstarter page for the film, and by 6 PM Pacific Time on the first day, the appeal had already raised over $2 million in pledges. The Kickstarter appeal eventually raised $5.7 million before its April 13 ending. The project set a Kickstarter record for the most backers, with 88,000 people contributing funds. The resulting film, "Veronica Mars", was directed and co-written by Thomas, and released in March 2014; it received positive reviews, and earned $3.5 million. Thomas also co-wrote two Veronica Mars novels which were published by Vintage Books after the film's release; the novels depict events occurring after those of the film.


title: Rob Thomas (writer)

text: In November 2013, a pilot based on Chris Roberson and Michael Allred's comic book "iZOMBIE" was picked up by The CW, with Thomas producing alongside Diane Ruggiero-Wright. The thirteen-episode first season of "iZombie" was subsequently broadcast, commencing March 17, 2015. In 2016, he announced he was working on a TV series based on the 1987 cult classic film "The Lost Boys" to be broadcast on the CW. His plan was that it would last 7 seasons, each covering a decade in the life of the vampires, who would be different characters from the film.


title: Morning

text: Morning is the period from sunrise to noon. There are no exact times for when morning begins (also true of evening and night) because it can vary according to one's lifestyle and the hours of daylight at each time of year. However, morning strictly ends at noon, which is when afternoon starts. Morning can also be defined as starting from midnight to noon.


title: Morning

text: Morning precedes afternoon, evening, and night in the sequence of a day. Originally, the term referred to sunrise.


title: Morning

text: The Modern English words "morning" and "tomorrow" began in Middle English as , developing into , then , and eventually . English, unlike some other languages, has separate terms for "morning" and "tomorrow", despite their common root. Other languages, like Dutch, Scots and German, may use a single wordto signify both "morning" and "tomorrow".


title: Morning

text: Some languages that use the time of day in greeting have a special greeting for morning, such as the English good morning. The appropriate time to use such greetings, such as whether it may be used between midnight and dawn, depends on the culture's or speaker's concept of morning. The use of "'good morning"' is ambiguous, usually depending on when the person woke up. As a general rule, the greeting is normally used from 3:00 a.m. to around noon.


title: Morning

text: Many people greet someone with the shortened 'morning' rather than 'good morning'. It is used as a greeting, never a farewell, unlike 'good night' which is used as the latter. To show respect, one can add the addressee's last name after the salutation: "Good morning, Mr. Smith."


title: Morning

text: Morning prayer is a common practice in several religions. The morning period includes specific phases of the Liturgy of the Hours of Christianity.


title: Morning

text: For some, the word "morning" may refer to the period immediately following waking up, irrespective of the current time of day. This modern sense of "morning" is due largely to the worldwide spread of electricity, and the independence from natural light sources.


title: Morning

text: The morning period may be a period of enhanced or reduced energy and productivity. The ability of a person to wake up effectively in the morning may be influenced by a gene called "Period 3". This gene comes in two forms, a "long" and a "short" variant. It seems to affect the person's preference for mornings or evenings. People who carry the long variant were over-represented as morning people, while the ones carrying the short variant were evening preference people.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: "'" (), also known by its official title of "State Anthem of Ukraine" (, ") or by its shortened form "'" (, ), is the national anthem of Ukraine. It is one of the state symbols of the country.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The lyrics constitute a slightly modified version of the first stanza of a patriotic poem written in 1862 by the poet Pavlo Chubynsky, a prominent ethnographer from Kyiv. In 1863, Mykhailo Verbytsky, a western Ukrainian composer and Greek-Catholic priest, composed music to accompany Chubynsky's text. The first choral performance of the piece was at the Ukraine Theatre in Lviv, in 1864.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: In the first half of the 20th century, during unsuccessful attempts to gain independence and create a state from the territories of the Russian Empire, Poland, and Austria-Hungary, the song was the national anthem of the Ukrainian People's Republic, the West Ukrainian People's Republic, and Carpatho-Ukraine. A competition was held for a national anthem following Ukraine's secession from the Soviet Union, with one of the songs being "Za Ukrainu" () by the Ukrainian writer and actor Mykola Voronyi. "" was officially adopted by Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on 15 January 1992. The official lyrics were adopted on 6 March 2003 by the Law on the Anthem of Ukraine ().


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The Ukrainian national anthem can be traced back to one of the parties of the Ukrainian ethnographer and poet Pavlo Chubynsky that occurred during the autumn of 1862. Scholars think that the Polish national song "Poland Is Not Yet Lost" (""), which dates back to 1797, and which later became the national anthem of Poland and the Polish Legions, also had an influence on Chubynsky's lyrics. "" was popular among the nations of the former Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that were at that time fighting for their independence; the January Uprising started a few months after Chubynsky wrote his lyrics. According to a memoirist who was present, Chubynsky wrote the lyrics spontaneously while listening to Serbian students sing a hymn—possibly "Hey, Slavs", which is influenced by the Polish national anthem—during a gathering of Serbian and Ukrainian students in a Kyiv apartment.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: Chubynsky's words were rapidly taken up by the earliest Ukrainophiles. In 1862, the head gendarm Prince Vasily Dolgorukov exiled Chubynsky to Arkhangelsk Governorate for the "dangerous influence on the minds of commoners".


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The poem was first officially published in 1863, when it appeared in the fourth issue of the Lviv journal "; the journal mistakenly attributed the anthem to Taras Shevchenko. It became popular in the territories which now form part of Western Ukraine, and came to the attention of a member of the Ukrainian clergy, Mykhailo Verbytsky of the Greek-Catholic Church. Inspired by Chubynsky's poem, Verbytsky, then a prominent composer in Ukraine, decided to set it to music. The poem was first published with Verbytsky's sheet music In 1865. The first choral performance of the piece was in 1864 at the in Lviv.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The first recording of this anthem (then spelled "") in Ukrainian was released on a gramophone record by Columbia Phonograph Company during World War I in 1916. As a folk song it was performed by a Ukrainian emigrant from Lviv and New York resident Mychajlo Zazulak in 1915.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: Chubynsky's poem wasn't used as a state anthem until 1917, when it was adopted by the Ukrainian Republic. Still, even between 1917 and 1921, this anthem was not legislatively adopted as an exclusive state anthem as other anthems were also used at the time.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: In 1922, the Ukrainian SSR signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR with the Russian SFSR, Transcaucasian SFSR and Byelorussian SSR, which created the Soviet Union. Following the signing of the treaty, the anthem was banned by the Soviet regime. The authorities later decided that each separate Soviet republic could have its own anthem, but "" was rejected in an attempt to help to suppress separatist sentiments held by Ukrainian Nationalists. In 1939, "" was adopted as the official state anthem of Carpatho-Ukraine.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: After Joseph Stalin ordered The Internationale to be replaced with a new Soviet anthem in 1944, the other republics of the union were expected to produce their own as well. The Ukrainian government established a commission on the anthem in February 23, 1944. Soviet authorities, after a period of struggle, successfully persuaded public intellectuals to create an anthem with lyrics fitting their political interests and music sterile of any Ukrainian national elements. On February 23, the Ukrainian chairman Mykhailo Hrechukha started a meeting by reading a synopsis of the anthem-to-be in front of musicians and litterateurs: The Ukrainian nation's union with the Soviets were envisaged for the first stanza; the Ukrainian people, their struggles, and freedom under Lenin and Stalin were envisaged for the second stanza; Ukraine's economic and political flourishing in the union were envisaged for the third stanza. A refrain was conceived to be played after each stanza, which was considered as a paean to the union of the Soviet peoples and the reunited Ukraine following the Soviet annexation of Eastern Galicia and Volhynia.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: Composers worked on the score prior to the decision on the lyrics; by February 1945, 11 composers were selected as finalists. Anton Lebedynets' score won with an overwhelming majority vote and the score was adopted as the music of the new Soviet anthem in November 1949. Earlier in January 1948, the text of the author Pavlo Tychyna and co-author Mykola Bazhan won; due to plagiarism of his text, Oleksa Novytsky demanded to be listed as co-author, but to no avail. On November 21, 1949, the new anthem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted. Borys Yarovynsky edited and reorchestrated the anthem in 1979.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: On 15 January 1992, "Ukraine has not yet perished" was adopted by Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, as the national anthem, and was later instituted in the Ukrainian constitution. However, the lyrics for the anthem were not officially adopted until 6 March 2003, when the Verkhovna Rada passed a law on the state anthem of Ukraine (), proposed by then president Leonid Kuchma. The law proposed Mykhailo Verbytsky's music and Pavlo Chubynsky's first verse and refrain of his poem "". However, the first stanza of the anthem was to be changed from "" to "".


