title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: In 1678, Anthony Olive became the first European to settle in what is now West Orange. He was of Dutch origin. He started a farm at the base of the mountains—in what is now Llewellyn Park. It was still untouched wilderness. In 1702, New Jersey became a royal colony of England. By 1706 what is now West Orange—was considered part of Essex County in the East Jersey territory.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: By the 1700s West Orange was known as part of the Newark Mountains. During the American Revolution, the valleys were populated by farms and mills. The area on Main Street now known as "Tory Corner" was called Williamstown, after two brothers Nathaniel and Benjamin Williams. Nathaniel and his two eldest sons were Loyalists to the British crown, and gathered other Loyalists for meetings. Nathaniel took his eldest sons James and Amos to join the British Army in 1777, and never returned. Meanwhile, Nathaniel's wife Mary Williams stayed on the farm with her younger children. Her farm house had been built in 1720. She gave freely to Washington's revolutionary troops. James finally returned to the farm decades later, to reunite with his mother Mary. Nathaniel and Amos never returned. Nathaniel died of smallpox in New York. A plaque to Mary Williams was erected by the Daughters of the American Revolution in 1922.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: West Orange was initially a part of Newark township, and remained so until November 27, 1806, when the territory now encompassing all of The Oranges was detached to form Orange Township. On April 13, 1807, the first government was elected. On January 31, 1860, Orange was incorporated as a town, and on April 3, 1872, it was reincorporated as a city. Almost immediately, Orange began fragmenting into smaller communities, primarily because of local disputes about the costs of establishing paid police, fire and street departments. South Orange was organized on April 1, 1861, Fairmount Township (an independent municipality for less than one year that was later to become part of West Orange) on March 11, 1862, and East Orange on March 4, 1863. West Orange (including what had been the briefly independent municipality of Fairmount) was incorporated as a township on April 10, 1863, and was reformed as a town on February 28, 1900. In 1980, West Orange again became a township to take advantage of federal revenue sharing policies that allocated a greater share of government aid to municipalities classified as townships.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The township derives its name from William III of England or William IV, Prince of Orange, which in turn is derived from the city of Orange.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The Eagle Rock Reservation covers in West Orange, Montclair and Verona. It was home to many eagles. It currently is the trail head for the Lenni Lenape Trail. Rock Spring is located at the bottom of the Turtle Back Rocks—currently at the corner of Northfield Avenue and Walker Road, West Orange. The water from the spring was considered to have healing powers since Native American times. By the 19th century, visitors from New York City would come to West Orange to drink the water from this spring for its supposed curative powers. West Orange became a resort or country retreat—with boating, fishing, and an Amusement Park at Crystal Lake near Eagle Rock Reservation. In 1901, the first uphill automobile test took place called the Eagle Rock Hill Climb.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Llewellyn Park, the first planned community in America, is located within West Orange, and was designed by entrepreneur Llewellyn Haskell and architect Alexander Jackson Davis in 1857. Llewellyn Park is considered among the best examples of the "Romantic Landscape" movement of that period.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Thomas Edison was one of the many residents. Thomas Edison's Laboratory, currently a National Historical Park, was where he developed the inventions that earned more than 1,000 patents, including the light bulb, stock ticker and recorded sound. The laboratory grounds also include the Black Maria—America's first movie studio, the birthplace of Hollywood. The whole idea of a movie industry was first born in West Orange. The town's movie industry rapidly began to spreading to surrounding areas. Eventually the industry spread to Fort Lee, New Jersey, in 1907, which offered inexpensive land for movie production studios that could be located in close proximity to New York City. In response to the demands by the Edison Trust for royalties from studios, independent studios located in the Fort Lee area started to relocate to what is now Hollywood, California, where they could operate in good weather year-round, out of reach of Edison and his trust.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: In the late 1800s, the Valley region of West Orange was home to 34 hat factories, known as the hat making capital of the country. It is currently under redevelopment as 'Hat City' or 'The Valley Arts District'. Until its closure in 1983, the Orange Quarry Company was located in West Orange, where bluestone was mined.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Post-World War II, there was a real estate development boom in West Orange. In the 1960s, "white flight" from the 1967 Newark riots and Civil Rights Era led to further settlement of West Orange. The 1970 opening of Interstate 280 made West Orange a popular "bedroom community" suburb for commuters to New York City. This coincided with changes to immigration laws re-opening the country to Asian immigration in 1965, and 1980s desegregation of American suburbs. By the 1990s, West Orange had become a "melting pot", home to a diverse and international community. Many of the industries that had made West Orange grow, left the area by the 1960s. This left some urban blight and abandoned warehouses in the Valley, in contrast to wealthy communities on top of the mountains.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: It is currently home to Kessler Institute, where actor Christopher Reeve rehabilitated, and Daughters of Israel. It is also home to many Jewish synagogues and Korean churches.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: According to the United States Census Bureau, the township had a total area of 12.13 square miles (31.41 km), including 12.00 square miles (31.09 km) of land and 0.12 square miles (0.32 km) of water (1.01%). It is located approximately west of downtown Newark and west of New York City. West Orange is in the New York metropolitan area.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The West Branch of the Rahway River originates at Crystal Lake and passes through the township in South Mountain Reservation.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: West Orange borders the Essex County communities of Essex Fells, Livingston, Millburn, Maplewood, Montclair, Orange, Roseland, South Orange and Verona.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Unincorporated communities, localities and place names located partially or completely within the township include Crestmont, Crystal Lake, Llewellyn Park, Pleasantdale, and Saint Cloud.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The township has an eclectic mix of neighborhoods and housing types, which roughly correspond to the township's geographic features. Generally, the township has four distinct neighborhoods:


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The oldest and most densely populated part of the township is Downtown West Orange, which lies in the low basin along the township's eastern border with the city of Orange and Montclair. Main Street, in this section, is home to the Thomas Edison National Historical Park, as well as the municipal building, police headquarters, and a branch post office. The West Orange Public Library is located on Mount Pleasant Avenue in this section, just west of Main Street. Downtown West Orange is laid out in the pattern of a traditional town, and is formed around the western termini of two major east–west arteries of the Newark street grid: Central Avenue and Park Avenue. Downtown West Orange has the most urban character of the township's neighborhoods, while the Valley is home to a growing arts district, the West Orange Arts Center, Luna Stage and a sizable African American community.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: West of Downtown, the neighborhoods of West Orange become increasingly suburban as one ascends the steep hill of the First Watchung Mountain along Northfield, Mount Pleasant, or Eagle Rock Avenue. The housing stock in the neighborhoods of Hutton Park and Gregory is a mixture of Victorian, Jazz Age, and Tudor-style houses; large estates; garden apartments; and post-World War II modern houses. The Victorian enclave of Llewellyn Park, one of America's first planned residential communities, is also located on the First Mountain, having been created in 1853 as a site for country homes for the wealthy from New York City. Many blocks on the First Mountain have sweeping views of the Newark and New York City skylines.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Beyond the high ridge traced by Prospect Avenue, West Orange becomes a patchwork of post-World War II suburban neighborhoods, interspersed with pockets of older Victorian homes, as well as golf courses, professional campuses, and shopping centers. Pleasantdale, a walkable business district in this part of the township, includes a number of restaurants, office buildings, stores, and houses of worship. Pleasantdale is also home to a sizable Orthodox Jewish community.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Finally, the westernmost section of West Orange lies along the eastern face of the Second Watchung Mountain, and includes large portions of the South Mountain Reservation. The housing stock in this neighborhood resembles that of Pleasantdale, as well as those of the adjacent suburban townships of Millburn and Livingston.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income was $88,917 (with a margin of error of +/− $4,480) and the median family income was $106,742 (+/− $5,256). Males had a median income of $65,854 (+/− $4,548) versus $43,223 (+/− $2,769) for females. The per capita income for the township was $43,368 (+/− $2,021). About 4.9% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 7.5% of those age 65 or over.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: As of the 2000 United States Census there were 44,943 people, 16,480 households, and 11,684 families residing in the township. The population density was 3,708.7 people per square mile (1,431.7/km). There were 16,901 housing units at an average density of 1,394.7 per square mile (538.4/km). The racial makeup of the township was 67.6% White, 17.5% African American, 0.14% Native American, 8.09% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 3.52% from other races, and 3.20% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 10.04% of the population.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: There were 16,480 households, out of which 32.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.0% were married couples living together, 11.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.1% were non-families. 24.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.19. In the township the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 29.7% from 25 to 44, 23.4% from 45 to 64, and 17.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.0 males.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The median income for a household in the town was $69,254, and the median income for a family was $83,375. Males had a median income of $52,029 versus $39,484 for females. The per capita income for the township was $34,412. About 4.6% of families and 5.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Developed by Sol Atlas, Essex Green Shopping Center is an outdoor mall with stores that include ShopRite, restaurants and an AMC Theatres Fork and Screen dine-in movie theater. The mall, the largest of its type in Essex County, was purchased in 2016 by Clarion Partners.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The Jersey Rockhoppers hockey team of the Eastern Professional Hockey League, formed for the 2008–09 season, played home games at the Richard J. Codey Arena. The arena also used to be the practice facility for the New Jersey Devils from 1986 to 2007. The New Jersey Daredevils, a special needs hockey team formed in 2002 that plays in the SHI (Special Hockey International League), uses the arena for home games and practices. Annually in October, the Daredevils host a Halloween themed tournament for Special Hockey International teams (including the Daredevils themselves) called Frankenfest. Frankenfest has been going on every October since 2009. The New Jersey Devils Youth Hockey team also plays here as well.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The township is set off by two large parks: the South Mountain Reservation along its southwestern borders with Maplewood, Millburn and South Orange, and the Eagle Rock Reservation along its northeastern borders with Montclair and Verona. The township straddles the transition between the low-lying Newark Bay basin and the high terrain of the Watchung Mountains. Fishing and kayaking is available on the Rahway River.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: West Orange is governed by Plan B of the Mayor-Council system of municipal government pursuant to the Faulkner Act, as implemented on July 1, 1962, by direct petition. The township is one of 71 municipalities (of the 564) statewide that use this form of government. The governing body is comprised of a mayor and a five-member township council. The mayor is directly elected to a four-year term. Each member of the council is elected to a four-year term of on a staggered basis, with either three council seats or two seats and the mayoral seat up for election every even-numbered year. Township elections are nonpartisan, with all seats chosen on an at-large basis. In December 2013, the Township Council approved an ordinance that shifted municipal elections from May to the November general election, citing savings from the combined elections estimated as much as $100,000 per cycle.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: , the Mayor of West Orange is Robert Parisi, whose term of office ends December 31, 2022. Members of the Township Council are Michelle Casalino (2024), Tammy Williams (2024), Bill Rutherford (2024), Cindy Matute-Brown (2022) and Susan McCartney (2022).


