title: Video games in Japan

text: 1992 saw the release of "Dragon Quest V", a game that has been praised for its involving, emotional family-themed narrative divided by different periods of time, something that has appeared in very few video games before or since. It has also been credited as the first known video game to feature a playable pregnancy, a concept that has since appeared in later games such as "Story of Seasons". "Dragon Quest V's" monster-collecting mechanic, where monsters can be defeated, captured, added to the party, and gain their own experience levels, also influenced many later franchises such as "Pokémon", "Digimon" and "Dokapon". In turn, the concept of collecting everything in a game, in the form of achievements or similar rewards, has since become a common trend in video games. "Shin Megami Tensei", released in 1992 for the SNES, introduced an early moral alignment system that influences the direction and outcome of the storyline, leading to different possible paths and multiple endings. This has since become a hallmark of the "Megami Tensei" series. Another non-linear RPG released that year was "Romancing Saga", an open-world RPG by Square that offered many choices and allowed players to complete quests in any order, with the decision of whether or not to participate in any particular quest affecting the outcome of the storyline. The game also allowed players to choose from eight different characters, each with their own stories that start in different places and offer different outcomes. Data East's "Heracles no Eikō III", written by Kazushige Nojima, introduced the plot element of a nameless immortal suffering from amnesia, and Nojima would later revisit the amnesia theme in "Final Fantasy VII" and "Glory of Heracles". The TurboGrafx-CD port of "Dragon Knight II" released that year was also notable for introducing erotic adult content to consoles, though such content had often appeared in Japanese computer RPGs since the early 1980s. That same year, Game Arts began the "Lunar" series on the Sega CD with "", one of the first successful CD-ROM RPGs, featuring both voice and text, and considered one of the best RPGs in its time. The game was praised for its soundtrack, emotionally engaging storyline, and strong characterization. It also introduced an early form of level-scaling where the bosses would get stronger depending on the protagonist's level, a mechanic that was later used in Enix's "The 7th Saga" and extended to normal enemies in Square's "Romancing Saga 3" and later "Final Fantasy VIII".


title: Video games in Japan

text: 3D polygon graphics were popularized by the Sega Model 1 games "Virtua Racing" (1992) and "Virtua Fighter" (1993), followed by racing games like the Namco System 22 title "Ridge Racer" (1993) and Sega Model 2 title "Daytona USA", and light gun shooters like Sega's "Virtua Cop" (1994), gaining considerable popularity in the arcades.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1993, Square's "Secret of Mana", the second in the "Mana" series, further advanced the action RPG subgenre with its introduction of cooperative multiplayer into the genre. The game was created by a team previously responsible for the first three "Final Fantasy" titles: Nasir Gebelli, Koichi Ishii, and Hiromichi Tanaka. The game received considerable acclaim, for its innovative pausable real-time battle system, the "Ring Command" menu system, its innovative cooperative multiplayer gameplay, where the second or third players could drop in and out of the game at any time rather than players having to join the game at the same time, and the customizable AI settings for computer-controlled allies. The game has influenced a number of later action RPGs. That same year also saw the release of "", which introduced the use of pre-programmable combat manoeuvers called 'macros', a means of setting up the player's party AI to deliver custom attack combos. That year also saw the release of "Romancing Saga 2", which further expanded the non-linear gameplay of its predecessor. While in the original "Romancing Saga", scenarios were changed according to dialogue choices during conversations, "Romancing Saga 2" further expanded on this by having unique storylines for each character that can change depending on the player's actions, including who is chosen, what is said in conversation, what events have occurred, and who is present in the party. "PCGamesN" credits "Romancing SaGa 2" for having laid the foundations for modern Japanese RPGs with its progressive, non-linear, open world design and subversive themes.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1994, "Final Fantasy VI" moved away from the medieval setting of its predecessors, instead being set in a steampunk environment. The game received considerable acclaim, and is seen as one of the greatest RPGs of all time, for improvements such as its broadened thematic scope, plotlines, characters, multiple-choice scenarios, and variation of play. "Final Fantasy VI" dealt with mature themes such as suicide, war crimes, child abandonment, teen pregnancy, and coping with the deaths of loved ones. Square's "Live A Live", released for the Super Famicom in Japan, featured eight different characters and stories, with the first seven unfolding in any order the player chooses, as well as four different endings. The game's ninja chapter in particular was an early example of stealth game elements in an RPG, requiring the player to infiltrate a castle, rewarding the player if the entire chapter can be completed without engaging in combat. Other chapters had similar innovations, such as Akira's chapter where the character uses telepathic powers to discover information. "Robotrek" by Quintet and Ancient was a predecessor to "Pokémon" in the sense that the protagonist does not himself fight, but sends out his robots to do so. Like "Pokémon", "Robotrek" was designed to appeal to a younger audience, allowed team customization, and each robot was kept in a ball.


title: Video games in Japan

text: FromSoftware released their first video game, titled "King's Field", as a launch title for the PlayStation in 1994. The game was later called the brainchild of company founder Naotoshi Zin, who was considered a key creative figure in the series. The eventual success of the first "King's Field" prompted the development of sequels, establishing the "King's Field" series. The design of "King's Field" would influence later titles by FromSoftware including "Shadow Tower", "Demon's Souls", and the "Dark Souls" series. The latter would propel FromSoftware to international fame.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 1995, Square's "Romancing Saga 3" featured a storyline that could be told differently from the perspectives of up to eight different characters and introduced a level-scaling system where the enemies get stronger as the characters do, a mechanic that was later used in a number of later RPGs, including "Final Fantasy VIII". Sega's "Sakura Wars" for the Saturn combined tactical RPG combat with dating sim and visual novel elements, introducing a real-time branching choice system where, during an event or conversation, the player must choose an action or dialogue choice within a time limit, or not to respond at all within that time; the player's choice, or lack thereof, affects the player character's relationship with other characters and in turn the characters' performance in battle, the direction of the storyline, and the ending. Later games in the series added several variations, including an action gauge that can be raised up or down depending on the situation, and a gauge that the player can manipulate using the analog stick depending on the situation. The success of "Sakura Wars" led to a wave of games that combine the RPG and dating sim genres, including "Thousand Arms" in 1998, "" in 2002, and "Luminous Arc" in 2007.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The survival horror video game genre began with Capcom's "Resident Evil" (1996), which coined the term "survival horror" and defined the genre. The game was inspired by Capcom's "Sweet Home" (1989), retroactively described as survival horror.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The first Tokyo Game Show was held in 1996. From 1996 to 2002, the show was held twice a year: once in the Spring and once in Autumn (in the Tokyo Big Sight). Since 2002, the show has been held once a year. It attracts more visitors every year. 2011's show hosted over 200,000 attendees and the 2012 show bringing in 223,753. The busiest TGS was in 2016 with 271,224 people in attendance and 614 companies had exhibits. The event has been held annually since 1996 and was never canceled. The 20th anniversary of TGS was celebrated in 2016.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The Fujitsu FM Towns Marty is considered the world's first 32-bit console (predating the Amiga CD32 and 3DO), being released only released in Japan on February 20, 1993 by Fujitsu. However, it failed to make an impact in the marketplace due to its expense relative to other consoles and inability to compete with home computers. Around the mid-1990s, the fifth-generation home consoles, Sega Saturn, PlayStation, and Nintendo 64, began offering true 3D graphics, improved sound, and better 2D graphics, than the previous generation. By 1995, personal computers followed, with 3D accelerator cards. While arcade systems such as the Sega Model 3 remained considerably more advanced than home systems in the late 1990s.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The next major revolution came in the mid-to-late 1990s, which saw the rise of 3D computer graphics and optical discs in fifth generation consoles. The implications for RPGs were enormous—longer, more involved quests, better audio, and full-motion video. This was clearly demonstrated in 1997 by the phenomenal success of "Final Fantasy VII", which is considered one of the most influential games of all time, akin to that of "Star Wars" in the movie industry. With a record-breaking production budget of around $45 million, the ambitious scope of "Final Fantasy VII" raised the possibilities for the genre, with its more expansive world to explore, much longer quest, more numerous sidequests, dozens of minigames, and much higher production values. The latter includes innovations such as the use of 3D characters on pre-rendered backgrounds, battles viewed from multiple different angles rather than a single angle, and for the first time full-motion CGI video seamlessly blended into the gameplay, effectively integrated throughout the game. Gameplay innovations included the materia system, which allowed a considerable amount of customization and flexibility through materia that can be combined in many different ways and exchanged between characters at any time, and the limit breaks, special attacks that can be performed after a character's limit meter fills up by taking hits from opponents. "Final Fantasy VII" continues to be listed among the best games of all time, for its highly polished gameplay, high playability, lavish production, well-developed characters, intricate storyline, and an emotionally engaging narrative that is much darker and sophisticated than most other RPGs. The game's storytelling and character development was considered a major narrative jump forward for video games and was often compared to films and novels at the time.


title: Video games in Japan

text: One of the earliest Japanese RPGs, Koei's "The Dragon and Princess" (1982), featured a tactical turn-based combat system. Koji Sumii's "Bokosuka Wars", originally released for the Sharp X1 computer in 1983 and later ported to the NES in 1985, is credited for laying the foundations for the tactical RPG genre, or "simulation RPG" genre as it is known in Japan, with its blend of basic RPG and strategy game elements. The genre became with the game that set the template for tactical RPGs, "" (1990).