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The law was passed with an overwhelming majority of 334 votes out of 450, with only 46 MPs opposing. Only the members of Socialist Party of Ukraine and Communist Party of Ukraine refrained from voting. The passing of this law finalised Article 20 of the Constitution of Ukraine. The national anthem that up until then had only officially consisted of Mykhailo Verbytsky's music, would henceforth also include the modified lyrics of Pavlo Chubynsky.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The popularity of the Ukrainian anthem has become particularly high in the wake of the Orange Revolution protests of 2004 and Euromaidan of 2013. Ukrainian composer Valentyn Sylvestrov, who participated in Ukrainian protests in Kyiv, characterised the Ukrainian anthem thus:


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: During the Euromaidan protests of 2013, the anthem became a revolutionary song for the protesters. In the early weeks of the protests, they sang the national anthem once an hour, led by singer Ruslana. In "World Affairs", Nadia Diuk argues that the national anthem was used as "the clarion call of the 'revolution'" during Euromaidan, which added weight to protests that previous ones, such as the Orange Revolution, lacked. In a 2014 survey, after being asked "How has your attitude toward the following changed for the last year?", the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology found that the attitude towards the Ukrainian national anthem had "improved a lot" in 25.3% of Ukrainians.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many orchestras in Europe and North America performed the anthem in solidarity with Ukraine and its people. Sporting events in Europe and North America have also performed the anthem to show solidarity as well.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: "" reminds Ukrainians about its struggle for national self-identity and independence. It was sung as the de facto national anthem at the inauguration of the first President Leonid Kravchuk on 5 December 1991, but it was not until 6 March 2003 that Chubynsky's poem officially became a part of Ukraine's national anthem. The Constitution of Ukraine designated Verbytsky's music for the national anthem on 28 June 1996:


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: On 6 March 2003, the Verkhovna Rada officially adopted the anthem's lyrics, opting to use only the first verse and chorus from Chubynsky's original poem, while slightly modifying the first stanza. Instead of stating "Ukraine has not yet died, neither her glory, nor her freedom", the opening line now states "The glory of Ukraine has not yet died, nor the will".


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The first stanza of Chubynsky's original poem is somewhat similar to the first stanza of national anthems of Poland and Yugoslavia and "Hatikvah", the national anthem of Israel.


title: State Anthem of Ukraine

text: The song "", written as a "song of resistance" during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, is inspired by the opening motif of the Ukrainian national anthem.


title: Exotic pet

text: An exotic pet is a pet which is relatively rare or unusual to keep, or is generally thought of as a wild species rather than as a domesticated pet. The definition varies by culture, location, and over time—as animals become firmly enough established in the world of animal fancy, they may no longer be considered "exotic".


title: Exotic pet

text: The definition is an evolving one; some rodents, reptiles, and amphibians have become firmly enough established in the world of animal fancy to no longer be considered exotic. Sometimes any unique or wild-looking pet (including common domestic animals such as the ferret and the rat) is considered an exotic pet.


title: Exotic pet

text: "Exotic" often refers to a species which is not native or indigenous to the owner's locale, and "pet" is a companion animal living with people. However, many use the term to include native species as well (e.g., snakes may sometimes be considered exotic as pets even in places where they are found in the wild). The international organization the American College of Zoological Medicine has defined the exotics group as "zoological companion animals". Legally, the definition is subject to local jurisdiction.


title: Exotic pet

text: In the United States, the Code of Federal Regulations (9 CFR 1.1), says that the term "pet animal" means "any animal that has commonly been kept as a pet in family households in the U.S., such as dogs, cats, guinea pigs, rabbits, and hamsters", and further says that (emphasis added) ""This term excludes exotic animals and wild animals."" It defines "exotic animal", in part, as "[An animal] that is native to a foreign country or of foreign origin or character, is not native to the United States, or was introduced from abroad."


title: Exotic pet

text: An extremely wide variety of animals have been kept as pets (at least in rare instances) or as farm stock. Below is a list of some animals that are kept in captivity at home and are considered a little or extremely "exotic". Where examples are provided within a category, the examples are the animals that are "relatively commonly" kept as pets in captivity at home within that category (although such animals as goldfish, mice, and parakeets may not really be considered very "exotic").


title: Exotic pet

text: When a person owns a collection of enough exotic pets, the property that they keep the animals on, is usually referred to as a private zoo or a menagerie. As with exotic pets in general, laws about private zoos varies by country, state, county and/or territory. Often times, which people are allowed to view and/or interact with the animals, depends on the owner. Because it usually requires a great deal of financial support for displaying exotic animals which were uncommon, difficult to acquire, and expensive to maintain in a living and active state, private zoos are at times seen as a status symbol that upper class people can use to illustrate their power and wealth. In the criminal underworld, crime bosses/drug lords are also known to have private zoos, in order to show how successful they have become in organized crime. The most well-known example of such is Hacienda Nápoles.


title: Exotic pet

text: The Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, or CITES, moderates the trade of some exotic pets around the world, to prevent any threats to their survival and ecological damage. Certain animals may be strictly regulated or restricted outright due to both their conservation status, as well as the possibility of the animal becoming an invasive species.


title: Exotic pet

text: The USDA issues permits for keeping and breeding certain exotic species, whether captured from the wild or bred. In the United States, for example, it is illegal to import primates for the pet trade, but animals bred in captivity exist in the trade, using animals descended from those brought in legally before the ban was enacted. As of September 2014, most US states forbid or regulate the possession of exotic pets, but 5 states have no license or permit requirements.


title: Exotic pet

text: In 2003, the US Captive Wild Animal Safety Act (CWASA) became law, and in September 2007 the US Fish and Wildlife Service enacted rules to enforce it. The law bans the sale or transport of big cats across state lines for the pet trade, and applies to cheetahs, cougars, jaguars, leopards, clouded leopards, snow leopards, lions, tigers, and their hybrids.


title: Exotic pet

text: Illegally transporting exotic pets is also known as wildlife smuggling, and the industry generates an estimated $7 to $23 billion (USD) each year.


title: Exotic pet

text: While there are many ways that live animals are smuggled across borders, there are often heavy losses due to the methods of transportation; many species of small animals can be piled into tiny, and usually airtight, containers and often die as a result. In one example of smuggling, slow lorises trafficked from Indonesia have their teeth removed prior to being sold locally, or exported to Japan or Russia. The animals are not given any pain relievers during their surgeries.


title: Exotic pet

text: International treaties (such as CITES) have been established to combat the illegal sale and transport of vulnerable animals and plants, but failure to properly enforce these regulations leave many loopholes for the illegal trade to continue. For example, the United States has both signed CITES during its creation as well as created its own national laws against the import and sale of elephant ivory, but as of 2008 it was found to be the second largest importer of it behind China.


title: Exotic pet

text: Historically, trade in exotic pets has been known to drive the destruction and extinction of animals in the wild. To a much smaller extent, this holds today: one of the major factors behind the status of the slow loris is the fact it is often kept locally as a pet, or traded to Japan.


title: Exotic pet

text: However, with captive breeding of exotic animals becoming more prevalent, fewer and fewer animals are being captured from the wild.