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: In September 2015, the Township Council selected Michelle Casalino to fill the seat expiring in December 2016 that had been held by Patty Spango until her resignation from office. On November 8, 2016, Councilwoman Casalino was elected to a four-year term.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: As of March 23, 2011, there were a total of 30,561 registered voters in West Orange, of which 14,166 (46.4%) were registered as Democrats, 3,273 (10.7%) were registered as Republicans and 13,108 (42.9%) were registered as Unaffiliated. There were no voters registered to other parties.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: In the 2012 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 71.3% of the vote (15,214 cast), ahead of Republican Mitt Romney with 27.9% (5,950 votes), and other candidates with 0.8% (177 votes), among the 21,491 ballots cast by the township's 32,061 registered voters (150 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 67.0%. In the 2008 presidential election, Democrat Barack Obama received 67.8% of the vote (15,423 cast), ahead of Republican John McCain with 29.3% (6,667 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (154 votes), among the 22,740 ballots cast by the township's 30,260 registered voters, for a turnout of 75.1%. In the 2004 presidential election, Democrat John Kerry received 64.7% of the vote (13,535 ballots cast), outpolling Republican George W. Bush with 34.0% (7,118 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (186 votes), among the 20,933 ballots cast by the township's 28,418 registered voters, for a turnout percentage of 73.7.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: In the 2013 gubernatorial election, Democrat Barbara Buono received 56.0% of the vote (6,350 cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 42.9% (4,863 votes), and other candidates with 1.1% (125 votes), among the 11,580 ballots cast by the township's 32,390 registered voters (242 ballots were spoiled), for a turnout of 35.8%. In the 2009 gubernatorial election, Democrat Jon Corzine received 59.3% of the vote (8,168 ballots cast), ahead of Republican Chris Christie with 32.9% (4,530 votes), Independent Chris Daggett with 6.2% (858 votes) and other candidates with 0.7% (100 votes), among the 13,773 ballots cast by the township's 29,898 registered voters, yielding a 46.1% turnout.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: West Orange is split between the 10th Congressional District and is part of New Jersey's 27th state legislative district.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Prior to the 2010 Census, West Orange had been split between the and the 10th Congressional District, a change made by the New Jersey Redistricting Commission that took effect in January 2013, based on the results of the November 2012 general elections. In the redistricting that took effect in 2013, 18,122 residents in the eastern third of the township were placed in the 10th district, while 28,085 residents in the western portion of the township were placed in the 11th District.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The West Orange Public Schools serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade. As of the 2019–20 school year, the district, comprised of 12 schools, had an enrollment of 6,718 students and 632.5 classroom teachers (on an FTE basis), for a student–teacher ratio of 10.6:1. Schools in the district (with 2019–20 enrollment data from the National Center for Education Statistics) are


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: West Orange High School (2,098; 9–12). Pleasantdale School was renamed Kelly School in May 2016 in honor of Mark and Scott Kelly, identical twins who attended the school starting in second grade before becoming NASA astronauts.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Seton Hall Preparatory School is a Roman Catholic all boys' high school that operates under the supervision of the Archdiocese of Newark. Founded in 1856 on the campus of Seton Hall University, the school moved to West Orange in 1985.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Golda Och Academy is a private Jewish day school that offers secular and religious education for Jewish children from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade at two campuses in West Orange.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: , the township had a total of of roadways, of which were maintained by the municipality, by Essex County and by the New Jersey Department of Transportation.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Interstate 280 is the main limited access road that passes through from east to west. Route 10 passes through in the western area and has its eastern terminus at CR 577 (which runs north–south through the township). CR 508 traverses the municipality from east to west.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: NJ Transit offers bus service in the township to Newark on the 21, 29, 71, 73 and 79 routes, with local service on the 97 route. In September 2012, as part of budget cuts, NJ Transit suspended service to Newark on the 75 line.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: DeCamp Bus Lines offers scheduled service between the township and the Port Authority Bus Terminal in Midtown Manhattan on the 66 route. Coach USA / Community Coach serves the Port Authority Bus Terminal on route 77. OurBus operates a commuter route to New York City serving Livingston and West Orange.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: The township offers a jitney service that operates on weekdays, offering service to the Brick Church, Orange and South Orange train stations.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: For many decades West Orange has been a center of the mass-media and telecommunication industries. Thomas Edison's Black Maria, the first movie studio ever, was located on Main Street and Lakeside Avenue. Several radio and television broadcast antennas are located in the town. From the late 1960s/early–1970s until the early 1990s UHF Channel 68 TV maintained their offices, studios, and transmitter at 416 Eagle Rock Avenue. After Channel 68 moved to West Market Street in Newark and their transmitter to the Empire State Building in Manhattan, NBC owned and operated stations WNBC-TV Channel 4 and WPXN-TV Channel 31 (NBC later sold its interest in WPXN's parent Paxson Communications) moved into the Eagle Rock Avenue complex operating backup transmitter facilities in case of a catastrophic event such as the destruction of their main transmitters at the World Trade Center which occurred on September 11, 2001. The original Channel 68 building was later demolished and a new building was erected in its place. West Orange was formerly the home of two religious radio stations WFME 1560AM licensed to New York City and WFME 106.3FM licensed to Mount Kisco, New York, and one now-defunct non-commercial station WNYJ-TV licensed to West Milford, New Jersey all owned by Family Stations, Inc., WFME-FM formerly operated on 94.7 until its sale to Cumulus Media in 2012 and renamed WNSH, In late 2020 Family Radio permanently closed its West Orange studios and began to operate from their transmitter facilities, WFME-AM in Maspeth, Queens in New York (In February 2021 the AM station ceased broadcasting temporarily after the land the transmitter was on was sold


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: ) and WFME-FM near Bedford, New York. WFMU 91.1FM formerly owned by Upsala College now owned by Auricle Communications has their transmitter towers on Marcella Avenue in a fenced shack adjacent to the former WFME studios.


title: West Orange, New Jersey

text: Verizon Communications, going as far back as the mid to late 1950s and early 1960s when it was New Jersey Bell, operated an analog central office and later fiber optics facilities on Prospect Avenue near the Essex Green Shopping Center and a fiber optics and satellite transmitter facility which was originally owned and operated by MCI Inc. until it was acquired by Verizon in 2006. Additionally Sprint Corporation, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless all own or lease cell phone towers throughout the town.


title: Escape the Night

text: Escape the Night is an American reality television series created, hosted, produced, and owned by Joey Graceffa that was first broadcast on June 22, 2016, on YouTube Premium. The series follows fantasy plots based on horror and murder mystery aesthetics. The fourth season was released on July 11, 2019. The series was produced by Brian Graden Media. It was the longest-running series on YouTube Premium until 2020, when Graceffa announced that he would be selling the series to a different network for a fifth season.