title: Video games in Japan

text: Treasure's shoot 'em up, "Radiant Silvergun" (1998), introduced an element of narrative to the genre. It was critically acclaimed for its refined design, though it was not released outside Japan and remains a much sought after collector's item. Its successor "Ikaruga" (2001) featured improved graphics and was again acclaimed as one of the best games in the genre. Both "Radiant Silvergun" and "Ikaruga" were later released on Xbox Live Arcade. The "Touhou Project" series spans 22 years and 27 games as of 2018 and was listed in the Guinness World Records in October 2010 for being the "most prolific fan-made shooter series". The genre has undergone something of a resurgence with the release of the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii online services, while in Japan arcade shoot 'em ups retain a deep-rooted niche popularity. "" was released on Xbox Live Arcade in 2005 and in particular stood out from the various re-releases and casual games available on the service. The PC has also seen its share of dōjin shoot 'em ups like "Crimzon Clover", "", "Xenoslaive Overdrive", and the "eXceed" series. However, despite the genre's continued appeal to an enthusiastic niche of players, shoot 'em up developers are increasingly embattled financially by the power of home consoles and their attendant genres.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 2002, the Japanese video game industry made up about 50% of the global market; that share has since shrunk to around 10% by 2010. The shrinkage in market share has been attributed to a difference of taste between Japanese and Western audiences, and the country's economic recession.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Nintendo had seen record revenues, net sales and profits in 2009 as a result of the release of the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2004 and 2006, respectively, but in Nintendo's subsequent years, its revenues had declined.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 2009, FromSoftware released "Demon's Souls" for the PlayStation 3, which brought them international exposure. Its spiritual successor, "Dark Souls", was released in 2011. In March 2014, "Dark Souls II", was released, while "Dark Souls III" was released in 2016. Other FromSoftware games inspired by the "Dark Souls" series, "Bloodborne" (2015) and "Elden Ring" (2022), received critical acclaim and strong sales. They have also received a number of awards, primarily those for the role-playing genre, including multiple "RPG of the Year" and Game of the Year awards. Since release, "Dark Souls" and "Bloodborne" have been cited by many publications to be among the greatest games of all time.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The decline of the Japanese video game development industry during this period was partially attributed to the traditional development process. Japanese companies were criticized for long development times and slow release dates on home video game consoles, their lack of third-party game engines, and for being too insular to appeal to a global market. Yoichi Wada stated in 2009 that the Japanese game industry had become "almost xenophobic." He also stated: "The lag with the US is very clear. The US games industry was not good in the past but it has now attracted people from the computer industry and from Hollywood, which has led to strong growth." At the 2010 Tokyo Game Show, Keiji Inafune stated that "Everyone's making awful games - Japan is at least five years behind", and that "Japan is isolated in the gaming world. If something doesn't change, we're doomed.", stressing the need for Japanese developers to bring in Western approaches to game development to make a comeback.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Related to the isolationism, games developed in Western countries did not perform well in Japan, whereas Japanese games were readily played by Western market consumers. Foreign games often sell more poorly in Japanese markets due to differences in what consumers expect for escapism between these cultures. Microsoft had attempted to push both the Xbox and Xbox 360 consoles in Japan with poor success, at they struggled to compete against Sony and Nintendo there.


title: Video games in Japan

text: However, as detailed above, Japanese console games became less successful, even in their own country, as of 2013.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In the Japanese gaming industry, arcades have remained popular through to the present day. As of 2009, out of Japan's $20 billion gaming market, $6 billion of that amount is generated from arcades, which represent the largest sector of the Japanese video game market, followed by home console games and mobile games at $3.5 billion and $2 billion, respectively. In 2005, arcade ownership and operation accounted for a majority of Namco's for example. With considerable withdrawal from the arcade market from companies such as Capcom, Sega became the strongest player in the arcade market with 60% marketshare in 2006. Despite the global decline of arcades, Japanese companies hit record revenue for three consecutive years during this period. However, due to the country's economic recession, the Japanese arcade industry has also been steadily declining, from ¥702.9 billion (US$8.7 billion) in 2007 to ¥504.3 billion ($6.2 billion) in 2010. In 2013, estimation of revenue is ¥470 billion.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In the 2010s, Japanese RPGs have been experiencing a resurgence on PC, with a significant increase in the number of Japanese RPGs releasing for the Steam platform. This began with the 2010 release of doujin/indie game "Recettear" (2007) for Steam, selling over 500,000 units on the platform. This led to many Japanese doujin/indie games releasing on Steam in subsequent years.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Beyond doujin/indie titles, 2012 was a breakthrough year, with the debut of Nihon Falcom's "Ys" series on Steam and then the Steam release of From Software's "Dark Souls", which sold millions on the platform. Other Japanese RPGs were subsequently ported to Steam, such as the previously niche "Valkyria Chronicles" which became a million-seller on the platform, and other titles that sold hundreds of thousands on Steam, such as the 2014 localization of "" (2014) and ports of numerous "Final Fantasy" titles. Japanese developers have been increasingly considering Steam as a viable platform for the genre, with many Japanese RPGs available on the platform.


title: Video games in Japan

text: By 2015, Japan had become the world's fourth largest PC game market, behind only China, the United States, and South Korea. The Japanese game development engine RPG Maker has also gained significant popularity on Steam, including hundreds of commercial games. Every year, hundreds of games released on Steam are created using RPG Maker, as of 2017.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In the present day, Japan is the world's largest market for mobile games. The Japanese market today is becoming increasingly dominated by mobile games, which generated $5.1 billion in 2013, more than traditional console games in the country.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Former rivals in the Japanese arcade industry, Konami, Taito, Bandai Namco Entertainment and Sega, are now working together to keep the arcade industry vibrant. This is evidenced in the sharing of arcade networks, and venues having games from all major companies rather than only games from their own company.


title: Video games in Japan

text: The eighth generation of video game consoles primarily includes the home video game consoles of the Wii U released in 2012, the PlayStation 4 family in 2013; the handheld game consoles of the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, Nintendo 2DS in 2013, and the PlayStation Vita in 2011; as well as the first hybrid game console, the Nintendo Switch in 2017, which played as a handheld but could be docked to played like a home console. Unlike in most prior generations, there were few new innovative hardware capabilities to mark this generation as distinct from prior ones. Sony continued to produce new systems with similar designs and capabilities as their predecessors, but with improved performance (processing speed, higher-resolution graphics, and increased storage capacity) that further moved consoles into confluence with personal computers, and furthering support for digital distribution and games as a service. Motion-controlled games of the seventh generation had waned in popularity, but consoles were preparing for advancement of virtual reality (VR); Sony introduced the PlayStation VR in 2016.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Though prior console generations have normally occurred in five to six-year cycles, the transition from seventh to eighth generation lasted approximately eight years. The transition is also unusual in that the prior generation's best-selling unit, the Wii, was the first to be replaced in the eighth generation. In 2011, Sony considered themselves only halfway through a ten-year lifecycle for their seventh-generation offerings. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata had stated that his company would be releasing the Wii U due to declining sales of seventh generation home consoles and that "the market is now waiting for a new proposal for home consoles". Sony considered making its next console a digital download only machine, but decided against it due to concerns about the inconsistency of internet speeds available globally, especially in developing countries.


title: Video games in Japan

text: On September 13, 2012, Nintendo announced that the Wii U would launch in Japan on December 8, 2012. The PlayStation 4 and Wii U use AMD GPUs, and the PS4 also use AMD CPUs on an x86-64 architecture, similar to common personal computers (as opposed to the IBM PowerPC Architecture used in the previous generation). Nintendo and Sony were not aware that they were all using AMD hardware until their consoles were announced. This shift was considered to be beneficial for multi-platform development, due to the increased similarities between PC hardware and console hardware.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In October 2013, online retailer "Play.com" announced that its Wii U sales saw a 75% sales increase. The company also predicted that the Wii U would be more popular than its competition, the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, among children during the holiday season. Following the release of "Wii Party U" on October 31 in Japan, weekly Wii U sales spiked to 38,802 units sold. During the first two weeks of December, the Wii U was the top performing home console in Japan, with 123,665 units sold. In fiscal year (FY) 2013 (ending early 2013), Nintendo sold 23.7 million consoles. By February 26, 2014, Wii U sales had surpassed those of the Xbox 360 in Japan. However, by June 2015, the basic Wii U was discontinued in Japan, and replaced by a 32 GB "Premium" set that includes white hardware and a Wii Remote Plus. In mid-November 2016, Nintendo announced that Japanese production of the Wii U would be ending "in the near future".


title: Video games in Japan

text: The PS4 was released in Japan at ¥39,980 on February 22, 2014. In September 2015, Sony reduced the price of the PS4 in Japan to ¥34,980, with similar price drops in other Southeast Asian markets. Within the first two days of release in Japan during the weekend of February 22, 2014, 322,083 consoles were sold. PS4 software unit sales surpassed 20.5 million on April 13, 2014. During Japan's 2013 fiscal year, heightened demand for the PS4 helped Sony top global console sales, beating Nintendo for the first time in eight years.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Since 2016, Japanese video games have been experiencing a resurgence, as part of a renaissance for the Japanese video game industry. In 2017, Japanese video games gained further commercial success and greater critical acclaim. In 2016, the global success of "Pokémon Go" helped "Pokémon Sun and Moon" set sales records around the world. "Final Fantasy XV" was also a major success, selling millions. There were also other Japanese RPGs that earned commercial success and/or critical acclaim that year, including "", "", "Bravely Second", "Fire Emblem Fates", "Dragon Quest Builders", "World of Final Fantasy", "" and "I Am Setsuna".


title: Video games in Japan

text: Anticipating the release of the console's successor, the Nintendo Switch, a hybrid video game console, Nintendo had planned to diminish production of the Wii U. It formally announced the end of its production on January 31, 2017. The company had posted its first loss as a video game company in 2012 prior to the Wii U's introduction that year, and had similar losses in the following years due to the console's poor uptake. "The New York Times" attributed Nintendo lowering financial forecasts in 2014 to weak hardware sales against mobile gaming. Previously, the company had been hesitant about this market, with then-president Satoru Iwata considering that they would "cease to be Nintendo" and lose their identity if they attempted to enter it. About three years prior to the Switch's announcement, Iwata, Tatsumi Kimishima, Genyo Takeda, and Shigeru Miyamoto crafted a strategy for revitalizing Nintendo's business model, which included approaching the mobile market, creating new hardware, and "maximizing [their] intellectual property". Prior to his death, Iwata was able to secure a business alliance with Japanese mobile provider DeNA to develop mobile titles based on Nintendo's first-party franchises, believing this approach would not compromise their integrity. Following Iwata's death in July 2015, Kimishima was named as president of Nintendo, while Miyamoto was promoted to the title of "Creative Fellow".