title: Exotic pet

text: Social media has influenced the increase of exotic animals being traded. Many videos online depict exotic animals being kept in a domestic environment, influencing more people to consider adopting exotic pets. However, these videos are mostly distorted and do not acknowledge the several negative side effects that come with owning an exotic pet.


title: Exotic pet

text: Veterinary costs for treatment of exotic animals may be significantly higher than for a more conventional pet, owing to the increased specialization required.


title: Exotic pet

text: Zoonotic disease is known to occur in a small number of exotic pets. The American Veterinary Medical Association, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the National Animal Control Association, the American Zoo and Aquarium Association and the CDC all discourage the private ownership of certain exotic animals. Animals that are captive-bred in the United States have no risk of contracting any harmful disease as they are not exposed to it in any way.


title: Exotic pet

text: In the UK, voluntary organizations such as the "NCRW" (National Centre for Reptile Welfare) and "SEEPR" (South East Exotic Pet Rescue) take in unwanted, ill, or lost exotic animals and nurse them back to full health before rehoming them.


title: Exotic pet

text: Providing appropriate environmental conditions, housing and diet for an exotic animal may be difficult for several reasons:


title: Exotic pet

text: However, captive care and husbandry information for many commonly kept amphibians, reptiles, birds, and small exotic mammals are widely available through literature, animal enthusiast groups, and Internet websites and discussion forums.


title: Exotic pet

text: Exotic animals retain their unpredictable wild nature, with some being physically capable of maiming or killing their owners. Mammals are the most likely exotic pets to injure or kill humans, with non-human primates topping the list.


title: Exotic pet

text: Even if they are bred for the pet trade and raised by humans, they may be unpredictable, relatively resistant to training; in some cases, especially as full-grown adults, they can be dangerous. Injuries to humans may be relatively common, but reported yearly deaths due to exotic pet ownership are rare. Statistics compiled by an advocacy organization indicate a yearly average of less than 3.5 fatalities per year in the United States; and another lists 87 exotic animal incidents resulting in human death from June 20, 1990 to April 15, 2016.


title: Exotic pet

text: It has been estimated that as many as 15,000 primates are kept by private individuals as pets in the United States. Nine states ban the keeping of non-human primates, but no federal law regulates ownership. In 1975, the Center for Disease Control prohibited their import into the US for use as pets. The breeding industry uses descendants of animals imported before 1975. Non-human primates of various species, including those listed as endangered, such as cottontop tamarins, baboons, chimpanzees, Diana monkeys, lemurs and gibbons are still available for purchase in the US, although due to captive breeding, this does not affect wild populations. For example, chimpanzees are popular in some areas despite their strength, aggression, and wild nature. Even in areas where keeping primates as pets is illegal, the exotic pet trade continues to prosper and some people keep chimpanzees as pets mistakenly believing that they will bond with them for life. As they grow, so do their strength and aggression; some owners and others interacting with the animals have lost fingers and suffered severe facial damage among other injuries sustained in attacks.


title: Exotic pet

text: Many professionals, including veterinarians, zoologists, humane societies and others, strongly discourage the keeping of primates as pets, as their complex emotional and social needs and other highly specialized requirements may be difficult to meet by the average owner.


title: Exotic pet

text: Although the breeding population has been largely isolated from wild populations outside the US, they still have the potential to transmit zoonotic disease. There is a considerable risk of monkey B virus from rhesus macaques. Research workers have died from this disease contracted from non-human primate research subjects. Additionally, there is considerable risk to the non-human primate pet through transmission of human disease. One such example is herpes simplex virus, which can be deadly to certain smaller monkeys.


title: Exotic pet

text: Small exotic pets include marsupials like Chacoan pygmy opossums and sugar gliders, as well as other mammals like ferrets, hedgehogs and flying squirrels. North American opossums are sometimes kept as pets. More common animals like rabbits are not considered exotic. Small non-mammalian animals such as reptiles, birds, fish, and amphibians—e.g. lizards, snakes, turtles, goldfish, canaries, frogs and axolotls—are kept as pets.


title: Exotic pet

text: Many small exotic pets are prohibited in certain areas for being invasive; California, Hawaii, and New Zealand have strict regulations to protect their native environments and agricultural operations. Ferrets, sugar gliders, and hedgehogs have various prohibitions on their ownership.


title: Exotic pet

text: Ferrets have a high metabolic rate, meaning they can eat around 8 to 10 small meals daily. They are carnivorous, like cats, so they need a high protein intake which can be satisfied using pellets. Chicken and lamb are common ingredients in ferret food, it is best to avoid foods that include grain or corn. In the wild, ferrets commonly take over the burrows of other small animals such as prairie dogs. Domestic ferrets live in cages, but should be let out for several hours each day. Domestic ferrets enjoy having many places to hide and explore, such as tunnels and closed hammocks. Some ferrets may also enjoy playing in water. As natural predators, ferrets should be kept separate from any prey animals. Like many other pocket pets, ferrets are social animals and thrive in groups of two or three. A ferret kept on its own will require more attention from its owner than a ferret who has the constant company of his own species. Female ferrets reach sexual maturity at around 8 –12 months of age. A ferret gives birth to an average of 8 kits; gestation lasts about 41 days.


title: Exotic pet

text: Around the world, the sugar glider is popular as an exotic pet, and is sometimes considered a pocket pet. Most US states and cities allow sugar gliders as pets, with some exceptions including California, Hawaii, Alaska, and New York City. In Australia, sugar gliders can be kept in Victoria, South Australia, and the Northern Territory. However, they are not allowed to be kept as pets in Western Australia, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Queensland or Tasmania.


title: Exotic pet

text: Sugar gliders are social animals commonly living in groups of around 7 individuals. They communicate through vocalization and chemical odors and commonly live in trees. Male gliders become mature at 4–12 weeks and female gliders mature at 8–12 weeks. Breeding takes place in June to November and the glider gives birth to one child, or joey, although having twins is possible. The joey spends 2 months in the pouch only opening its eyes 80 days after birth. Male gliders do all the parental care and after 110 days the joey is ready to leave the nest. Sugar gliders are omnivorous relying on the consumption of insects in the summer. Gliders can also eat arthropods, sap, honeydew, and nectar from plants. Sugar gliders eat around 11 grams of food a day, 10 percent of their body weight.


title: Exotic pet

text: Seventeen species of hedgehog exist worldwide. Hedgehogs are native in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and central Asia. They were introduced to New Zealand by England and quickly became an invasive species. Hedgehogs are omnivorous and threaten insect, snail, lizard, and bird populations due to a lack of natural predators in New Zealand. Hedgehogs may tighten the orbicularis muscle on their back to hide their head, legs, and belly in a coat of prickly erect spines. Hedgehogs are primarily nocturnal, though some may be crepuscular. Hedgehogs typically take refuge in the empty burrow of another small animal, or a burrow they dug themselves. However, hedgehogs can occasionally take refuge under rocks or in thick vegetation, or anywhere dark and secluded. Hedgehogs tend to be solitary, though not to the extent of hamsters. Some captive bred females crave the companionship of another hedgehog and occasionally show bonding tendencies when housed with another female; male hedgehogs should not be housed together as they will fight once they reach sexual maturity.


title: Exotic pet

text: Hedgehogs were considered insectivores prior to that classification's abandonment. Presently, hedgehogs are classified as omnivorous. Hedgehogs have been known to eat bugs, slugs, frogs, fish, worms, small mice, small snakes, and even fruits and vegetables. A hedgehog's diet should be very high in protein. Hedgehogs can eat fruits and vegetables but only in moderation. Despite their small size Hedgehogs require a large cage with bedding and plenty of furniture to hide in and explore. Hedgehogs have a gestation period of about 35 days, and give birth to, on average, 4 deaf and blind young hoglets. At three to five weeks old the young leave the nest for the first time to go hunting on their own.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Planet Coaster is a construction and management simulation video game developed and published by Frontier Developments for Microsoft Windows. It was released worldwide on 17 November 2016. Frontier had previously worked in the amusement park construction and management genre with "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3" (to which "Planet Coaster" is a spiritual successor), "Thrillville", "", and "Zoo Tycoon". A version for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S, known as Planet Coaster: Console Edition, was released worldwide on 10 November 2020. The PlayStation 5 version was released in North America and Australia on 12 November 2020 and in Europe on 19 November 2020. A macOS version, developed by Aspyr, was later released on 17 November 2020 on both Steam and Mac App Store.