title: Escape the Night

text: The series follows The Savant (Joey Graceffa) as he finds himself in an estate in a past era, where he invites a number of guests to a party and requires them to act and dress as various personas from that era. Once there, they are isolated from the outside world, and tasked with surviving the night and escaping the estate. To achieve this, the guests team up with him to participate in challenges and escape room puzzles, competing with each other to escape from the historical era by solving and completing the challenges. At the end of each episode, two guests are voted into a challenge to compete against each other, where the losing guest is eliminated via a fictional death until one or more guests ultimately win and are sent back to the modern world.


title: Escape the Night

text: When YouTube Premium launched in October 2015, Graceffa's show was one of ten exclusive original series scheduled to debut in 2016, and was still an untitled project. The series was set to be produced by Brian Graden Media, and began filming in a house near Valencia, California. Graceffa said that the show was inspired by an episode of television show "Lizzie McGuire" themed around a murder mystery, and was also closely related to the 1985 film "Clue". Graden called the show "a hybrid between scripted mystery and reality elimination show".


title: Escape the Night

text: The series debuted on June 22, 2016, with two episodes going live. The premiere episode had 11.3 million views and 1.1 billion social impressions. The show was renewed for a second season in October 2016, and was scheduled to debut on June 22, 2017. In May 2018, Graceffa confirmed there would be a third season, which debuted on June 21, 2018. The fourth season, which made it the longest running original series on YouTube, premiered on July 11, 2019. The first episode of season 4 premiered simultaneously at VidCon during a panel conference with Graceffa, and was also available to watch for free on YouTube.


title: Escape the Night

text: The Escape the Night: Escape Room was an immersive escape room centered around the fourth season of "Escape the Night". The escape room was a limited event exclusively in Beverly Hills, California, that ran from August 9, 2019, to August 27, 2019. The escape room had multiple rooms to venture through, with surprise guest appearances from Graceffa, Jack O'Connor (Mortimer), and Eva Augustina Sinotte (The Sorceress).


title: Escape the Night

text: In June 2020, Graceffa announced via vlog that due to COVID-19's impact on Hollywood and television, Season 5 was postponed indefinitely, but teased a new interactive fan version. Fans of the show signed up to an email list in order to receive updates about the new project. In July 2020, a Kickstarter campaign was started to fund a board game based on the series; its goal of $30,000 was achieved in just 3 hours. It was formally announced the next day.