title: Video games in Japan

text: The Switch was officially released on March 3, 2017 in Japan with an MSRP of . The design of the Switch was aimed to bridge the polarization of the gaming market at the time, creating a device that could play "leisurely" video games along with games that are aimed to be played "deeply", according to Shinya Takahashi and Yoshiaki Koizumi, general manager and deputy general manager of Nintendo's Entertainment Planning & Development Division (EPD), respectively. This approach also would apply to the cultural lifestyle and gaming differences between Japanese and Western players; Japanese players tend to play on the go and with social groups, while Western players tend to play at home by themselves. The design of the Switch would meet both cultures, and certain games, like "1-2-Switch", could potentially make social gaming more acceptable in Western culture. Two key elements that were set to address this mixed market were the ability for the unit to play both on a television screen and as a portable, and the use of detachable controllers. In Japan, first weekend sales exceeded 330,000 units, which was on par with the PlayStation 4 during its launch period. Media Create estimated that more than 500,000 Switch units were sold in Japan within its first month, beating out the PlayStation 4 to this figure.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Console sales in Japan, which had been languishing due to the strength of the mobile game market, saw its first annual growth of 14.8% in 2017 due to the release of the Switch. Based on its first year sales, the Switch was considered to be the fastest-selling game console in history in many regions. With 2017 year end Japanese sales data from Media Create, the Switch became the fastest-selling home console in Japan in first year sales, with its total sales of 3.2 million units exceeding the 3.0 million units of the PlayStation 2 during its first year of release, while "Famitsu" reported that these sales had eclipsed the lifetime sales of the Wii U in the country, and helped to support the first growth in sales within Japan's console market in eleven years. By May 2019, the Switch had overtaken the PS4's lifetime sales in Japan.


title: Video games in Japan

text: In 2017, Japanese RPGs gained further commercial success and greater critical acclaim. The year started strong with "Gravity Rush 2", followed by "Yakuza 0", which some critics consider the best in the "Yakuza" series, "Nioh" which is considered to have one of the eighth-generation's best RPG combat systems, and then "Nier Automata" which has gameplay and storytelling thought to be some of the best in recent years. "Persona 5" won the Best Role Playing Game award at The Game Awards 2017. Some Japanese RPGs that were previously considered niche became mainstream million-sellers in 2017, including "Persona 5", "Nier: Automata", "Nioh", and "Xenoblade Chronicles 2" on the Nintendo Switch. 2017 was considered a strong year for Japanese RPGs, with other notable releases including "Dragon Quest VIII" on the Nintendo 3DS, "Tales of Berseria", "Valkyria Revolution", "Ever Oasis", "", "Ys VIII", "Etrian Odyssey V", "Dragon Quest Heroes II", "", "", "", and "Tokyo Xanadu". In 2018, "" sold over 10million units, becoming Capcom's best-selling single software title, and Square Enix's "Octopath Traveler" sold over 1million units.


title: Video games in Japan

text: Sony released the PlayStation 5 in 2020 and have emphasized that they want this to be a soft transition, allowing PlayStation 4 games to be directly backwards compatible on their respective systems. Sony has stated the "overwhelming majority" of PlayStation 4 games will play on the PlayStation 5, with many running at higher frame rates and resolutions.


title: Chhath

text: Chhath is an ancient Hindu festival historically native to the Indian subcontinent, more specifically, the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh,West Bengal, Jharkhand, and the Nepalese provinces of Madhesh and Lumbini. Prayers during Chhath puja are dedicated to the solar deity, Surya, to show gratitude and thankfulness for bestowing the bounties of life on earth and to request that certain wishes be granted.


title: Chhath

text: Chhathi Maiya, the sixth form of Devi Prakriti and Lord Surya's sister is worshipped as the Goddess of the festival. It is celebrated six days after Deepavali, on the sixth day of the lunar month of Kartika (October–November) in the Hindu calendar Vikram Samvat. The rituals are observed over four days. They include holy bathing, fasting and abstaining from drinking water ("vrata"), standing in water, and offering "prasad" (prayer offerings) and "arghya" to the setting and rising sun. Some devotees also perform a prostration march as they head for the river banks.


title: Chhath

text: Environmentalists have claimed that the festival of Chhath is one of the most eco-friendly religious festivals in the World. All devotees prepare similar "prasada" (religious food) and offerings. Although the festival is observed most widely in the Terai region of Nepal and the Indian states of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Jharkhand, it is also prevalent in areas where the diaspora and migrants from those areas have a presence. It is celebrated in all northern regions and major north Indian urban centers like Delhi. Hundreds of thousands of people celebrate it in Mumbai.


title: Chhath

text: Chhath puja is dedicated to the sun god Surya. The sun is visible to every being and is the basis of life of all creatures on earth. Along with the Sun God, Chhathi Maiya is also worshipped on this day. According to Vedic astrology, Chhathi Maiya (or Chhathi Mata) protects the children from diseases and problems and gives them long lives and good health.


title: Chhath

text: As per legends, Chhath Puja stems from the early Vedic period, where sages would fast for days and perform the puja with mantras from Rigveda. It is believed that Chhath Puja was also performed by Karna, the son of Lord Surya and the king of Anga Desh, which is the modern-day Bhagalpur in Bihar. According to another legend, Pandavas and Draupadi also performed the Puja to overcome obstacles in their lives and reclaim their lost kingdom. For the people from Bihar and other close by areas, Chhath Puja is considered as Mahaparva.


title: Chhath

text: Chhath Puja is a folk festival that lasts four days. It starts with Kartik Shukla Chaturthi and ends with Kartik Shukla Saptami. Chhath is celebrated twice in a year.


title: Chhath

text: This is the first day of Chhath Puja. The "Parvaitin" (, from Sanskrit "parv", meaning "occasion" or "festival") must take a holy bath, after which the entire house, its surroundings and pathways to the Ghat are thoroughly cleaned. The "Parvaitin" usually cooks Sattvik Lauka "Bhaat" (Bottle Gourd and Bengal Gram Lentil preparation with Arva Rice Bhaat). This preparation is served to the deity in the afternoon as Bhog. This initiates the Parv and is the last meal of the "Parvaitin" during Chhath Puja. The food is then eaten to protect the mind from thoughts of vengeance.


title: Chhath

text: Kharna, also known as Rasiaav-Roti or Lohanda, is the second day of Chhath Puja. On this day, the devotees are not allowed to drink even a single drop of water. In the evening, they eat "gur ke kheer" (Kheer made up of jaggery), called Rasiaav, together with Roti.


title: Chhath

text: This day is spent preparing the prasad (offerings) at home, often consisting of a bamboo basket decorated with fruits, Thekua and rice laddus. On the eve of this day, the entire household accompany the devotee to a riverbank, pond, or other large body of water to make the Arghya offerings to the setting sun. The occasion can in many ways resemble a carnival. Besides the devotees and their friends and family, numerous participants and onlookers are all willing to help and receive the blessings of the worshipper.


title: Chhath

text: At the time of "arghya", Gangajal water is offered to Sun God and the Chhathi Maiya is worshipped with the "prasad". After the worship of Sun God, Chhath songs are sung in the night and the "Vrat katha" is read.


title: Chhath

text: After returning home the devotees perform the ritual of "kosi bharai" together with the other family members. They take 5 to 7 sugarcanes and tie them together to form a mandap and beneath the shade of that mandap, 12 to 24 Diya lamps are burnt and thekua and other seasonal fruits are offered. The same ritual is repeated the next morning between 3 am and 4 am, and afterward the devotees offer "arghya" or other offerings to the rising sun.


title: Chhath

text: Before sunrise on the last day of Chhath puja, the devotees have to go to the riverbank to offer an "arghya" to the rising sun. After this, the protection of the child and the peace and happiness of the entire family is sought from Chhatti Maiya. After worship, devotees drink water and eat a little prasad in order to break one's fast. This is called Paran or Parana.


title: Chhath

text: The main worshippers, called (from Sanskrit "parv", meaning "occasion" or "festival"), are usually women. However, many men also observe this festival as Chhath is not a gender-specific festival. The pray for the well-being of their family, and for the prosperity of their children.


title: Chhath

text: In some communities, once a family member starts performing Chhath Puja, they are duty-bound to perform it every year and to pass it on to the following generations. The festival is skipped only if there is a death in the family that year. If the person stops performing the ritual on any particular year, it stops permanently and one cannot resume it. In other communities, this is not mandatory.


title: Chhath

text: The prasad offerings include Thekua, Khajuria, Tikri, Kasar (and fruits (mainly sugar canes, sweet lime, coconut, banana and many seasonal fruits) offered in small bamboo baskets. The food is strictly vegetarian and is cooked without salt, onions or garlic. Emphasis is put on maintaining the purity of the food.


title: Chhath

text: The Chhathi Maiya is worshipped on the Chhath festival, which is also mentioned in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana. It is said that the Chhath Puja was started in the holy city of Varanasi by Gahadavala dynasty.


title: Chhath

text: In Munger region, the festival is known for its association with Sita Manpatthar ("Sita Charan"; lit. Sita's footsteps). Sitacharan temple, situated on a boulder in the middle of the Ganges in Munger, is the main center of public faith regarding Chhath festival. It is believed that goddess Sita performed Chhath festival in Munger. It was only after this event that Chhath festival started. That is why Chhath Mahaparva is celebrated with great pomp in Munger and Begusarai.


title: Chhath

text: According to some other legend, King Priyavrat, son of First Manu Swayambhu, was very sad because he had no children. Maharishi Kashyap asked him to do a "yajna". According to Maharishis orders, he performed a yajna for a son. After this, Queen Malini gave birth to a son, but unfortunately the baby was born dead. The king and his family were very sad because of this. Then Mata Shashthi revealed herself in the sky. When the king prayed to her, she spoke, saying: "I am Chhathi Maiya the Sixth form of Devi Parvati. I protect all the children of the world and give the blessings of children to all childless parents." After this, the Goddess blessed the lifeless child with her hands, so that he came to life. The king was very thankful for the grace of the Goddess and he worshipped the goddess Shashthi Devi. It is believed that after this puja, this festival became a worldwide celebration.


title: Chhath

text: Chhath has been mentioned in both the major Indian epics. In Ramayana, when Rama and Sita returned Ayodhya, people celebrated Deepawali, and on its sixth day "Ramrajya" (lit. Kingdom of Rama) was established. On this day Rama and Sita kept fast and Surya Shashthi/Chhath Puja was performed by Sita. Hence, she was blessed with Lava and Kush as their sons.