title: Planet Coaster

text: There are four different modes in the game, namely Sandbox, Challenge, Career, and Scenario Editor. In the career mode, players assume the role of a theme park manager and must complete tasks such as constructing unfinished roller coasters or hiring janitors. In Sandbox mode, players are tasked to construct their own theme park on an empty plot of land. The challenge mode is similar to the sandbox mode, but with added difficulty, as players need to take funds into account. The Scenario Mode, which was added in the 1.4.0 update on 22 November 2017, is similar to career mode, but allow player customise their own task in all saved parks.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Originally called "Coaster Park Tycoon", the game was revealed on 29 January 2015 and was renamed during E3 2015. "Planet Coaster" is Frontier's second self-published franchise, following "Elite Dangerous". Frontier organised multiple alpha and beta tests before launching the game in November 2016. The game was supported with free as well as paid post-release downloadable content upon launch. The title received positive reviews upon release, with critics praising the game's sandbox mode and creation tools. Criticism was mainly directed to the game's career mode. It was a commercial success, with more than 2.5 million copies sold as of January 2020.


title: Planet Coaster

text: "Planet Coaster" is a construction and management simulation video game. Similar to its spiritual predecessor, the game allows players to build different theme park rides and roller-coasters. These player-created attractions can be shared through a mechanic called "global village". The game also comes with ten mascots.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Before starting the game on the computer version, the player must create their own avatar. This game function though, is not used or even done in the Console versions. Afterward, the player is able to choose between four game modes: sandbox, challenge, career, and scenario editor.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Similar to Frontier's previous game, "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3", the Sandbox Mode enables players to construct their own theme park on an empty plot of land. In Sandbox Mode, all features and rides of the game are unlocked and the player's funds are unlimited. This is the mode most players use to create items (parks, coasters, scenery, etc.) and then post them to Steam's Planet Coaster Workshop (not available for Mac App Store version), or the Frontier Workshop on the console versions.


title: Planet Coaster

text: In the Challenge Mode, the player must construct an amusement park on an empty lot (similar to Sandbox Mode) but with limited funds and research depending on chosen difficulty—Easy, Medium, or Hard. As the player develops their park, the game presents the player with challenges that the player must accept or decline. Upon completion of a challenge, the player is given a reward such as a park rating boost or a sum of money.


title: Planet Coaster

text: In the Career Mode, the player must complete objectives such as constructing roller coasters, achieving park ratings or hiring janitors. Similar to "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3", Career Mode allows players to progress by completing scenarios with objectives in different difficulties.


title: Planet Coaster

text: First unveiled at EGX 2016, the game also features a dedicated mode called the "crash mode" which allows players to construct incomplete coasters and let them crash into the park's visitors.


title: Planet Coaster

text: On 26 April 2017, Frontier revealed the existence of several cheat codes that were previously undiscovered on their official forums. These included the ability to drive go-karts and the ability for security guards to plough through guests similar to a bulldozer.


title: Planet Coaster

text: On 22 November 2017, the Scenario Editor mode was added in 1.4.0 update, which same to Career Mode, but allow player customize their own objectives in all saved parks, then post them to Steam's Planet Coaster Workshop.


title: Planet Coaster

text: The console edition has various differences from the PC/Mac version, such as a tutorial, a revamped career mode with voice acting, and a counter that tells the player how much they can place in their park.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Before the development of "Planet Coaster", Frontier Developments had developed several other construction and management simulation video games, including 2004's commercial and critical success "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3", which sold over 10 million copies. "Planet Coaster" serves only as a spiritual successor to "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3" instead of a direct sequel, as the company considered the use of the brand "Tycoon" "didn't carry the cachet anymore" due to the releases of mainly poorly-received "Tycoon" games in recent years. In a December 2016 interview with Cambridge News, David Walsh (the Chief Operating Officer of Frontier Developments) said that the success of "Elite Dangerous"


title: Planet Coaster

text: enabled the company "to bring Planet Coaster to the market, which is highly significant as it demonstrates we are not a single game company”. Frontier Developments spent £6 million on the game's development and an additional £1.5 million on marketing.


title: Planet Coaster

text: The game was announced on 29 January 2015 by Frontier Developments. Originally called "Coaster Park Tycoon", the game was renamed into "Planet Coaster" on 16 June 2015 during the PC Gaming Show at E3 2015. Frontier Developments aimed to turn the game into the company's second self-published franchise, along with the "Elite" series. The game uses an advanced version of Cobra Engine, which is an in-house proprietary engine developed by Frontier previously used by games like "Elite Dangerous" and "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3". Features confirmed for the game include a hybrid spline/piece-by-piece coaster builder, modular structure building, a voxel terrain editor among others detailed through Q&A's and "Dev Diaries." On the second live stream, the release date of the alpha was announced. Released on 22 March 2016, the alpha emphasized on modular building and paths. The alpha contained two themes: "Planet Coaster" and "Pirate". Although disabled by default, Coaster Building was included in the first alpha through a cheat code.


title: Planet Coaster

text: On 24 May 2016, Frontier released the second alpha build. This build included finances, terrain tools, improved path building, and the official release of a coaster builder. Also, on 25 August, Frontier discontinued further alpha purchases. On 24 September, Frontier announced at EGX 2016 that players who had pre-ordered the "Thrillseeker Edition" would be able to test the game that October. At Gamescom 2016, Frontier announced that the game would be released on 17 November 2016. The game was released with Denuvo's anti-tamper technology.


title: Planet Coaster

text: To record the audio for the game, sound designer Watson Wu took over the Holiday World & Splashin' Safari theme park in Santa Claus, Indiana, to record the sounds of various attractions. Guests in the park and park staff speak their own fictional language, known as "Planco". According to James Stant, Frontier's senior audio designer, the language contains about 7,000 words. After the game's release, Frontier Developments released an official Planco dictionary.


title: Planet Coaster

text: "Planet Coaster" features an adaptive soundtrack composed by Jim Guthrie and JJ Ipsen, released under the album titled "You, Me & Gravity: The Music of Planet Coaster". Additionally, players may upload their own sound files to use in their parks.


title: Planet Coaster

text: On 21 July 2017, Frontier launched paid downloadable content for the game featuring props inspired by "Back to the Future", "Knight Rider", and "The Munsters".


title: Planet Coaster

text: In August 2017, Frontier partnered with Cedar Point to provide an in-game version of the park's upcoming Steel Vengeance roller coaster before the ride officially opened in 2018.


title: Planet Coaster

text: On 21 September 2018, Frontier announced the "Thememaker's Toolkit". This toolkit will enable players to import custom 3D models into "Planet Coaster" itself. This was released on 20 November.


title: Planet Coaster

text: The game was met with praise upon release of the alpha. Andy Kelly of "PC Gamer" commented that Frontier was "off to a tremendous start", adding that creating buildings with the creation tools hinted at "immense possibilities". However, Mark Walton of "Ars Technica" noted several small flaws including the "hard to navigate" menus and the lack of custom built roller coasters. On 27 April 2016, about a month after the release of the alpha, Frontier announced that "Planet Coaster" had grossed nearly two million dollars.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Matt Wales of "Eurogamer" recommended the game, concluding that the game is "the finest simulator yet". Meanwhile, Ben Reeves of "Game Informer" praised the game for its creative mode but criticized the game's career mode, referring to it as "boring" and "tedious". TJ Hafer of "IGN" compared the game's integration of Steam Workshop to "Minecraft" and "Second Life". Edmond Tran of "GameSpot" praised the game for its accessible creative tools and for its evocative tone. Jonathan Leack of "Game Revolution" claimed that the game "resurrected the [theme park simulation] genre". In a critical review of the game, Jody Macgregor of "PC Gamer" praised the game's challenge mode but criticized the game for not innovating enough from "RollerCoaster Tycoon 3". The original score (70/100) was retracted due to miscommunication between Frontier Developments and "PC Gamer" with the game version they received; its reevaluated score is 75/100. Patrick Hancock of Destructoid noted that the game suffers frame rate issues in larger parks. Furthermore, "Edge" noted that the game's "fiddly" camera makes some actions harder.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Many fans made favourable comparisons to "RollerCoaster Tycoon World", which received largely negative reviews.