title: Escape the Night

text: In June 2020, it was confirmed that YouTube Premium had declined to renew the show for a fifth season, possibly canceling its longest running original series. In June 2021, Graceffa stated in a vlog that YouTube will no longer fund and distribute further seasons of the series, but has stated that he has full ownership of the intellectual property, and is currently pitching the series for another season under a different network, and is also developing a potential spinoff.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The coronation of George VI and his wife, Elizabeth, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and as Emperor and Empress of India took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on Wednesday 12 May 1937. George VI ascended the throne upon the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, on 11 December 1936, three days before his 41st birthday. Edward's coronation had been planned for 12 May and it was decided to continue with his brother and sister-in-law's coronation on the same date.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Although the music included a range of new anthems and the ceremony underwent some alterations to include the Dominions, it remained a largely conservative affair and closely followed the ceremonial of George V's coronation in 1911. The ceremony began with the anointing of the King, symbolizing his spiritual entry into kingship, and then his crowning and enthronement, representing his assumption of temporal powers and responsibilities. The peers of the realm then paid homage to the King before a shorter and simpler ceremony was conducted for the Queen's coronation. The return procession to Buckingham Palace was over in length, making it the longest coronation procession up to that time; crowds of people lined the streets to watch it, over 32,000 soldiers took part and 20,000 police officers lined the route. The coronation was commemorated by the issuing of official medals, coinage and stamps, by military parades across the Empire, and by numerous unofficial celebrations, including street parties and the production of memorabilia.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The event was designed to be not only a sacred anointing and formal crowning, but also a public spectacle, which was also planned as a display of the British Empire. May 1937 included a programme of royal events lasting nearly the entire month to commemorate and mark the occasion. As a preliminary to the coronation, guests from across the Empire and around the world assembled at Buckingham Palace and official receptions were held to welcome them; amongst those attending were Indian princes and, for the first time, native African royalty. For the event itself, the prime ministers of almost every Dominion took part in the procession to the abbey, while representatives of nearly every country attended. Contingents from most colonies and each Dominion participated in the return procession through London's streets.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The media played an important part in broadcasting this show of pageantry and imperialism to the Empire. The coronation was an important event in the history of television, being the country's first major outside broadcast, although television cameras were not allowed inside the abbey. It was also the first coronation to be filmed, as well as the first to be broadcast on radio.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: In January 1936, King George V died and his eldest son, Edward VIII, succeeded him as king-emperor of the British Empire. He was unmarried at that time, but the American socialite, Wallis Simpson, had accompanied him on numerous social occasions in years leading up to 1936; she was married to the shipping executive Ernest Aldrich Simpson and had previously been divorced. The relationship had not been reported in the British press, but was receiving considerable media attention in the United States; it was controversial due to her being divorced, a status considered incompatible with the King's position as the nominal head of the Church of England, which did not at that time permit remarriage after divorce.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: In October 1936 Simpson filed for divorce, and the King informed the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin, that he intended to marry her. Baldwin and several leading imperial administrators advised the King that popular opinion in the dominions was hostile to the proposed marriage; at home, the King also faced opposition from the Church of England and from factions in Parliament. The widespread unwillingness to accept Simpson as the King's consort, and Edward's refusal to give her up, led to his abdication in December 1936.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: He was succeeded by his next younger brother, George VI. Before his accession, George had been known as Prince Albert, Duke of York; his regnal name was chosen in honour of his late father. In 1923, he had married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the daughter of the Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Although the reign of the British monarch begins on his or her succession to the throne, the coronation service marks their formal investiture. In 1937, the ceremony was organised by a Coronation Committee, established by the Privy Council and chaired by the Lord President of the Council, a political appointment; its central component, the Executive Committee, was chaired by the Duke of Norfolk, who inherited the office of Earl Marshal, which carries with it, by convention, the responsibility for the organisation and coordination of the coronation ceremony.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Coronation Committee had been delayed when it met for the first time on 24 June 1936: Ramsay MacDonald, the Lord President of the Council, met the Duke of Norfolk to discuss the proceedings; MacDonald would chair the Coronation Committee as a whole, and the Duke would chair the Executive Committee. While Edward VIII was away, cruising on the "Nahlin" with Wallis Simpson, his brother, Albert, Duke of York (the future George VI) sat in his place on the committees. Edward VIII had initially been reluctant to have a coronation at all (asking the Archbishop of Canterbury whether it could be dispensed with), but conceded that a shorter service would be acceptable; his desire for a lower-key event led to the planned abandonment of the royal procession through London the following day, the thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral and the dinner with London dignitaries.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: After the abdication of Edward VIII, the coronation committee continued to plan the event for George VI with minimal disruption; according to Sir Roy Strong, at the next meeting after the abdication "no reference was made at all to the change of sovereign, everything immediately being assumed to have been done for the new king." After the abdication, though, many of the traditional elements that Edward VIII cared less for were restored, with Queen Mary taking an interest in the design of furniture and insisting on a more traditional appearance; indeed, much of the service and the furnishings were to closely resemble those of the 1911 coronation of George V.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Although the Executive Committee was chaired by the Earl Marshal, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Cosmo Lang, was also a driving force behind the preparations for the 1937 coronation; and many of the decisions about the order of service were made by or with him. He was an "ex officio" member of both the Executive Committee and the Coronation Committee, which dealt with the detail and, as such, he attended all of the rehearsals. He tended to take a leading role in the planning process, becoming a key mediator when queries arose, and dealing with questions of how the service should be broadcast by the media. Lang also spoke to the nation through the BBC services in the run-up to Coronation Day; he saw the Coronation as an opportunity for the spiritual renewal of the nation, and he organised a campaign of evangelism called "Recall to Religion", which he launched on 27 December 1936 with an address on BBC radio. He was also keen to ensure that the King and Queen understood the religious nuances of the service, and held two meetings with the couple beforehand.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Archbishop met the King and Queen on the evening before their coronation, running through the ceremony and explaining the most important parts. He was also concerned about King George's stutter and discussed the matter with Lord Dawson of Penn and Lord Wigram; Lionel Logue was then the King's speech therapist and the Archbishop discussed replacing him, but decided to monitor the King's improvement and Logue remained his therapist. As it happened, the King delivered his speech without stuttering.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The coronation cost £454,000, which was more than three times the cost of the 1911 ceremony. This cost included the construction of the annexe, which was built as a temporary add-on at the entrance of the abbey for each coronation. In previous years, it had taken the form of an imitation Gothic entrance, but, as a remnant of Edward VIII's modernising attitude, it was now an art-deco design, adorned with stylised heraldic beasts and tapestries belonging to the Duke of Buccleuch. For each coronation, special seating was also constructed to accommodate the large number of guests; 1937 was the first year to make use of metal structures to support the seats, in the form of tubular steel. 400 tons were used alongside of wood, with 400 men working on the construction. The theatre (the area in the transept for the first part of the ceremony) and sacrarium (the space in front of the high altar) were at floor level for the first time since the Restoration, having traditionally been raised on a platform.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: In 1911, standards of the Dominions, autonomous communities of the British Empire, were borne during the procession, but, after the 1931 Statute of Westminster, which established legislative equality between the Dominions and the United Kingdom, the actual service and coronation rite needed to be updated to reflect this change in political power within the Empire. Furthermore, the fact that the service was an Anglican rite excluded other faiths and denominations; in 1937, several Dominions had premiers who were Catholic and, by that time, laws which previously excluded people from public office on religious grounds had been repealed. The Coronation Committee altered the rite to reflect this change; the King now swore to maintain "the Protestant Reformed Religion only as established by law in the United Kingdom." During Edward VIII's reign, a committee was established and chaired by the Duke of York to investigate how colonial representatives might be included within the ceremony, but the Committee failed to implement any changes, except to the Coronation Oath. This was the first amendment to the oath since the coronation of King William III and Queen Mary II in 1689.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Although 1937 saw an increase in the colonial contingents partaking in the procession and an official lunch in Westminster Hall was given to Parliamentary representatives of Empire states for the first time, the service itself was barely altered to reflect the new status of the Dominions.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The ceremony was attended by the King's and Queen's daughters, Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, as well as by the King's mother, the dowager Queen Mary. Members of the extended royal family attended and all peers and members of parliament were invited. Leading colonial administrators, ambassadors, Indian princes and premiers of the dominions were also on the guest list. Working-class representatives included representatives of the trade unions and co-operative societies, while native Africans were allowed to attend for the first time.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The abbey's doors were closed to guests at 8.30 on the morning of the coronation. The official record of the ceremonial, published in the "London Gazette", describes the seating plan: "The Lords Spiritual were seated on the North side of the Area, or Sacrarium, the Lords Temporal in the South Transept, and the Dowager Peeresses and Peeresses in the North Transept."