title: Chhath

text: While in the Mahabharata, Chhath Puja was performed by Kunti after they escaped from Lakshagriha. It is also believed that Karna, the son of Surya and Kunti, was conceived after Kunti performed Chhath puja. Draupadi is also said to perform the Puja for Pandavas to win the Kurukshetra War.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: Maltese Falcon is a full-rigged ship using DynaRig technology, which was built by Perini Navi in Tuzla, Istanbul, and commissioned by her first owner, Tom Perkins. She is one of the world's most complex and largest sailing yachts at , similar in size to the "Athena" and "Eos". The vessel dropped her BVI flag in 2008 and was purchased by Pleon Ltd, which put her to charter use.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: The bare hull was built and launched on speculation in 1989-1990 by Perini Navi at its newly acquired shipyard in Tuzla, Istanbul, but found no takers in the aftermath of the Gulf War. Tom Perkins, a keen yachtsman and the owner of the two "Andromeda La Dea" Perini ketches, took an interest in the hull. In 2001 he hired Dutch yacht designers at Dykstra Naval Architects to investigate 19th-century clippers and propose a three-mast square rig for the project. The "DynaRig" concept, a 1960s invention by German hydraulics engineer Wilhelm Prölss intended to operate cargo ships with a fuel-saving philosophy and as few crew as possible, met with Perkins' approval, and the project was signed into build in Tuzla. The three self-standing rotating carbonfiber masts were not a Perini Navi deliverable; they were manufactured and fitted to the yacht at the Perini Navi premises in Tuzla under the direct responsibility of Perkins and the supervision of Insensys, Ltd, a British carbonfiber specialist. Ken Freivokh designed the vessel's interior decoration, and Perini Navi fitted her out.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: The yacht is easily controlled and has been seen to sail off her anchor and away from berths within harbors. The yacht's sophisticated computer detects parameters such as wind speed automatically and displays key data. An operator must always activate the controls, yet it is possible for a single person to operate the yacht. In a radio interview for the BBC World Service's Global Business programme broadcast in December 2007, Perkins claimed that he personally wrote some of the yacht's unique control software.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: On 4 November 2007, in a "60 Minutes" profile, Perkins suggested the yacht cost more than $150 million but less than $300 million, refusing to be more specific.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: Damon Roberts of Insensys, Ltd. was responsible for designing and manufacturing the DynaRig of "Maltese Falcon" at the Perini Navi premises in Tuzla, Istanbul. The design, testing and manufacturing of the system was completed over a three-year period. Exhaustive finite element analysis and carbon fiber testing were carried out to ensure that the complete assembly would sustain the loads under sail.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: The DynaRig owes its origin to Wilhelm Prölss' research in the 1960s. The DynaRig consists of freestanding rotating masts with rigid yards and acts as a square rig. Each of "Maltese Falcon"s masts supports six yards, which, unlike a conventional square rigger, have built-in camber of 12%. The fifteen square sails are set between the yards in such a way that when deployed there are no gaps in the sail plan of each mast, enabling them to act as a single airfoil. The furling sails are stored in the mast and can be deployed along tracks on the yards in 6 minutes. The sails are trimmed by rotating the masts. As there is no rigging, the masts and yards can be rotated without restriction for all points of sail, making "Maltese Falcon" a capable upwind clipper.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: The length of the masts measures approximately above the bottom bearing. As the rig can be tacked to allow flow in both directions, the mast rotates about deck and keel bearings and have symmetrical elliptical sections for better aerodynamics in both flows.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: Insensys also incorporated a fiber optical strain monitoring system into the spars to analyse real time loads under sail. A fiber Bragg grating system was embedded during wet layup of the carbonfiber structure. The loads are transmitted to the bridge monitors.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: "Maltese Falcon" has received industry prizes from shipowners and the press. It has also won the Perini Navi Cup regattas on two occasions as well as the Palma Superyacht Cup in 2010.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: "Maltese Falcon" was involved in a collision on October 4, 2008, with a sloop while sailing on the San Francisco Bay during the Leukemia Cup.


title: Maltese Falcon (yacht)

text: "Maltese Falcon" was still listed for sale in 2009 by Camper & Nicholsons with an asking price of €115m and 1,899 hours logged on the engines when it was reported that it had already dropped flag in 2008 and been sold by Burgess who listed it for €70m.


title: The Ellen Show

text: The Ellen Show is an American television sitcom created by and starring Ellen DeGeneres that was broadcast during the 2001–02 season on CBS, aired from September 24, 2001, to January 11, 2002. It was DeGeneres' second attempt at a sitcom, following "Ellen" on ABC (1994–98), but it was unable to attract strong ratings and was quickly cancelled after 13 episodes, leaving 5 episodes unaired.


title: The Ellen Show

text: DeGeneres came out as a lesbian in "Ellen", and her character on "The Ellen Show", Ellen Richmond, was also a lesbian, although the show did not focus as heavily on the character's sexuality unlike the final season of her first sitcom.


title: The Ellen Show

text: "The Ellen Show" also starred Cloris Leachman, Martin Mull, Kerri Kenney, Jim Gaffigan, and Emily Rutherfurd.


title: The Ellen Show

text: After her internet company Homelearn.com goes bankrupt, Ellen Richmond decides to move back to her hometown to live with her eccentric mother, Dot, and scatter-brained sister, Catherine. At home, Ellen becomes reacquainted with her senior prom date, Rusty, who thinks they can pick up where they left off (which, since she is a lesbian, seems unlikely), and her befuddled high school teacher, Mr. Munn. Though worlds apart from the people who love her, Ellen begins to adjust to a very different way of life and takes a job as a guidance counselor at her former high school.


title: The Ellen Show

text: The show was created by Carol Leifer and Mitchell Hurwitz, who co-wrote the pilot episode. The original title was "Ellen Again".


title: The Ellen Show

text: "The Ellen Show" produced 18 episodes, but was canceled mid-way through its season. The final 5 episodes were never broadcast, but are available on DVD.


title: The Ellen Show

text: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment released the complete series on DVD in Region 1 in a 2-disc box set on July 11, 2006.


title: The Ellen Show

text: In 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment acquired the rights to the series and subsequently re-released the complete series on February 4, 2014.


title: The Ellen Show

text: Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment, in partnership with CBS Home Entertainment, owns the international rights. The complete series was released in Region 4 (Australia) as a 2 DVD set on February 1, 2017 by Umbrella Entertainment.


title: Keone Young

text: Keone Joseph Young (born September 6, 1947) is an American actor and voice actor. He is best known for his television roles as Dr. Michael Kwan in "Kay O'Brien" (1986), Mr. Wu in "Deadwood" (2004–2006) and as the dual roles of Judge Robert Chong and Mr. Wan in "The Young and the Restless" (2007–2010). His voice-over roles include Kaz in "Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi" and Luong Lao Shi in "".


title: Keone Young

text: Young was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a Chinese father and Japanese mother, who both immigrated to Hawaii. His acting mentor was Mako.


title: Keone Young

text: He has been prolific in his character work and has made numerous guest appearances on such varied television series as "Head of the Class", "Diff'rent Strokes", "The Golden Girls", "Murphy Brown", "Mad About You", "Family Matters", "Futurama", "The Simpsons", "Alias", "JAG", "The Steve Harvey Show", "Zeke and Luther", "" and on the daytime soaps "The Young and the Restless" and "Generations". He also portrayed the bodyguard of the Ancient One (Keye Luke) during the Asian Quarter storyline on "General Hospital".


title: Keone Young

text: Young played Dr. Michael Kwan on the short-lived multi-ethnic medical drama "Kay O'Brien", which aired in the fall of 1986 on CBS. Despite the fact that the network had high hopes for the series, just 9 of 13 episodes were aired. He was also a semi-regular on the HBO series "Deadwood" as Mr. Wu and played Henry Lin's Uncle on the FX series "Sons of Anarchy". He also played Mr. Wu, unrelated to the "Deadwood" character, in the movie "Men in Black 3", and played the role of Ellison Onizuka In the TV film "Challenger".


title: Keone Young

text: Young also has several "Star Trek" links: he played Buck Bokai, a famous baseball player in the 24th century in the "" episode "If Wishes Were Horses". He also played Hoshi Sato's father in the "" episode "". Young appeared as Governor Ho in the movie "North" starring Elijah Wood.


title: Keone Young

text: In theatre, Young has had a long history with the Asian American theatre company, East West Players, in Los Angeles, where he not only performed but often served as producer.


title: Keone Young

text: In 2013, Young joined the cast of HBO's "True Blood" as Dr. Hido Takahashi, the man responsible for inventing the titular blood substitute.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Richard Elfman (born March 6, 1949) is an American actor, musician, director, producer, screenwriter, journalist, author and magazine publisher.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Richard Elfman was born in the Watts district of inner-city Los Angeles. His mother, Blossom Elfman (A.K.A. "Clare Elfman"), was an Emmy-winning novelist. His younger brother is musician and film composer Danny Elfman, with whom Richard would later found the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, a performance art troupe that would later morph into Oingo Boingo, an eclectic band that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s.


title: Richard Elfman

text: When Richard was four, his family moved to the Crenshaw district, where Elfman excelled as a track champion at Dorsey High School, subsequently becoming an amateur middleweight boxer. Elfman dropped out of college and opened clothing stores adjacent UC Santa Barbara and UC Berkeley. At that time, Elfman performed and recorded as an Afro-Latin percussionist and wrote, performed and directed with the San Francisco musical theater group the Cockettes. He moved to Paris in the early 1970s to perform in theater as well as to record music in London. Presently, Elfman lives in the Hollywood Hills.


title: Richard Elfman

text: While in Paris, Elfman was a member of Jérôme Savarys musical theater company, "Le Grand Magic Circus", which toured Europe extensively and performed the show "Zartan" for a year's run at the 800-seat Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris. The company also performed at London's Roundhouse under the auspices of Savary's mentor, Peter Brook of the Royal Shakespeare Company. It was during the Magic Circus' summer tour that Richard's brother Danny received his first professional job as a violinist with the company, performing as an opening act alongside Richard on percussion.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Shortly after his stint with the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, Elfman acted in and directed a stage production of Igor Stravinskys "L'Histoire du soldat", which won a Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Production.