title: Planet Coaster

text: Upon release, the game topped the Steam "top sellers" charts. The game sold over 400,000 copies in the first month of its release. Despite being released in the later part of the year, "Planet Coaster" was featured on Steam's "Top 100 Best Sellers of 2016" chart as a "silver tier" game. In August 2017, the game sold its one millionth copy. In July 2018, a leak in Valve API revealed that over 1.68 million Steam users owned "Planet Coaster". Two million copies of the games were sold by January 2019. As of January 2020, 2.5 million copies of the game had been sold.


title: Basement

text: A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, car park, and air-conditioning system are located; so also are amenities such as the electrical system and cable television distribution point. In cities with high property prices, such as London, basements are often fitted out to a high standard and used as living space.


title: Basement

text: In British English, the word "basement" is usually used for underground floors of, for example, department stores. The word is usually used with houses when the space below the ground floor is habitable, with windows and (usually) its own access. The word "cellar" applies to the whole underground level or to any large underground room. A "subcellar" is a cellar that lies further underneath.


title: Basement

text: A basement can be used in almost exactly the same manner as an additional above-ground floor of a house or other building. However, the use of basements depends largely on factors specific to a particular geographical area such as climate, soil, seismic activity, building technology, and real estate economics.


title: Basement

text: Basements in small buildings such as single-family detached houses are rare in wet climates such as Great Britain and Ireland where flooding can be a problem, though they may be used in larger structures. However, basements are considered standard on all but the smallest new buildings in many places with temperate continental climates such as the American Midwest and the Canadian Prairies where a concrete foundation below the frost line is needed in any case, to prevent a building from shifting during the freeze-thaw cycle. Basements are much easier to construct in areas with relatively soft soils and may be avoided in places where the soil is too compact for easy excavation. Their use may be restricted in earthquake zones, because of the possibility of the upper floors collapsing into the basement; on the other hand, they may be required in tornado-prone areas as a shelter against violent winds. Adding a basement can also reduce heating and cooling costs as it is a form of earth sheltering, and a way to reduce a building's surface area-to-volume ratio. The housing density of an area may also influence whether or not a basement is considered necessary.


title: Basement

text: Historically, basements have become much easier to build (in developed countries) since the industrialization of home building. Large powered excavation machines such as backhoes and front-end loaders have dramatically reduced the time and manpower needed to dig a basement as compared to digging by hand with a spade, although this method may still be used in the developing world.


title: Basement

text: For most of its early history, the basement took one of two forms. It could be little more than a cellar, or it could be a section of a building containing rooms and spaces similar to those of the rest of the structure, as in the case of basement flats and basement offices.


title: Basement

text: However, beginning with the development of large, mid-priced suburban homes in the 1950s, the basement, as a space in its own right, gradually took hold. Initially, it was typically a large, concrete-floored space, accessed by indoor stairs, with exposed columns and beams along the walls and ceilings, or sometimes, walls of poured concrete or concrete cinder block.


title: Basement

text: An English basement, also known as a daylight basement or lower ground floor, is contained in a house where at least part of the floor goes above ground to provide reasonably-sized windows. Generally, the floor's ceiling should be enough above ground to provide nearly full-size windows. Some daylight basements are located on slopes, such that one portion of the floor is at-grade with the land. A walk-out basement almost always results from this.


title: Basement

text: Most daylight basements naturally result from raised bungalows and at-grade walk-out basements. However, there are instances where the terrain dips enough from one side to another to allow for 3/4 to full-size windows, with the actual floor remaining below grade.


title: Basement

text: In most parts of North America, it is legal to set up apartments and bedrooms in daylight basements, whether or not the entire basement is above grade.


title: Basement

text: Daylight basements can be used for several purposes—as a garage, as maintenance rooms, or as living space. The buried portion is often used for storage, laundry room, hot water tanks, and HVAC.


title: Basement

text: Daylight basement homes typically appraise higher than standard-basement homes, since they include more viable living spaces. In some parts of the US, however, the appraisal for daylight basement space is half that of ground and above ground level square footage. Designs accommodated include split-foyer and split-level homes. Garages on both levels are sometimes possible. As with any multilevel home, there are savings on roofing and foundations.


title: Basement

text: A walk-out basement is any basement that is partially underground but nonetheless allows egress directly outdoors and has floating walls. This can either be through a stairwell leading above ground, or a door directly outside if a portion of the basement is completely at or above grade.


title: Basement

text: Many walk-out basements are also daylight basements. The only exceptions are when the entire basement is nearly entirely underground, and a stairwell leads up nearly a floor's worth of vertical height to lead to the outdoors.


title: Basement

text: Generally, basements with only an emergency exit well do not count as walk-out. Walk-out basements with at-grade doors on one side typically are more costly to construct since the foundation is still constructed to reach below the frost line. At-grade walk-out basements on the door-side are often used as livable space for the house, with the buried portion used for utilities and storage.


title: Basement

text: A subbasement is a floor below the basement floor. In the homes where there is any type of basement mentioned above, such as a look-out basement, all of the volume of the subbasements from floor to ceiling are located well below ground. Therefore, subbasements have no windows nor an outside door. In the homes that have subbasements, all of the basement can be used as part of the main home where people relax and do recreational things, while all of the subbasement can be used for storage. Subbasements are much more common in larger structures, such as commercial buildings and larger apartment buildings, than they are in single family homes. It is common for skyscrapers to have multiple subbasements.


title: Basement

text: Building a subbasement is more difficult, costly, and time-consuming than building a basement as the lowest floor. Subbasements are even more susceptible to flooding and water damage than basements and are therefore rare, except in dry climates and at higher elevations.


title: Basement

text: Some famous landmarks contain subbasements. The subbasement of the US Capitol Building is used as storage and that in the White House is used to store guest items.


title: Basement

text: According to the international "Oxford Dictionary of English", a finished fully underground cellar is a room below ground level in a house that is often used for the storage of wine or coal; it may also refer to the stock of wine itself. A cellar is intended to remain at a constant cool (not freezing) temperature all year round and usually has either a small window/opening or some form of air ventilation (air/draught bricks, etc.) in order to help eliminate damp or stale air. Cellars are more common in the United Kingdom in older houses, with most terraced housing built during late 19th and early 20th centuries having cellars. These were important shelters from air raids during World War II. In parts of North America that are prone to tornadoes (e.g. Tornado Alley), cellars still serve as shelter in the event of a direct hit on the house from a tornado or other storm damage caused by strong winds.


title: Basement

text: Except for Britain, Australia and New Zealand, cellars are popular in most western countries. In the United Kingdom, almost all new homes built since the 1960s have no cellar or basement due to the extra cost of digging down further into the sub-soil and a requirement for much deeper foundations and waterproof tanking. The reverse has recently become common, where the impact of smaller home-footprints has led to roof-space being utilised for further living space and now many new homes are built with third-floor living accommodation. For this reason, especially where lofts have been converted into living space, people tend to use garages for the storage of food freezers, tools, bicycles, garden and outdoor equipment. The majority of continental European houses have cellars, although a large proportion of people live in apartments or flats rather than houses. In North America, cellars usually are found in rural or older homes on the coasts and in the South. However, full basements are commonplace in new houses in the Canadian and American Midwest and other areas subject to tornado activity or requiring foundations below the frost line.