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Before the coronation ceremony begins, there is traditionally a lengthy procession to the abbey. The procession left Buckingham Palace and headed up The Mall, though Admiralty Arch, and down Whitehall, before entering Westminster Abbey.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The first to take part in the procession were lesser members and relatives of the Royal Family and the representatives of foreign royalty and heads of state; they departed Buckingham Palace by car between 08:40 and 08:45 and arrived at the abbey ten minutes later; British and Dominion prime ministers followed half an hour later, leaving at 09:15. At 09:49, members of the Royal Family left the palace (Queen Mary's carriage left Marlborough House shortly afterwards at 10:13). The King and Queen then travelled in the Gold State Coach from Buckingham Palace at 10:43; their procession was by far the longest and included numerous military contingents and delegates from Britain, the Dominions, and the colonies, as well as members of the War Office, the Army, Naval and Air Boards and the personal aides-de-camp.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The first to arrive in procession were the royalty and foreign representatives; they arrived ten minutes after departing the palace. The royal members were led in by two officers of arms—the Bluemantle Pursuivant (R.P. Graham-Vivian) and the Portcullis Pursuivant (A.R. Wagner)—followed by two gentlemen ushers (Captain Humphrey Lloyd and Colonel Vivian Gabriel), and were led to their seats in the royal gallery.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The foreign representatives followed in at roughly 09:00 and were greeted by senior members of the Royal Household and the Diplomatic Corps. Led in by the Rouge Croix Pursuivant (P.W. Kerr) and the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant (E.N. Geijer); they were escorted to their seats in the choir.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Following tradition dating back to the reign of King Charles II, the regalia were brought to the Deanery of Westminster the night before the coronation. Staff started working at 4 a.m., while guests began arriving two hours later. The Imperial State Crown had been remade for the occasion by the Crown Jewellers, Garrard & Co. Queen Elizabeth's crown was new and made from platinum; it featured the Koh-i-Noor diamond from the crown of Queen Mary. Queen Elizabeth wore a gown made of silk satin, with pure gold thread embroidery in a rose and thistle pattern. It also featured designs patriotic to the British Empire. The ermine-lined velvet robe had a floral pattern with a gold outline.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: While the litany was sung, the Choir led the Dean and Prebendaries of Westminster down from the High Altar at 09:55; they were carrying the Crown Jewels and regalia, which they then deposited at the Vestibule. The Comptroller of the Lord Chamberlain's Office then handed the regalia to the Lord High Constable, who in turn handed them to the Lord Great Chamberlain; the items were then handed over to individual peers, who are listed below.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Led by two officers of arms—the Rouge Croix Pursuivant and the Rouge Dragon Pursuivant—and two gentlemen ushers (Rear-Admiral Arthur Bromley and Lieutenant-Colonel Henry De Satgé), the senior members of the Royal Family arrived at 10:15 and formed their procession into the abbey. The Princess Royal was flanked by The Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret, and they were followed by the Duchesses of Gloucester and Kent and then, in pairs, Prince and Princess Arthur of Connaught; Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone and Lady Patricia Ramsay; and Princess Marie Louise and Princess Helena Victoria, each with an attendant, train-bearer, or coronet carrier, as applicable.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Twenty minutes later, the Queen of Norway and Queen Mary arrived, being received by the Earl Marshal. Their procession took a different form to that of other members. The York and Windsor Heralds led, followed by G.A. Ponsonby (Comptroller of Queen Maud's Household) and then the Queen of Norway, attended by Miss von Hanno and followed by the Richmond and Chester Heralds. Then, Queen Mary's Lord Chamberlain (the Marquess of Anglesey) led Queen Mary, whose train was borne by four pages (the Earl of Dalkeith, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Gerald Lascelles, and Viscount Errington) and who was attended by the Mistress of the Robes (the Duchess of Devonshire), two ladies of the bedchamber in waiting, her private secretary, comptroller, and three equerries (two ordinary and one extra).


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: A guard of honour had formed at the vestibule and at the entrance, and the King and Queen arrived at 11:00. On their entry, they were greeted by the great officers of state, the archbishops, and the peers bearing the regalia. They then formed their procession, which was led by the King's chaplain and the Chapter at Westminster, who were followed by representatives of the Free Churches and the Church of Scotland. The procession involved all of the great officers of state, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, the lord mayor of London, the officers of arms of England and Scotland, the standards of each dominion, the prime ministers of the UK and of each of the dominions, and the most senior and highest-ranking officials in the Royal Household. They were followed by twelve members of the Yeoman of the Guard and six of its officials.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The King and Queen walked surrounded by their regalia, borne by the designated peers; King George wore his great robes of state, which had to be carried by nine pages of honour:


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The royal couple walked past the choir, in which sat the foreign representatives and delegates, before passing through the screen; after this, they sat or stood in their designated area and the King and Queen took their seats in the Chairs of State in front of the royal box. As the King and Queen and the procession proceeded, the choir sang "I was glad" with the traditional acclamations of "Vivat Regina Elizabetha" and "Vivat Rex Georgius" by the King's Scholars of Westminster School.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The coronation service itself began once the procession into the abbey was over and the King and Queen were seated. Beginning with the recognition, the King then took an oath and was anointed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, before being crowned king. As a remnant of the coronation ceremony's feudal origins, the King then received homage from the peers and peeresses of the realm in attendance.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: There were few departures from the services conducted at previous coronations. Efforts were made to shorten the lengthy proceedings: the litany was sung during the regalia procession before the start of the service, and the sermon was omitted entirely. Even so, the service itself lasted for two and a half hours, excluding the preliminary processions.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The first part of the service was the recognition, where the Archbishop of Canterbury called for those present to proclaim their recognition of the sovereign as their rightful king. The King was conducted by the Garter King of Arms to St Edward's Chair, and the Archbishop, as tradition dictates, asked: "Sirs, I here present unto you King George, your undoubted King: wherefore all you who are come this day to do your homage and service, are you willing to do the same?" The people replied loudly at each repetition "God save King George". The king then sat in the Chair of State and the regalia, except the swords, were laid on the altar. The King then knelt before the altar and swore on the Bible his coronation oath, a copy of which he then signed.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Archbishop of Canterbury then began the Communion Service, while the Bishop of London read the Epistle and the Archbishop of York the Gospel; after the Service concluded, the King and Queen knelt while the choir sang ""Veni, Creator Spiritus"". This marked the beginning of the anointing of the monarch, when the Archbishop of Canterbury marks the monarch's head with oil to symbolise the introduction of the Holy Spirit. The Choir sang Handel's "Zadok the Priest" and the Archbishop prayed, before the King was disrobed and sat in St Edward's Chair, with the Canopy borne by four knights of the Garter placed over him. The Archbishop then anointed him with oil from the Ampulla, which had been poured onto the Anointing Spoon.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: In preparation for his crowning, the King, still on St Edward's Chair, was invested with the two coronation robes, the "Colobium Sindonis" and the "Supertunica" by the Dean of Westminster. Next, he was invested with the regalia, each of which symbolised his progress to kingship. First, the Lord Great Chamberlain touched the King's heels with the Golden Spurs; the Great Sword of State was deposited in St Edward's Chapel and the Jewelled Sword of Offering was passed to the King by the Archbishops and Bishops, who said "With this sword do justice"; the King then offered this sword at the altar. Seated again, the Lord Great Chamberlain fastened the armills and the Dean invested the King with the Royal Robe; the Archbishop passed him the Orb, put the Ring on his fourth finger and handed to him the two sceptres—with the cross (for Royal power) and with the dove (for "mercy and equity"). The Earl of Lincoln, as Deputy of the Lord of the Manor of Worksop, then handed over a glove, which the King wore.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Once adorned with his regalia and seated in St Edward's Chair, King George was crowned with St Edward's Crown by the Archbishop of Canterbury and the people in the abbey proclaimed loudly "God save the King"; the peers and peeresses wore their coronets (the only time that this happens) and the guns in the Royal Parks were fired to mark the crowning. The ceremony appeared to run smoothly, although there were a few inconspicuous mishaps: the Archbishop of Canterbury almost placed the crown on the King's head the wrong way, one bishop stepped on the King's train, and another obscured the words of the Oath with his thumb while the King was reading it.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: In the text of the service, this part of the ceremony was described using the archaic term "inthronization". The Archbishop of Canterbury presented the Bible to the King and the King returned it to him, who gave it to the Dean, who placed it on the Altar. The King handed the glove over to the Lord Chamberlain of the Household and the Sceptre with the Cross to the Lord of the Manor of Worksop. The Benediction followed and then the King moved over to the other throne, accompanied by the Bishops of Bath and Wells and of Durham, the Great Officers of State, the Lords carrying the swords and the Lords who had carried the regalia. The Archbishop knelt and paid homage to the King; the Archbishop of York did so next, followed by each of the Bishops. The Dukes of the Blood Royal then did homage, followed by the Lords Temporal (Dukes, Marquesses, Earls, Viscounts, Barons); six anthems were sung by the Choir during the homage: "O come ye servants of the Lord", "Hear my prayer, O Lord", "O clap your hands together, all ye people", "All the ends of the world shall remember themselves", "O praise God in His holiness" and "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace".


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Queen was crowned and anointed in a much smaller and simpler ceremony. This began immediately after the homage to the King finished, when the Queen knelt in prayer before the altar. She then went to the Faldstool, which had been placed before the altar, where she knelt under a canopy, which was held by the Duchesses of Norfolk, Rutland, Buccleuch and Roxburghe. The Archbishop anointed her, placed on her fourth finger on her right hand the Queen's ring and then crowned her, at which point the Princesses and Peeresses donned their coronets. She was then handed her Sceptre with the Cross and the Ivory Rod with the Dove, before walking over to her own throne beside the King, where she sat.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The "Offertory" followed, in which the King and Queen offered their regalia on the Altar. They then received Holy Communion from the Archbishop and were passed their crowns before returning to their thrones where they were also given their sceptres back. "Te Deum" was sung by the choir. A recess followed, during which the King and Queen proceeded to St Edward's Chapel. There, the King delivered the Sceptre with the Dove to the Archbishop who laid it on the altar. The bearers of the Orb, the Golden Spurs and St Edward's Staff delivered these to the Dean of Westminster, who laid them on the altar in the chapel. The King was disrobed of his Royal Robe of State by the Lord Great Chamberlain and put on the Robe of Purple Velvet. The King, now wearing the Imperial State Crown, was then given the Orb by the Archbishop.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: While the King and Queen were in the chapel, the Officers of Arms arranged the procession out of the abbey, which was similar in form to the procession into the abbey. The King and Queen then joined the procession, with the King carrying the Sceptre with the Cross in his right hand and the Orb in his left, while the Queen carried her Sceptre with the Cross in her right hand and the Ivory Rod with the Dove in her left. They proceeded to the West Door of the Abbey as the National Anthem, "God Save the King", was sung.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: As in the 1902 and 1911 events, the coronation was followed by a procession through London's streets from Westminster Abbey to the Royal residence, allowing the public to view the new king and queen. In 1937, this return route was extended significantly. From Westminster Abbey, it passed around Parliament Square and up the Victoria Embankment (where 40,000 schoolchildren were waiting) and then along Northumberland Avenue, into Trafalgar Square, up Cockspur Street through to Pall Mall; from there, the procession went up St James' Street, joining Piccadilly, then up Regent Street, then west along Oxford Street, before turning past Marble Arch and then down East Carriage Road, alongside Hyde Park; from there, the procession passed through Hyde Park Corner and then through Wellington Arch, on to Constitution Hill and then back into Buckingham Palace.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The progression included a large number of military personnel from across the Empire. There were representative detachments from all the elements of the British armed forces and the reserve forces, the British Indian Army and Royal Indian Navy, contingents from the British Dominions and a contingent representing the defence forces of the Colonial Empire. Contingents taking part represented the following sections of the Empire: India, the dominions of Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Burma, Newfoundland and South Africa, and the Colonies of Southern Rhodesia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Nyasaland, the Gambia, the Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Aden, Transjordan, Malta, the West Indies, British Guiana, Honduras, Ceylon, the Falklands and Hong Kong. In total there were 32,500 officers and men either marching or lining the route. Overall, the procession was in length and took 40 minutes to pass any given point. The route of the procession was the longest on record, at . Before and after the event, the British and Dominion troops were accommodated in temporary camps at Kensington Gardens, Regent's Park, Primrose Hill, Olympia and Hampton Court; the Colonial troops were housed in various London barracks.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The musical director for the service was Ernest Bullock, who was organist and Master of the Choristers at Westminster Abbey, in consultation with the Master of the King's Musick, Henry Walford Davies. The Abbey choir was supplemented by choirs from the Chapel Royal, St Paul's Cathedral, St George's Chapel, Windsor and the Temple Church. An orchestra composed of musicians from London's main orchestras was conducted by Sir Adrian Boult.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Tradition demanded the inclusion of George Frederick Handel's "Zadok the Priest" (1727) and Hubert Parry's "I was glad" (1902). New work written for the occasion included "Confortare (Be strong and play the Man)" by Walford Davies and the "Festival Te Deum in F Major" by Ralph Vaughan Williams. Perhaps the best known work from the 1937 coronation is "Crown Imperial", an orchestral march by William Walton. It was the desire of Bullock and Davies that the programme should include music from 'Tudor times to the present day' and so new pieces were composed by Arnold Bax, Arthur Bliss and Granville Bantock, as well as Walton and Vaughan Williams. Walton's "Crown Imperial" was played while the King and Queen progressed up the nave; Edvard Grieg's "Homage March" from "Sigurd Jorsalfar" and Edward German's "Coronation March" were played when the Princes and Princesses, and then Queen Mary arrived, respectively. Choral works included the traditional plainsong "Veni, Creator Spiritus", William Byrd's "Creed" and "Sanctus", Christopher Tye's "O Come ye Servants of the Lord", Henry Purcell's "Hear My Prayer", Samuel Sebastian Wesley's "Thou Wilt Keep Him in Perfect Peace", Sir George Dyson's "O Praise God in His holiness", Sir Edward Bairstow's "Let My Prayer Come Up into Thy Presence" and Dr William Henry Harris's "Offertorium".