title: Richard Elfman

text: In 2018 Richard wrote and directed an absurdist musical comedy in Los Angeles, "Dead Man's Boner", co-starring his wife Anastasia Elfman. Richard played percussion in the show's band, Mambo Diabolico.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Richard and Anastasia Elfman currently host an underground musical/theatrical salon, The BBQ Bacchanals. Richard, a semi-professional barbecue chef, cooks as well as entertains.


title: Richard Elfman

text: In 1972, Elfman returned to Los Angeles and formed his own troupe, the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, where he served as its creative director and percussionist. Elfman retrospectively described the Mystic Knights as a ""commedia dell'arte" ensemble", featuring upwards of fifteen musicians playing as many as thirty instruments, performing only recreated pieces of music from the 1920s through the 1940s as well as avant-garde originals composed by Elfman's brother Danny. The Mystic Knights performed steadily throughout the 1970s and gained a following in Los Angeles, which helped lead to a 1976 appearance on "The Gong Show", where the group won the first place prize, and an uncredited cameo in the 1977 film "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden". Elfman left the Mystic Knights in 1979 to pursue a career in filmmaking, after which Danny assumed creative control of the band, eventually shortening the name to "Oingo Boingo" and transforming it into an 8-piece rock band, which found success throughout the 1980s and 1990s.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Richard plays Afro-Latin percussion in the band Mambo Diabolico, originally created for a play of Richard's with collaborator Ego Plum. The band features five-octave singer Lena-Marie Cardinale and Anastasia Elfman's burlesque choreography. Mambo Diabolico was recently featured in Darren Lynn Bousman's immersive production "Theatre Macabre". The band appeared on the soundtrack of Richard's film "Aliens, Clowns & Geeks" (2019).


title: Richard Elfman

text: Elfman's first directing project was the cult musical film "Forbidden Zone", which was shot over a period of three years and released in 1982. The film itself was a surreal black and white film version of the Mystic Knights' theatrical show starring its band members and friends; notably, Danny Elfman appears onscreen as Satan, singing a modified version of Cab Calloways "Minnie the Moocher", while Richard also appears, singing the 1920s song "The Yiddishe Charleston". In March 2010, Elfman premiered a colorized version of "Forbidden Zone" at New York's Museum of Modern Art in conjunction with a Tim Burton exhibition, while a stage musical adaptation, "Forbidden Zone: Live in the 6th Dimension", ran at the Sacred Fools Theater Company in Los Angeles from May to June 2010.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Owing to its cult following, "Forbidden Zone" still screens in numerous cities and Elfman often performs in a live 20-minute pre-show composed of local artists, involving music, video clips and burlesque choreographed by Anastasia Elfman. Facilities allowing, Elfman, an accomplished grill-master, throws a barbecue after the show. More recently, theaters have also begun performing "shadow cast" screenings of "Forbidden Zone" similar to those made famous by "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" (1975), in which fans who are dressed in character perform in sync alongside the film. Elfman sometimes participates by playing characters in these live performances.


title: Richard Elfman

text: The Syfy channel has run a teaser musical number, "Princess Polly" from "Forbidden Zone 2: The Forbidden Galaxy", on its show "Monster Man", starring Cleve Hall. Elfman opens the "Forbidden Zone" shadow cast shows (after the march-in) with Erin Holt singing "Princess Polly" live in front of her screened "monster" image on stage.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Elfman also directed the 1994 horror film "Shrunken Heads" for Full Moon Entertainment—footage and scenery of which was later reused for sequences in the 1996 Full Moon feature "Zarkorr! The Invader"—and the 1998 horror comedy "Modern Vampires", both of which were written by "Forbidden Zone" writer and former Mystic Knights member Matthew Bright. In a 2009 interview, Elfman revealed he had also done various pseudonymous film work under the names "Aristide Sumatra" and "Mahatma Kane Sumatra", including the 1994 Mimi Lesseos martial arts film "Streets of Rage".


title: Richard Elfman

text: Elfman continues to work in film, television and streaming media, including the science fiction comedy "Aliens, Clowns & Geeks", which debuted in 2019. The film features music by Richard's brother Danny.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Elfman has been a published journalist for 30 years, focusing on food, wine, travel and entertainment. In 2007, he became a writer for "Buzzine" magazine, eventually becoming its film editor and then editor-in-chief. In 2010, Elfman and his son Louis purchased "Buzzine", expanding it online and also creating a Buzzine Bollywood sister site. Between 2010 and 2015, Elfman produced 275 Buzzine red carpet, music and celebrity video interviews, as well as developed the web series "Buzzine Celebrity House".


title: Richard Elfman

text: Other members of Richard's family in the arts include his sister-in-law, actress Bridget Fonda; his son, actor-producer Bodhi Elfman; his daughter-in-law, actress Jenna Elfman; his niece, horror producer Mali Elfman; and his nephew, Emmy-winning broadcast journalist, Diego Santiago.


title: Richard Elfman

text: Richard is married to Anastasia Elfman, a ballet dancer, actress, cellist and burlesque artist. They have a daughter, Audrey-Grace. His family is Jewish.


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: The 49th Academy Awards were presented Monday, March 28, 1977, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. The ceremonies were presided over by Richard Pryor, Ellen Burstyn, Jane Fonda, and Warren Beatty. "Network" and "All the President's Men" were the two biggest winners of the ceremony with four Oscars each, but Best Picture and Best Director, as well as Best Editing, were won by "Rocky".


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: "Network" became the second and, to date, last film (after "A Streetcar Named Desire") to win three acting Oscars, and the last, as of the 94th Academy Awards, to receive five acting nominations. It was also the eleventh of fifteen films (to date) to receive nominations in all four acting categories. Best Actor winner Peter Finch became the first posthumous acting winner, having suffered a fatal heart attack in mid-January. With only five minutes and two seconds of screentime, Beatrice Straight set a record for the shortest performance ever to win an acting Oscar (Best Supporting Actress).


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: Piper Laurie was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for "Carrie" (1976), her first role since her Best Actress-nominated performance in "The Hustler" (1961), thus being nominated for two consecutive roles, fifteen years apart.


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: Lina Wertmüller became the first woman nominated for Best Director for "Seven Beauties", which was also nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. With her win for Best Original Song as the composer for the love theme "Evergreen" from "A Star Is Born", Barbra Streisand became the first woman to be honored in the category, and as of the 94th Academy Awards, the only person to have won Academy Awards for both acting and songwriting (following her Best Actress win for "Funny Girl" at the 40th Academy Awards).


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: ABC held the rights to the Oscars from 1960 to 1970, and regained them for 1976. For the second straight year, the ceremony was scheduled directly opposite the NCAA championship basketball game on NBC, won by Marquette in Al McGuire's final game as head coach.


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: Nominees were announced on February 10, 1977. Winners are listed first, highlighted in boldface and indicated with a double dagger ().


title: 49th Academy Awards

text: The following individuals, listed in order of appearance, presented awards or performed musical numbers.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Moshood Kashimawo Olawale Abiola , also known as M. K. O. Abiola (24 August 1937 – 7 July 1998) was a Nigerian businessman, publisher, and politician. He was the Aare Ona Kankafo XIV of Yorubaland and an aristocrat of the Egba clan.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: M.K.O. Abiola ran for the presidency in 1993, for which the election results were annulled by the preceding military president Ibrahim Babangida because of allegations that they were corrupt and unfair. Abiola was awarded the GCFR posthumously on 6 June 2018 by President Muhammadu Buhari and Nigeria's democracy day was changed to June 12.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola was a personal friend of Ibrahim Babangida and he is believed to have supported Babangida's coming to power.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola's support in the June 1993 presidential election cut across all geo-political zones and religious divisions, among a few politicians to accomplish such a spread during his time. By the time of his death, he had become an unexpected symbol of democracy.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: M. K. O. Abiola was born in Abeokuta, Ogun State to the family of Salawu and Suliat Wuraola Abiola. His father was a produce trader who primarily traded cocoa, and his mother traded in kola nuts. His name, Kashimawo, means ""Let us wait and see"". Moshood Abiola was his father's twenty-third child, but the first of them to survive infancy, hence the name 'Kashimawo'. It was not until he was fifteen that he was properly named Moshood by his parents.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola attended African Central School, Abeokuta for his primary education. As a young boy, he assisted his father in the cocoa trade, but by the end of 1946, his father's business venture was failing precipitated by the destruction of a cocoa consignment declared by a produce inspector to be of poor quality grade and unworthy for export and to be destroyed immediately.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: At the age of nine he started his first business selling firewood gathered in the forest at dawn before school, to support his father and siblings. Abiola founded a band at the age of fifteen and would perform at various ceremonies in exchange for food. Abiola was eventually able to require payment for his performances, and used the money to support his family and his secondary education at the Baptist Boys High School Abeokuta. Abiola was the editor of the school magazine "The Trumpeter", Olusegun Obasanjo was deputy editor. At the age of 19 he joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons ostensibly because of its stronger pan-Nigerian origin compared with the Obafemi Awolowo-led Action Group.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: In 1960, he obtained a government scholarship to study at the University of Glasgow, where he later earned a degree in accountancy and qualified as a chartered accountant. He later became a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).