title: Basement

text: An underground crawl space (as the name implies) is a type of basement in which one cannot stand up—the height may be as little as one foot (30 cm), and the surface is often soil. Crawl spaces offer a convenient access to pipes, substructures and a variety of other areas that may be difficult or expensive to access otherwise. While a crawl space cannot be used as living space, it can be used as storage, often for infrequently used items. Care must be taken in doing so, however, as water from the damp ground, water vapour (entering from crawl space vents), and moisture seeping through porous concrete can create a perfect environment for mold/mildew to form on any surface in the crawl space, especially cardboard boxes, wood floors and surfaces, drywall and some types of insulation.


title: Basement

text: Health and safety issues must be considered when installing a crawl space. As air warms in a home, it rises and leaves through the upper regions of the house, much in the same way that air moves through a chimney. This phenomenon, called the "stack effect", causes the home to suck air up from the crawl space into the main area of the home. Mould spores, decomposition odours, and material from dust mites in the crawl space can come up with the air, aggravating asthma and other breathing problems, and creating a variety of health concerns.


title: Basement

text: It is usually desirable to finish a crawl space with a plastic vapour barrier that will not support mold growth or allow humidity from the earth into the crawl space. This helps insulate the crawl space and discourages the habitation of insects and vermin by breaking the ecological chain in which insects feed off the mould and vermin feed on the insects, as well as creating a physical inorganic barrier that deters entrance into the space. Vapour barriers can end at the wall or be run up the wall and fastened to provide even more protection against moisture infiltration. Some pest control agencies recommend against covering the walls, as it complicates their job of inspection and spraying. Almost unheard of as late as the 1990s, vapour barriers are becoming increasingly popular in recent years. In fact, the more general area of conditioned vs. unconditioned crawl spaces has seen much research over the last decade.


title: Basement

text: Dry rot and other conditions detrimental to buildings (particularly wood and timber structures) can develop in enclosed spaces. Providing adequate ventilation is thought to reduce the occurrence of these problems. Crawl space vents are openings in the wall which allow air movement. Such vents are usually fitted with metal grating, mesh, or louvers which can block the movement of rodents and vermin but generally not insects such as termites and carpenter ants. One common rule is to provide vents in cross sectional area equal to 1/150 of the floor area served.


title: Basement

text: Modern crawl space thinking has reconsidered the usage of crawl space vents in the home. While crawl space vents do allow outside air to ventilate into the home, the ability of that air to dry out the crawl space is debatable. In areas with humid summers, during the summer months, the air vented into a crawl space will be humid, and as it enters the crawl space, which has been cooled naturally by the earth, the relative humidity of the air will rise. In those cases, crawl space vents can even increase the humidity level of a crawl space and lead to condensation on cool surfaces within, such as metal and wood. In the winter, crawl space vents should be shut off entirely, to keep out the cold winter air which can cool hot water pipes, furnaces, and water heaters stored within. During rainy weather, crawl space vents bring wet air into the crawl space, which will not dry the space effectively.


title: Basement

text: Structurally, for houses, the basement walls typically form the foundation. In warmer climates, some houses do not have basements because they are not necessary (although many still prefer them). In colder climates, the foundation must be below the frost line. Unless constructed in very cold climates, the frost line is not so deep as to justify an entire level below the ground, although it is usually deep enough that a basement is the assumed standard. In places with oddly stratified soil substrata or high water tables, such as most of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and areas within of the Gulf of Mexico, basements are usually not financially feasible unless the building is a large apartment or commercial structure.


title: Basement

text: Excavation using a backhoe or excavator is commonly used to dig a basement. If shelf rock is discovered, the need for blasting may be cost prohibitive. Basement walls may need to have the surrounding earth backfilled around them to return the soil to grade. A water stop, some gravel and a french drain may need to be used to prevent water from entering the basement at the bottom of the wall. Walls below grade may need to be sealed with an impervious coating (such as tar) to prevent water seepage. A polyethylene of about 6 mil (visqueen) serves as a water barrier underneath the basement.


title: Basement

text: Some designs elect to simply leave a crawl space under the house, rather than a full basement due to structural challenges. Most other designs justify further excavations to create a full-height basement, sufficient for another level of living space. Even so, basements in Canada and the northern United States were typically only in height, rather than the standard full of the main floors. Older homes may have even lower basement heights as the basement walls were concrete block and thus, could be customized to any height. Modern builders offer higher basements as an option. The cost of the additional depth of excavation is usually quite expensive. Thus, houses almost certainly never have multi-storey basements though basements heights are a frequent choice among new home buyers. For large office or apartment buildings in prime locations, the cost of land may justify multi-storey basement parking garages.


title: Basement

text: The concrete floor in most basements is structurally not part of the foundation; only the basement walls are. If there are posts supporting a main floor beam to form a post and beam system, these posts typically go right through the basement floor to a footing underneath the basement floor. It is the footing that supports the post and the footing is part of the house foundation. Load-bearing wood-stud walls rest directly on the concrete floor. Under the concrete floor is typically gravel or crushed stone to facilitate draining. The floor is typically four inches (100 mm) thick and it rests on top of the foundation footings. The floor is typically sloped towards a drain point, in case of leaks.


title: Basement

text: Modern construction for basement walls typically falls into one of two categories: they will be made of poured-in-place concrete using concrete forms with a concrete pump, or they will use concrete masonry units (block walls). Rock may also be used, but is less common. In monolithic architecture, large parts of the building are made of concrete; in insulating concrete form construction, the concrete walls may be hidden with an exterior finish or siding. Inside the structure, a single Lally column, steel basement jack, wooden column or support post may hold up the floor above in a small basement. A series of these supports may be necessary for large basements; many basements have the support columns exposed.


title: Basement

text: Since warm air rises, basements are typically cooler than the rest of the house. In summer, this makes basements damp, due to the higher relative humidity. Dehumidifiers are recommended. In winter, additional heating, such as a fireplace or baseboard heaters may be required. A well-defined central heating system may minimize this requirement. Heating ducts typically run in the ceiling of the basement (since there is not an empty floor below to run the ducts). Ducts extending from the ceiling down to the floor help heat the cold floors of the basement. Older or cheaper systems may simply have the heating vent in the ceiling of the basement.


title: Basement

text: The finished floor is typically raised off the concrete basement floor. In countries such as Canada, laminate flooring is an exception: It is typically separated from the concrete by only a thin foam underlay. Radiant heating systems may be embedded within the concrete floor. Even if unfinished and unoccupied, basements are heated in order to ensure relative warmth of the floor above, and to prevent water supply pipes, drains, etc. from freezing and bursting in winter. It is recommended that the basement walls be insulated to the frost line. In Canada, the walls of a finished basement are typically insulated to the floor with vapor barriers to prevent moisture transmission. However, a finished basement should avoid wood or wood-laminate flooring, and metal framing and other moisture resistant products should be used. Finished basements can be costly to maintain due to deterioration of waterproofing materials or lateral earth movement etc. Below-ground structures will never be as dry as one above ground, and measures must be taken to circulate air and dehumidify the area.


title: Basement

text: Basement floor drains that connect to sanitary sewers need to be filled regularly to prevent the trap from drying out and sewer gas from escaping into the basement. The drain trap can be topped up automatically by the condensation from air conditioners or high-efficiency furnaces. A small tube from another downpipe is sometimes used to keep the trap from drying out. Health Canada advocates the use of special radon gas traps for floor drains that lead to soil or to a sealed sump pump. In areas where storm and sanitary sewers are combined, and there is the risk of flooding and sewage backing up, backwater valves in all basement drains may be mandated by code and definitely are recommended even if not mandated.


title: Basement

text: The main water cut-off valve is usually in the basement. Basements often have "clean outs" for the sanitary and storm sewers, where these pipes can be accessed. The storm sewer access is only needed where the weeping tiles drain into the storm sewers.


title: Basement

text: Other than with walk-out or look-out basements, windows in basements require a well and are below grade. A clear window well cover may be required to keep the window wells from accumulating rain water. There should be drains in the window well, connected to the foundation drains.


title: Basement

text: If the water table outside the basement is above the height of the basement floor, then the foundation drains or the weeping tiles outside the footings may be insufficient to keep the basement dry. A sump pump may be required. It can be located anywhere and is simply in a well that is deeper than the basement floor.


title: Basement

text: Even with functioning sump pumps or low water tables, basements may become wet after rainfall, due to improper drainage. The ground next to the basement must be graded such that water flows away from the basement wall. Downspouts from roof gutters should drain freely into the storm sewer or directed away from the house. Downspouts should not be connected to the foundation draintiles. If the draintiles become clogged by leaves or debris from the rain gutters, the roof water would cause basement flooding through the draintile. Damp-proofing or waterproofing materials are typically applied to outside of the basement wall. It is virtually impossible to make a concrete wall waterproof, over the long run, so drainage is the key. There are draining membranes that can be applied to the outside of the basement that create channels for water against the basement wall to flow to the foundation drains.


title: Basement

text: Where drainage is inadequate, waterproofing may be needed. There are numerous ways to waterproof a basement, but most systems fall into one of three categories:


title: Basement

text: The waterproofing system can be applied to the inside or the outside walls of a basement. When waterproofing existing basements it is much cheaper to waterproof the basement on the inside. Waterproofing on the outside requires the expense of excavation, but does offer a number of advantages for a homeowner over the long term. Among them are:


title: Basement

text: The unfinished design, found principally in spaces larger than the traditional cellar, is common in residences throughout the U.S. and Canada. One usually finds within it a water heater, various pipes running along the ceiling and downwards to the floor, and sometimes a workbench, a freezer or refrigerator, or a washer/dryer set. Boxes of various materials, and objects unneeded in the rest of the house, are also often stored there; in this regard, the unfinished basement takes the place both of the cellar and of the attic. Home workshops are often located in the basement, since sawdust, metal chips, and other mess or noise are less of a nuisance there. The basement can contain all of these objects and still be considered to be "unfinished", as they are either mostly or entirely functional in purpose.


title: Basement

text: In this case the space has been designed, either during construction or at a later point by the owners, to function as a fully habitable addition to the house. Frequently most or all of the basement is used as a recreation room or living room, but it is not uncommon as well to find there (either instead of or alongside the living/recreation room) a guest bedroom or teenager's room, a bathroom, a home office, a home gym, a home theater, a basement bar, a sauna, craft room, play room, kitchenette, and one or more closets. Occasionally a part of the basement is unfurnished and is used for storage, a workshop, and/or a laundry room; when this is the case the water heater and furnace will also often be located there, although in some cases the entire basement is finished, and the water heater and furnace are boxed off into a closet.


title: Basement

text: The main point of distinction between this type of basement and the two others lies in its being either entirely unmodified (unlike the finished basement) beyond the addition of furniture, recreational objects and appliances, and/or exercise equipment on the bare floor, or slightly modified through the installation (besides any or all of the aforementioned items) of loose carpet and perhaps simple light fixtures. In both cases, the objects found there—many of which could be found in a finished basement as well—might include the following: weight sets and other exercise equipment; the boom boxes or entertainment systems used during exercise; musical instruments (which are not in storage, as they would technically be in an unfinished basement; an assembled drum set would be the most easily identified of these); football tables, chairs, couches and entertainment appliances of lesser quality than those in the rest of the house; refrigerators, stand-alone freezers, and microwaves (the first and the second being also sometimes used as supplementary storage units in an unfinished basement); and sports pennants and/or other types of posters which are attached to the walls.


title: Basement

text: As the description suggests, this type of basement, which also might be called "half-finished", is likely used by teenagers and children. The entire family might utilize a work-out area. It is also common to have a secondary (or primary) home office in a partially finished basement, as well as a workbench and/or a space for laundry appliances.


title: Basement

text: Toilets and showers sometimes exist in this variety of basement, as many North American basements are designed to allow for their installation.


title: Basement

text: In London the construction of finished retrofit basements is big business with a large number of projects in the 100–200 square meter bracket. There are a smaller number of projects in the 200–500 square meter bracket under construction. It is also not unusual to see multi-level retrofit basements. These are considerable works of civil engineering and require some skill and intuitive understanding as well as good engineering. Some of the more grandiose of these basement projects have been widely reported in the national media, including the "Witanhurst" project in the Highgate area of London. and the huge iceberg-like homes which are beginning to be constructed in prime London areas such as Kensington and Chelsea.


title: Basement

text: Hospitals often place their nuclear chemistry and radiation therapy and diagnostic resources in basements to utilize the shielding from the earth.


title: Basement

text: In Canada, historically the basement area was excluded from advertised square footage of a house as it was not part of the living space. For example, a "2,000-square-foot bungalow" would, in reality, have of floor space. More recently, finished space has become increasingly acceptable as a measure which includes the developed basement areas of a home. Due to fire code requirements, most jurisdictions require an emergency egress (through either egress-style windows, or, in the case of a walk-out basement, a door) to include the basement square footage as living space.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is a large breed of dog belonging to the retriever, gundog, and sporting breed groups. The breed was developed in the United States Chesapeake Bay area during the 19th century. Historically used by local market hunters to retrieve waterfowl, pull fishing nets, and rescue fishermen, it is today primarily a family pet and hunting companion, known for a bright and happy disposition; courage; willingness to work; alertness; intelligence; love of water; and hunting capabilities. The Chesapeake is a medium- to large-sized dog similar in appearance to the Labrador Retriever, but with a wavy coat.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: Distinctive features include eyes that are very clear, of yellowish or amber hue, hindquarters as high or a trifle higher than the shoulders, and a double-coat that tends to wave on shoulders, neck, back, and loins. The waterproof coat feels slightly oily and is often associated with a slight musky odor. Three basic colors are generally seen in the breed: brown, which includes all shades from a light to a deep dark brown; sedge, which varies from a reddish yellow through a bright red to chestnut shades; and deadgrass in all its shades, varying from a faded tan to a dull straw color. The breed standard states that white may also appear but it must be limited to the breast, belly, toes, or back of the feet. The head is round and broad with a medium stop and muzzle. The lips are thin, and the ears are small and of medium leather. The forelegs should be straight with good bone. The hindquarters are especially strong and the toes webbed since excellent swimming ability is important for the Chesapeake. This breed is also known for its large and powerful chest, used to break apart ice when diving into cold water while duck hunting.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: The coat of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever is given the most consideration of any trait listed on the Positive Scale of Points in the Breed Standard. However the AKC Standard also reads ""The question of coat and general type of balance takes precedence over any scoring table which could be drawn up. The Chesapeake should be well proportioned, an animal with a good coat and well balanced in other points being preferable to one excelling in some but weak in others." "The hair on the face and legs should be very short and straight with a tendency to wave, never curl, on the shoulders, neck, back, and loins only and nowhere over 1.5 inches long. Moderate feathering on the rear of the hindquarters and tail is permissible although not longer than 1.75 inches long."