title: Moshood Abiola

text: In 1956 Moshood Abiola started his professional life as a bank clerk with Barclays Bank in Ibadan, South-West Nigeria. After two years he joined the Western Region Finance Corporation as an executive accounts officer, before leaving for Glasgow, Scotland, to pursue his higher education. From Glasgow University he received a first class degree in accountancy, and he also gained a distinction from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland. On his return to Nigeria, Abiola worked as a senior accountant at the University of Lagos Teaching Hospital, then went on to US firm Pfizer, before joining the ITT Corporation, where he later rose to the position of vice-president, Africa and Middle-East. Abiola spent a lot of his time, and made most of his money, in the United States, while retaining the post of chairman of the corporation's Nigerian subsidiary.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: While Abiola worked at the Nigerian subsidiary of Pfizer smile pharmaceuticals, his desire was to own some equity in the firm but the options available to him were not appealing. He then applied to a job listing seeking a trained accountant, it was during the interview that he found out the firm was ITT Corporation. Abiola was employed by the firm and one of his immediate responsibilities was to clear the backlog of debt owed to the firm by the military. An office meeting with the army's Inspector of Signals, Murtala Mohammed to seek a resolution of the debts resulted in verbal argument heard by the Chief of Army Staff Hassan Usman Katsina. The intervention of Katsina ended up being favorable to Abiola as he was given a check to cover the debt. Abiola used his determination to clear the debts as a bargaining tool for more role in the company, initially he was able to remove the expatriate manager but was unable to get a requested 50% equity in the Nigerian arm of ITT. Abiola subsequently established Radio Communication (RCN) as a side business, new employees were trained in marketing of telecoms equipment and Abiola targeted the military who were replacing civil war-era equipment as business clients. His marketing strategy proposed training of military personnel in the use of equipment so as to reduce reliance on outside vendors for maintenance, this strategy gained favor in a security conscious armed forces. Abiola soon received a contract to supply hardware to the military that got the attention of ITT and he was offered 49% equity ownership of its Nigerian arm.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: RCN went on to develop a static communications network for the armed forces signal unit and Nigeria's domestic satellite communications. In 1975, ITT and partners secured a major contract to supply automatic telephone exchanges in a number of locations within the country.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: In addition to his duties throughout the Middle-East and Africa, Abiola invested heavily in Nigeria and West Africa. He set up Abiola Farms, Abiola Bookshops, Radio Communications Nigeria, Wonder Bakeries, Concord Press, Concord Airlines, Summit Oil International Ltd, Africa Ocean Lines, Habib Bank, Decca W.A. Ltd, and Abiola football club. He was also Chairman of the G15 business council, President of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Patron of the Kwame Nkrumah Foundation, Patron of the WEB Du Bois foundation, trustee of the Martin Luther King Foundation, and director of the International Press Institute. In 1983, he teamed up with Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, Bamanga Tukur and Raymond Dokpesi to establish Africa Ocean Lines. The firm began operations in 1984 using chartered vessels before acquiring two cargo ships in 1986 with a capacity for 958 TEUs. The shipping firm's route linked the major shipping ports along the West African coast with United Kingdom and Northern Europe.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola's involvement in politics started early on in life when he joined the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC) at age 19. In 1979, the military government kept its word and handed over power to the civilian. As Abiola was already involved in politics, he joined the ruling National Party of Nigeria (NPN) in 1980 and was elected the state chairman of his party. Re-election was done in 1983 and everything looked promising since the re-elected president was from Abiola's party and based on the true transition to power in 1979; Abiola was eligible to go for the post of presidential candidate after the tenure of the re-elected president. However, his hope to become the president was shortly dashed away for the first time in 1983 when a military coup d'état swept away the re-elected president of his party and ended civilian rule in the country.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola was a member of Ansar Ud Deen organization in Nigeria. In the 1980s, through his National Concord Newspaper Abiola supported Islamic causes including introduction of a Sharia Court of Appeal in Southwestern Nigeria and Nigeria's entry to the Organization of Islamic Countries. The support given the latter received less favorable response from some readers of the National Concord. Notwithstanding, he was actively involved in the formation and activities of the National Sharia Committee. In 1984, he was given a title of Baba Adinni of Yorubaland by a committee of Muslim clerics. His support of Islam in Southern Nigeria earned him some recognition in the Northern region of the country. In his hometown of Abeokuta, Abiola built a Quran training center which was named after his mother Zulihat Abiola. After a decade of military rule, General Ibrahim Babangida came under pressure to return democratic rule to Nigeria. After an aborted initial primary, Abiola stood for the presidential nomination of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and beat Ambassador Baba Gana Kingibe and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar to secure the presidential nomination of the SDP ahead of the 12 June 1993 presidential elections. Abiola had managed to work his way out of poverty through hard work. He established Abiola bookshops to provide affordable, locally produced textbooks in the 1980s when imported textbooks became out of the reach of ordinary Nigerians as the naira was devalued. He also made available daily necessities such as rice and soap at affordable prices in the market.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola announced his candidacy for president in February 1993, this was after a previous round of presidential primaries had been cancelled by military President Babangida. His party of choice was SDP, though he was an outsider who was new to the partisan politics within the party which at the time was dominated by two major factions, People's Front(PF) and PSP. Both SDP and its opposition, NRC held presidential primaries in March 1993. SDP's primaries was held in Jos and was largely a three-way contest between Abiola, Kingibe and Atiku even though there were more aspirants. Abiola was heavily supported by the People's Solidarity faction (PSP) within SDP while Atiku was supported by PF faction led by Yar'Adua and Kingibe was supported by a loose coalition of party members. During the first ballot, Abiola was able to score a slim majority vote of 3,617 to Kingibe's 3,225. A second round was contested two days later and Abiola again emerged victorious with a slim margin and he became the party's presidential candidate for the June 12 election.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Abiola's political message was an optimistic future for Nigeria with slogans such as "Farewell to poverty", " At last! Our rays of Hope" and the "Burden of Schooling". His economic policy included negotiations with foreign creditors and better management of the country's international debts, in addition, increased cooperation with the foreign community while presenting himself as someone the international community can trust.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: For the 12 June 1993 presidential elections, Abiola's running mate was his primary opponent Baba Gana Kingibe. He defeated his rival, Bashir Tofa of the National Republican Convention. The election was declared Nigeria's freeest and fairest presidential election by national and international observers, with Abiola even winning in his Northern opponent's home state of Kano. Abiola won at the national capital, Abuja, the military polling stations, and over two-thirds of Nigerian states. Men of Northern descent had largely dominated Nigeria's political landscape since independence; Moshood Abiola, a Western Muslim, was able to secure a national mandate freely and fairly, unprecedented in Nigeria's history. However, the election was annulled by Ibrahim Babangida, causing a political crisis which led to General Sani Abacha seizing power later that year. During preparations for the 2011 Nigerian Presidential elections there were calls from several quarters to remember MKO Abiola.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: In 1994 Moshood Abiola, M.K.O. declared himself the lawful president of Nigeria in the Epetedo area of Lagos island, an area mainly populated by (Yoruba) Lagos Indigenes. He had recently returned from a trip to win the support of the international community for his mandate. After declaring himself president he was declared wanted and was accused of treason and arrested on the orders of military President General Sani Abacha, who sent 200 police vehicles to bring him into custody. M.K.O. Abiola has been referred to as Nigeria's greatest statesman. His second wife Alhaja Kudirat Abiola was assassinated in Lagos in 1996 after declaring public support for her husband.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Moshood Abiola was detained for four years, largely in solitary confinement with a Bible, Qur'an, and fourteen guards as companions. During that time, Pope John Paul II, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and human rights activists from all over the world lobbied the Nigerian government for his release. The sole condition attached to the release of Chief Abiola was that he renounce his mandate, something that he refused to do, although the military government offered to compensate him and refund his extensive election expenses. For this reason Chief Abiola became extremely troubled when Kofi Annan and Emeka Anyaoku reported to the world that he had agreed to renounce his mandate after they met with him to tell him that the world would not recognise a five-year-old election.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Moshood Abiola died unexpectedly, shortly after the death of General Abacha, on the day that he was due to be released. While meeting group of American diplomats including Thomas Pickering and Susan Rice at a government guesthouse in Abuja, Abiola fell ill and died. Rice had served tea to Abiola shortly before his collapse, and later wrote of an enduring belief in Nigera that she had poisoned Abiola.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Independent autopsy carried out and witnessed by physicians and pathologists from the Nigerian government, Nigerian Medical Association, Canada, UK and the US found substantial evidence of longstanding heart disease. General Abacha's Chief Security Officer, Hamza al-Mustapha has alleged that Moshood Abiola was in fact beaten to death and although Al-Mustapha claims to have video and audiotapes showing how Abiola was beaten to death, he has yet to come forward with the release of such tapes or how it was procured in the first place. Regardless of the exact circumstances of his death, it is clear that Chief Abiola received insufficient medical attention for his existing health conditions. Hence, whatever claims Al-Mustapha must have made to direct blames to other quarters other than himself and his late boss (General Sani Abacha) might be irrelevant or at best point back to them as the murderers of MKO.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: A number of different perspectives exist on Abiola's death. Renowned writer and playwright Wole Soyinka in his autobiography You Must Set Forth at Dawn, categorically asserted that Abiola was presented with a poisoned cup of tea during his final interview with the BBC. He was certain about the fact that Abiola was poisoned, although information on what entities were behind the poisoning, have yet to come to light.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Kofi Annan, the seventh Secretary General of the United Nations who had been in a meeting with Abiola at Abuja on the 29th of June 1998, mentioned that Abiola had been denied adequate medical care throughout his incarceration. This was in some corroboration with the findings of an international team of pathologists who posited a heart condition as the cause of death.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: The Human Rights Violation Investigation Commission of Nigeria, conducted a series of hearings aiming to discover the truth of events leading to the Abiola's death, concluding that the Abubakar regime probably knew more than it revealed.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Chief M.K.O. Abiola's memory is celebrated in Nigeria and internationally. Since his death, the Lagos State Government declares June 12 as a public holiday. In 2018, other states including Ogun, Oyo and Osun, announced June 12 as a public holiday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the annulled 1993 presidential election. June 12 remains a public holiday in Nigeria beginning 12 June 2019, it will be celebrated as democracy day, replacing May 29. Remembrance events are arranged across Nigeria. MKO Abiola Stadium and Moshood Abiola Polytechnic were named in his honour, and there were calls for posthumous presidential recognition. A statue, MKO Abiola Statue was erected in his honour.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: M.K.O. Abiola was criticised by political activists and detractors. Controversy was caused by a song by Nigerian musician, Fela Kuti, a charismatic multi-instrumentalist musician, composer and human rights activist, famed for being the pioneer of Afrobeat music and a controversial figure due to his unusual lifestyle and apparent drug use. It is believed that Kuti had entered into an acrimonious dispute relating to a contract with M.K.O. Abiola's record label. He used the abbreviation of International Telephone & Telegraph (IT&T) in a song criticising big multinational corporations. The song, "ITT", accuses such companies of draining Africa's resources and says "they start to steal money Like Obasanjo and Abiola".


title: Moshood Abiola

text: On 29 May 2012, former president Goodluck Jonathan, announced that the famous University of Lagos will be renamed in memory of Abiola as Moshood Abiola University of Lagos (MAULAG). This received a negative reaction by both students, Alumni and members of public resulting in an abrupt reversal.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: On 6 June 2018, Muhammadu Buhari, President of Nigeria declared 12 June as the new date for the celebration of Democracy Day. Nigeria's Democracy Day was formally celebrated every 29 May, the day in 1999 that former military Head of State, Abdulsalami Abubakar, handed over power to an elected president, Olusegun Obasanjo of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and the date when, for the second time in the history of Nigeria, an elected civilian administration took over from a military government.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: On 6 June 2018, Muhammadu Buhari in a public statement changed the Democracy Day to June 12 in honor of the June 12, 1993 presidential election and it's winner, Moshood Abiola, who died in prison. Buhari's statement partly read: "for the past 18 years, Nigerians have been celebrating May 29, as Democracy Day. That was the date when, for the second time in our history, an elected civilian administration took over from a military government. The first time this happened was on 1 October 1979. But in the view of Nigerians, as shared by his administration, June 12, 1993, was far more symbolic of democracy in the Nigerian context than May 29 or even the October 1. June 12, 1993 was the day when Nigerians in millions expressed their democratic will in what was undisputedly the freeest, fairest and most peaceful elections since our independence. The fact that the outcome of that election was not upheld by the then military government doesn't distract from the democratic credential of that process. Accordingly, after due consultation, the Federal Government has decided, henceforth, June 12 will be celebrated as Democracy Day. Therefore, the government has decided to award posthumously the highest honour of the land GCFR, to the late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, the presumed winner of the June 12, 1993 cancelled election".


title: Moshood Abiola

text: On 11 June 2019, Muhammadu Buhari assented to a Bill amending May 29 previously set aside as a public holiday for the celebration. The public holiday amendment Act was passed by the National Assembly of Nigeria following a Bill introduced and sponsored by Kayode Oladele, Human Rights Lawyer and Member of the House of Representatives ( Eighth Assembly) representing Yewa North/Imeko-Afon Federal Constituency of Ogun State.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Moshood Abiola was twice voted international businessman of the year, and received numerous honorary doctorates from universities all over the world. In 1987 he was bestowed with the golden key to the city of Washington, D.C., and he was bestowed with awards from the NAACP and the King center in the US, as well as the International Committee on Education for Teaching in Paris, among many others.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: chieftaincy title available to commoners amongst the Yoruba. At the point when he was elevated, the title had only been conferred by the tribe thirteen times in its long history. This in effect rendered Abiola the ceremonial War Viceroy of all of his tribespeople. According to the folklore of the tribe as recounted by the Yoruba elders, the Aare Ona Kakanfo is expected to die a warrior in the defence of his nation to prove himself in the eyes of both the divine and the mortal as having been worthy of his title.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: He was posthumously awarded the third highest national honour, the Commander of the Federal Republic, in 1998.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: He was also awarded the highest national honor, the Grand Commander of the Federal Republic – or GCFR – in 2018. The date of the annulled election, June 12, was also made Nigeria's Democracy Day.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Moshood Abiola married many wives; notable among them are Simibiat Atinuke Shoaga in 1960, Simbiat Abiola Kudirat Olayinka Adeyemi in 1973, Adebisi Olawunmi Oshin in 1974, Doyinsola (Doyin) Abiola Aboaba in 1981, Modupe Onitiri-Abiola and Remi Abiola. He fathered many children.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Moshood Abiola sprang to national and international prominence as a result of his philanthropic activities. The Congressional Black Caucus of the United States of America issued the following tribute to Moshood Abiola:


title: Moshood Abiola

text: Because of this man, there is both cause for hope and certainty that the agony and protests of those who suffer injustice shall give way to peace and human dignity. The children of the world shall know the great work of this extraordinary leader and his fervent mission to right wrong, to do justice, and to serve mankind. The enemies which imperil the future of generations to come: poverty, ignorance, disease, hunger, and racism have each seen effects of the valiant work of Chief Abiola. Through him and others like him, never again will freedom rest in the domain of the few. We, the members of the Congressional Black Caucus salute him this day as a hero in the global pursuit to preserve the history and the legacy of the African diaspora.


title: Moshood Abiola

text: From 1972 until his death Moshood Abiola had been conferred with 197 traditional titles by 68 different communities in Nigeria, in response to his having provided financial assistance in the construction of 63 secondary schools, 121 mosques and churches, 41 libraries, 21 water projects in 24 states of Nigeria, and he was grand patron to 149 societies or associations in Nigeria. In addition to his work in Nigeria, Moshood Abiola supported the Southern African Liberation movements from the 1970s, and he sponsored the campaign to win reparations for slavery and colonialism in Africa and the diaspora. He personally communicated with every African head of state, and every head of state in the black diaspora to ensure that Africans would speak with one voice on the issues.


title: Zac Posen

text: Posen was born and raised in a Jewish family in New York City, residing in the SoHo neighborhood of lower Manhattan. He is the son of Susan (née Orzack), a corporate lawyer, and Stephen Arnold Posen, an artist. He has family roots in Shklow, Belarus, and Żychlin, Poland. His interest in fashion design started early, and as a child he would steal yarmulkes from his grandparents' synagogue to make ball dresses for dolls.


title: Zac Posen

text: He attended Saint Ann's School, a private school in Brooklyn and in his sophomore year interned with fashion designer Nicole Miller. As a teen, he also won a Scholastic Art and Writing Award. At age 16 he enrolled in the pre-college program at Parsons The New School for Design. He graduated from Saint Ann's in 1999. For three years, Posen was mentored by curator Richard Martin at The Costume Institute of The Metropolitan Museum of Art. At age 18, he was accepted into the womenswear degree program at London's Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design at the University of the Arts London. In 2001, Posen constructed a gown entirely made from thin leather strips and dressmaker hooks and eyes that was displayed by the Victoria and Albert Museum and featured in their "Curvaceous" exhibition.


title: Zac Posen

text: In 2000, Posen received a prominent career opportunity after a dress he made for Naomi Campbell changed hands several times among several fashion insiders, including actress Paz de la Huerta. He is famously well-connected and has called Stella Schnabel his muse. Through "Interview" magazine Editor-in-Chief Ingrid Sischy, Posen met his future publicist and event producer Ed Filipowski of KCD, who offered to represent him for free.


title: Zac Posen

text: Upon returning to New York in 2001, Posen set up an atelier in his parents' living room, while they gave him a USD$15 allowance. In October of the same year, he was chosen to present a capsule collection as part of GenArt's "Fresh Faces in Fashion New York 2001." He received a grant for $20,000. After his first runway show in 2001, Posen was courted by fashion titans Yves Carcelle, president of LVMH Fashion Group; Sidney Toledano, CEO and director of Christian Dior S.A.; and Domenico De Sole, president and CEO of Gucci Group NV. Following the success of this presentation, Posen established his design studio in Laight Street Tribeca.


title: Zac Posen

text: His awards include the Council of Fashion Designers of America's 2004 Swarovski's Perry Ellis Award for Womenswear. Posen has become a favorite of Natalie Portman, Rihanna, Amanda Seyfried, Andy Dick, Kate Winslet, Claire Danes, Cameron Diaz, Dick Clark, Jennifer Lopez, Mischa Barton, Mr. Kool Aid, Beyoncé Knowles and others.


title: Zac Posen

text: In 2004, high-end urban fashion brand Sean John made an investment deal with Posen. Ashley Olsen interned with Posen in 2005 while she was a student at New York University.


title: Zac Posen

text: In April 2008, Posen's capsule collection created in collaboration with Target, Zac Posen for Target, was released in 75 stores in Australia. A preview of the collection was shown during March's L'Oreal Melbourne Fashion Festival.


title: Zac Posen

text: At the 2012 Academy Awards, Glenn Close wore a Posen gown on the red carpet, as did both Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Watts at the 2013 Golden Globe Awards. Other notables who have worn Posen creations on red carpets include Uma Thurman at the 2013 Met Ball); Sofia Vergara at the 2014 Golden Globes; Anna Chlumsky at the 2014 Emmy Awards; and Rita Ora at the 2014 AMA Awards.


title: Zac Posen

text: On December 18, 2012, Posen was announced as an official judge on "Project Runway " starting with season 11, staying on until after season 16. On September 7, 2018, it was announced that Posen would not be returning to "Project Runway" for a 17th season on Bravo.


title: Zac Posen

text: In February 2014, Posen partnered with another major retailer, David's Bridal, to create Truly Zac Posen, a line of affordable bridal gowns. The line was Posen's first official bridal collection. Also in 2014, he was named Creative Director for Brooks Brothers, tapped to modernize their signature women's clothing and accessories line. In 2014, he introduced a more casual Pre-Fall 2015 Trunk Show collection.


title: Zac Posen

text: In recent collaborations, Posen was selected to redesign the uniforms for Delta Air Lines 60,000 employees. As of May 2018, these uniforms are worn by Delta Air Lines staff members, from flight attendants to customer service.


title: Zac Posen

text: In October 2017, Posen's 288-page cookbook was published by Rodale Books. It is described as having "100 recipes every bit as decadent and inspiring as his designs."


title: Zac Posen

text: In 2018, Posen designed the blush silk gown Princess Eugenie of York wore for her evening wedding reception.


title: Zac Posen

text: On November 1, 2019, House of Z and Z Spoke, the fashion brand owners of Posen's company, announced an immediate closure of the label.


title: Fusilier

text: Fusilier is a name given to various kinds of soldiers; its meaning depends on the historical context. While fusilier is derived from the 17th-century French word "fusil" – meaning a type of flintlock musket – the term has been used in contrasting ways in different countries and at different times, including soldiers guarding artillery, various elite units, ordinary line infantry and other uses.


title: Fusilier

text: The word "fusil", which was the name of the type of musket carried by a fusilier, is itself derived from the Old French and Latin "foisil", meaning a piece of flint.


title: Fusilier

text: Flintlock small arms were first used militarily during the early 17th century. Flintlocks, at the time, were more reliable and safer to use than matchlock muskets, which required a match to be lit near the breech before the weapon could be triggered. By contrast, flintlocks were fired using a piece of flint. By the time of the English Civil War (1642–1652), one flintlock musket, the snaphance, was in common use in Britain.