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: The texture of the thick double-coat is important in protecting the dog from cold water and icy conditions. The oil in the harsh outer coat and woolly undercoat resists water, keeping the dog dry and warm. Maintenance of the coat is minimal and mainly consists of brushing with a short-tooth brush once a week. It is difficult to get a Chesapeake Bay Retriever thoroughly wet, but they should be bathed every 3–4 months using a suitably mild shampoo, then dried thoroughly. Brushing or bathing more often can ruin the texture since it strips the protective oil from the coat and may even remove the undercoat. The color of the coat must be similar to the working surroundings. Any color of brown, sedge or deadgrass is acceptable and one color is not preferred over another. The American Chesapeake Club includes a discussion on color:


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: A white spot on the breast (not extending above the sternum), belly, toes or back of the feet is permissible, but the smaller the spot the better. White beyond these areas and black anywhere on the body is not allowed in the breed standard.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: The quintessential Chesapeake Bay Retriever has a bright and happy disposition, intelligence, quiet good sense, and an affectionate protective nature. Some can be quite vocal when happy, and some will 'smile' by baring their front teeth in a peculiar grin; this is not a threat, but a sign of joy or submissiveness.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: Chesapeake Bay Retrievers can make excellent family dogs when socialized properly. Some Chesapeakes are assertive and willful and may be reserved with strangers, but others are passive and outgoing with people.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is a versatile breed competing in field trials, hunt tests, conformation, obedience, agility and tracking, yet remains true to its roots as a hunting dog of great stamina and ability. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is an intelligent breed and learns at a high speed. Historically considered stubborn and difficult to train, many trainers thought this breed required more physical discipline than other retriever breeds. Some trainers now recommend that the Chesapeake Bay Retriever owner use consistent, daily obedience training with play time before and after to keep the dog wanting to work with little or no physical discipline required.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: A UK Kennel Club survey puts the median lifespan of the breed at 10.75 years (average 9.85). A US breed club survey puts the average lifespan at 9.4 years. 1 in 4 lived to 13 years or more while 1 in 5 don't live past 5 years.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: Chesapeake Bay Retrievers trace their history to two pups who were rescued from a foundering ship in Maryland in 1807. The male "Sailor" and female "Canton" were described as Newfoundland dogs, but were more accurately Lesser Newfoundland or St. John's water dogs. These two lived in different parts of the bay area and there is no record of a litter being produced together. They were bred with area dogs, with more consideration given to ability than to breed, to create the beginnings of the Chesapeake Bay Retriever breed. There are few records of the breeds of these early dogs, but spaniels and hounds were included. Dogs from both Chesapeake Bay shores were recognized as one of three types of Chesapeake Bay Ducking Dog in 1877. In 1918 a single type, called the Chesapeake Bay Retriever, was recognized by the American Kennel Club, and there have been few changes to the breed standard since then.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: George Law, who rescued the pups, wrote this account in 1845 which appears on the website of the American Chesapeake Bay Retriever Club:


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: In 1964, it was declared the official dog of Maryland. It is the mascot of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.


title: Chesapeake Bay Retriever

text: Members of the breed were owned by General George Armstrong Custer, President Theodore Roosevelt, Senator John McCain, and actors Paul Walker and Tom Felton.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Samuel Alexander Mudd Sr. (December 20, 1833 – January 10, 1883) was an American physician who was imprisoned for conspiring with John Wilkes Booth concerning the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Mudd worked as a doctor and tobacco farmer in Southern Maryland. The Civil War seriously damaged his business, especially when Maryland abolished slavery in 1864. That year, he first met Booth, who was planning to kidnap Lincoln, and Mudd was seen in company with three of the conspirators. However, his part in the plot, if any, remains unclear.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Booth fatally shot Lincoln on April 14, 1865, but was injured during his escape from the scene. He subsequently rode with conspirator David Herold to Mudd's home in the early hours of April 15 for surgery on his fractured leg before he crossed into Virginia. Sometime that day, Mudd must have learned of the assassination but did not report Booth's visit to the authorities for another 24 hours. This fact appeared to link him to the crime, as did his various changes of story under interrogation. A military commission found Mudd guilty of aiding and conspiring in a murder, and he was sentenced to life imprisonment, escaping the death penalty by a single vote.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Mudd was pardoned by President Andrew Johnson and released from prison in 1869. Despite repeated attempts by family members and others to have it expunged, his conviction has not been overturned.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Born in Charles County, Maryland, Mudd was the fourth of 10 children of Henry Lowe and Sarah Ann Reeves Mudd. He grew up on Oak Hill, his father's tobacco plantation of several hundred acres, which was worked by 89 slaves and was located about southeast of Washington, DC.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: At age 15, after several years of home tutoring, Mudd went off to boarding school at St. John's Literary Institute, now known as Saint John's Catholic Prep School, in Frederick, Maryland. Two years later, he enrolled at Georgetown College in Washington, DC. He then studied medicine at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, writing his thesis on dysentery.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Upon graduation in 1856, Mudd returned to Charles County to practice medicine, marrying his childhood sweetheart, Sarah Frances (Frankie) Dyer Mudd one year later.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: As a wedding present, Mudd's father gave the couple of his best farmland and a new house named St. Catharine. While the house was under construction, the Mudds lived with Frankie's bachelor brother, Jeremiah Dyer, finally moving into their new home in 1859. They had nine children in all: four before Mudd's arrest and five more after his release from prison. To supplement his income from his medical practice, Mudd became a small-scale tobacco grower, using five slaves according to the 1860 census. Mudd believed that slavery was divinely ordained and wrote a letter to the theologian Orestes Brownson to that effect.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: With the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861, Southern Maryland's slave system and the economy that it supported rapidly began to collapse. In 1863, the Union Army established Camp Stanton, just from the Mudd farm, to enlist black freedmen and runaway slaves. Six regiments totaling over 8,700 black soldiers, many from Southern Maryland, were trained there. In 1864, Maryland, which was exempt from Lincoln's 1863 Emancipation Proclamation, abolished slavery, making it difficult for growers like Mudd to operate their plantations. As a result, Mudd considered selling his farm and depending on his medical practice. As Mudd pondered his alternatives, he was introduced to someone who said he might be interested in buying his property; 26 year-old actor John Wilkes Booth.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: According to a statement made by associated conspirator George Atzerodt, discovered long after his death and recorded while he was in federal custody on May 1, 1865, Mudd knew in advance about Booth's plans; Atzerodt was sure the doctor knew, he said, because Booth had "sent (as he told me) liquors and provisions ... about two weeks before the murder to Dr. Mudd's."


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Although that is true, some historians believe there may have been other reasons behind Mudd's relationship with Booth. The trial brought forth many theories of Mudd's involvement in the assassination of Lincoln. One theory posits that Mudd was involved in a completely different conspiracy to gain an upper hand for the southern states. Prior to killing Lincoln, Booth had intended to kidnap the president and ransom him and other political affiliates of the Union for a large sum of money. This plan was in effect until the night of the assassination, when Booth met up with Atzerodt, David Herold, and Lewis Powell and disclosed the plot to assassinate the president instead. Following the assassination, Powell came forth by stating that Booth had not told him until this meeting and that the other men did not know about the plot until the night of the assassination. This supports the theory that Mudd may have been an accomplice to the plot to kidnap the president, but not a conspirator to the assassination.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: After Booth shot Lincoln on the night of April 14, 1865, he broke his left fibula when he jumped from the presidential box while fleeing Ford's Theater. Booth met up with Herold and both men made for Virginia via southern Maryland. They stopped at Mudd's house around 4  on April 15; Mudd splinted Booth's leg and gave him a shoe to wear. He also arranged for a carpenter, John Best, to make a pair of crutches for Booth. Booth paid Mudd $25 in greenbacks for his medical treatment. He and Herold spent between twelve and fifteen hours at Mudd's house. They slept in the front bedroom on the second floor. It is unclear whether Mudd had yet been informed that Booth had killed Lincoln.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: Mudd went to Bryantown during the day on April 15 to run errands; if he had not already heard the news of the assassination from Booth, he certainly learned of it on the trip. He returned home that evening, and accounts differ as to whether Booth and Herold had already left, whether Mudd met them as they were leaving, and whether they left at Mudd's urging and with his assistance.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: It is certain that Mudd did not immediately contact the authorities. When questioned, he stated that he had not wanted to leave his family alone in the house in case the assassins returned and found him absent and his family unprotected. He waited until Mass the following day, Easter Sunday, when he asked his second cousin, Dr. George Mudd, a resident of Bryantown, to notify the 13th New York Cavalry in Bryantown, under the command of Lieutenant David Dana. Mudd's delay in contacting the authorities drew suspicion and was a significant factor in tying him to the conspiracy.


title: Samuel Mudd

text: During his initial investigative interview on April 18, Mudd stated that he had never seen either of the parties before. In his sworn statement of April 22, he told about Booth's visit to Bryantown in November 1864