title: Fusilier

text: The term "fusiliers" was first used officially by the French Army in 1670, when four fusiliers were distributed among each company of infantry. The following year the "Fusiliers du Roi" ("King's Fusiliers"), the first regiment composed primarily of soldiers with flintlocks, was formed by Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban.


title: Fusilier

text: Guarding and escorting artillery pieces was the first task assigned to the "Fusiliers du Roi": flintlocks were especially useful around field artillery, as they were less likely than matchlocks to accidentally ignite open barrels of gunpowder, required at the time to load cannons. At the time, artillery units also required guards to maintain discipline amongst civilian draymen. Hence the term fusilier became strongly associated with the role of guarding artillery in Britain and the English-speaking world, especially after the formation of the first official "Fusilier" units, during the 1680s. As late as the Seven Years' War of 1756–1763, the Austrian Army maintained an Artillery Fusilier Regiment for the exclusive roles of providing support for field batteries on the battlefield and of protecting the artillery when on the march and in camp.


title: Fusilier

text: During the 18th century, as flintlocks became the main weapon used by infantry, the term fusilier gradually ceased to have this meaning and was applied to various units.


title: Fusilier

text: The Belgian Army has no specific regiment called fusiliers, but the general denomination for infantry soldiers is "Storm fusilier" (; ).


title: Fusilier

text: The Belgian Navy used to have a regiment of marine infantry composed of "marine fusiliers" in charge of the protection of the naval bases. However this unit was disbanded in the 1990s reforms.


title: Fusilier

text: Adopting a number of practices from the Portuguese military in the 19th century, the Brazilian Army uses the term "fuzileiros" (fusiliers) to designate the regular line infantry, as opposed to the grenadiers ("granadeiros") and the light infantry ("caçadores" and "atiradores"). In addition, the Brazilian Marine Corps is called "Fuzileiros Navais" (Naval Fusiliers).


title: Fusilier

text: There are five fusilier regiments patterned on the British tradition forming part of the Canadian Militia, and later the Canadian Army. The Royal 22 Régiment, although not fusiliers, wears fusilier ceremonial uniform with scarlet plumes because of its alliance with the Royal Welch Fusiliers.


title: Fusilier

text: By the mid-18th century, the French Army used the term "fusiliers" to designate ordinary line infantry, as opposed to specialist or élite infantry, such as "grenadiers", "voltigeurs", "carabiniers" or "chasseurs".


title: Fusilier

text: The French Army no longer uses the term "fusiliers", although a number of its infantry regiments descend from fusilier regiments.


title: Fusilier

text: The term "fusiliers" is still used in the navy and air force. They are protection forces of riflemen assuring security and policing on land bases and installations as well as on ships. The commandos are selected from their ranks. The commandos are special forces units. They are:


title: Fusilier

text: Prussia made early use of the title "fusilier" for various types of infantry. In 1705, the Foot Guards ("Leibgarde zu Fuss") were designated as Fusilier Guards. By 1837, low-quality infantry raised from garrison companies also were named fusiliers. These latter units were dressed in blue with low mitre caps. Between 1740 and 1743 on Frederick the Great raised 14 separate Fusilier Regiments (numbers 33–40, 41–43 and 45–48). Except for the mitre caps, these new regiments were identical in appearance, training and role to the existing line infantry (musketeers).


title: Fusilier

text: Subsequently, Prussia and several other German states used the designation Fusilier to denote a type of light infantry, dressed in green, that acted as skirmishers. In the Prussian Army, they had been formed in 1787 as independent battalions, with many of the officers having had experience in the American Revolutionary War. The Prussian reforms of 1808 absorbed the fusiliers as the third battalion of each line infantry regiment. Now wearing the same Prussian blue uniforms as standard musketeers, they were distinguished by black leather belts, and a slightly different arrangement of cartridge pouch.


title: Fusilier

text: In the Prussian Army of 1870, Infantry Regiments 33 to 40 plus Regiments 73 (Hanover), 80 (Hesse-Kassel or Hesse-Cassel) and 86 (Schleswig-Holstein) were all designated as fusiliers, as was the Guard Fusilier Regiment. In addition, the third battalions of all guard, grenadier and line infantry regiments retained the designation 'Fusilier Battalion'. They were armed with a slightly shorter version of the Dreyse rifle ("Füsiliergewehr"), that took a sword bayonet ("Füsilier-Seitengewehr") rather than the standard socket bayonet. Although still theoretically skirmishers, in practice they differed little from their compatriots, as all Prussian infantry fought in a style that formed a dense 'firing' or 'skirmish' line.


title: Fusilier

text: By the 1880s, the title was honorific and, while implying 'specialist' or 'elite', did not have any tactical significance. In a sense, all infantry were becoming fusiliers, as weapons, tactics and equipment took on the fusilier characteristics - that is: skirmish line, shorter rifles, sword bayonets, black leather equipment and the use of bugles (rather than drums) to relay commands. Nonetheless, these titular units remained in existence until the end of the German Imperial Army in 1918, as follows:


title: Fusilier

text: This was a special case, as it was also classed as 'Schützen' (Sharpshooter): this designation originally signified a type of 'Jäger' (Rifleman), and thus the regiment wore the Jäger-style dark green uniform.


title: Fusilier

text: The various Fusilier regiments and battalions in the German Imperial Army of 1914 did not have any single distinctions of dress or equipment to distinguish them as fusiliers. Individual regiments did, however, have special features worn with the dark blue full dress. Some of these features were maintained on the field grey dress of the trenches right up to 1918. As examples in full dress, the Guard Fusiliers had nickel buttons and yellow shoulder straps, and the 80th Fusiliers special braiding on collars and cuffs (deriving from their origin as the Elector of Hesse's Guards). When a regiment was permitted the distinction of a horse-hair plume on the pickelhaube, for fusiliers it was always black. This included the third (Fusilier) Battalion of those regiments normally distinguished by a white horse-hair plume.


title: Fusilier

text: In World War II, the elite German Division "Großdeutschland" contained a regiment titled "Panzerfüsiliere" ('Armoured Fusiliers'), to maintain the old German traditions. This was again titular, as in organisation, appearance and tactical use they were essentially "Panzergrenadiere". The modern German Army has no fusiliers.


title: Fusilier

text: On 1 January 1969, the Mexican Army created the Parachute Fusilier Brigade ("Brigada de Fusileros Paracaidistas") with two infantry battalions and a training battalion. The brigade's role is that of a strategic reserve, based in Mexico City.


title: Fusilier

text: In the Royal Netherlands Army, one of the two foot guards regiments: the Garderegiment Fuseliers Prinses Irene, is a regiment of fusiliers.


title: Fusilier

text: From the 18th to the 19th centuries, the term "fuzileiros" (fusiliers) was used, in the Portuguese Army, to designate the regular line infantry, as opposed to the grenadiers ("granadeiros") and the light infantry ("caçadores" and "atiradores"). The Portuguese Army discontinued the use of the term in the 1860s


title: Fusilier

text: The term "fuzileiros marinheiros" (fusilier sailors) has been used in the Portuguese Navy, since the late 18th century, to designate the naval infantry. The Portuguese Marine Corps is called "Fuzileiros Navais" (Naval Fusiliers).


title: Fusilier

text: Line infantry soldiers of the lowest rank in the Swiss Army have historically been designated as fusiliers. Because the modern Swiss infantry soldier is trained in a much broader variety of tasks than his historical counterpart, and because of some negative connotations attached to the term "Füsiliere", modern infantry battalions of the Swiss army have been renamed "Infanteriebataillone" or "Inf Bat". The individual soldiers are officially called "Infanteristen", not "Füsiliere" but colloquially they are still referred to as "Füsiliere" or "Füsle". This meaning is retained in the name of the 1938 Swiss film "Fusilier Wipf".


title: Fusilier

text: The original fusiliers in the British Army were The 7th Foot, Royal Regiment of Fuzileers raised in 1685. This subsequently became The Royal Fusiliers (City of London Regiment). The original purpose of this unit was to act as escort to artillery guns, as well as keeping discipline amongst the civilian drivers. Both Scots (21st Foot) and Welsh (23rd Foot) regiments also became fusiliers in the period up to and including 1702 and all three regiments were distinguished by the wearing of a slightly shorter version of the mitred cap worn by grenadier companies of all other infantry regiments. A number of additional infantry regiments were subsequently designated as fusiliers during the 19th century, but this was simply a historic distinction without any relationship to special weapons or roles.


title: Fusilier

text: In 1865, a distinctive head-dress was authorised for British Army fusilier regiments. Originally a sealskin cap for other ranks, this was replaced by a black raccoon skin cap of in height, according to the 1874 Dress Regulations. However, fusilier officers wore a taller bearskin like their counterparts in the foot guards. The badge for each regiment was placed at the front of the bear or raccoon skin headdress, and consisted of a stylized flaming grenade, with different emblems placed on the ball of the grenade.


title: Fusilier

text: Attached to the various types of fusilier headdress, including the modern beret, is the hackle. This is a short cut feather plume, the colours of which vary according to the regiment. Initially, the only regiment authorised to wear a plume or hackle were the 5th of Foot (Northumberland Fusiliers). The regiment had originally worn a white feather distinction, authorised in 1824 to commemorate the victory of St Lucia in 1778 when men of the Fifth Regiment were supposed to have taken white feathers from the hats of dead French soldiers. When, in 1829, a white plume was ordered for all line infantry regiments, to preserve the Fifth (Northumberland) Regiment's emblem, they were authorised to wear a white plume with a red tip, allegedly to indicate a distinction won in battle. The Fifth were designated fusiliers in 1836.


title: Fusilier

text: Following the Second Boer War, plumes were added to the headgear of all fusilier regiments in recognition of their service in South Africa.


title: Fusilier

text: The nine regiments of fusiliers that existed in 1914 have since been reduced to one by a series of disbandments and mergers:


title: Flexural strength

text: Flexural strength, also known as modulus of rupture, or bend strength, or transverse rupture strength is a material property, defined as the stress in a material just before it yields in a flexure test. The transverse bending test is most frequently employed, in which a specimen having either a circular or rectangular cross-section is bent until fracture or yielding using a three-point flexural test technique. The flexural strength represents the highest stress experienced within the material at its moment of yield. It is measured in terms of stress, here given the symbol formula_1.