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Despite a number of hitches, described above, the coronation ran relatively smoothly. It has been somewhat overshadowed in history by the larger Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953; the Abbey's sacrist, Jocelyn Perkins, said that the 1953 event was "out and away the most impressive" of the 1953, 1937 and 1911 coronations. Nonetheless, a number of those present, the King included, commented privately on the spirituality of the ceremony. Despite recalling it as being "inordinately long" and remembering how heavy the crown and robes were, the Queen said that it was "wonderful and there is a great sense of offering oneself". The King wrote to Lang thanking him for his support and, although he said it was an "ordeal", he also wrote that "I felt I was being helped all the time by Someone Else as you said I would".


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Coronation ceremony itself was not televised, but it was the first coronation service to be broadcast on radio; 28 microphones were placed around the Abbey to capture the music and speech. There was no commentary, but the Reverend Frederic Iremonger, Director of Religion at the BBC and Honorary Chaplain to the King, read out the rubrics or written directions from the service book from a seat high in the triforium over Saint Edward's Chapel. During the most sacred parts of the service, the consecration and the Holy Communion, the microphones were turned off and listeners heard hymns being sung by the choir in the Church of St Margaret, Westminster. The ability to project the service to citizens of the Empire allowed the Coronation to further Britain's imperial ambitions; as Range wrote, "with the twentieth century there also came a heightened awareness of ... the propagandistic qualities of the event".


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The BBC and CBC jointly transmitted the proclamation of George VI. In the lead up to the Coronation, the BBC organised talks by Ministers to be broadcast under the name "Responsibilities of Empire", and also broadcast "The Empire's Homage" featuring messages from colonial officers and citizens from across the Empire. The BBC's Empire Service broadcast the whole service, lasting two-and-a-half hours.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The procession was broadcast on the BBC Television Service, which had only been operating since the previous November. Several tons of television cables, measuring , were laid across central London, so that the images from three Emitron television cameras could be sent to the transmission centre at Alexandra Palace. Commentary was by Frederick Grisewood, who was with the cameras at Hyde Park Corner. The coverage of the procession is regarded as being the BBC's first outside broadcast. In reviewing the broadcast, "The Daily Telegraph" commented: "Horse and foot, the Coronation procession marched into English homes yesterday," while the "Daily Mail" said: "When the King and Queen appeared the picture was so vivid that one felt that this magical television is going to be one of the greatest of all modern inventions."


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The coronation service of George VI was the first to be filmed; the 40 camera crew inside the Abbey were required to wear evening dress. It was later shown in edited form as a newsreel in cinemas across the British Empire. The service was later broadcast from these recordings, with the authorities censoring only one small section: a clip of Queen Mary wiping a tear from her eye.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Aside from the Coronation ceremony itself, a 23-day-long programme of official events spanned most of May 1937. The 1902 Coronation was the first to see such a programme implemented, but 1937 was nearly twice as long, and, building on similar developments in 1911, it was a very public spectacle; Sir Roy Strong argues that the month-long festivities were designed to "recapture the confidence of the nation" following the abdication crisis. The first week saw receptions for foreign visitors and delegates, while a State Banquet was held on 10 May, but the weeks following the coronation saw more public spectacles; the following day included a royal drive through north London, 16 May included a luncheon at Guildhall with London dignitaries and the 'Empire Service of Youth' in Westminster. On 20 and 21 May the King and Queen inspected fleets and visited flagships, while, on 22 May the Queen visited Hyde Park to inspect St John's ambulances and then drove through another area in North London.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The King marked the occasion of his coronation by conferring honours on a select group of his subjects; in all, thirteen peerages and seven baronetcies were created, while appointments were made to the Privy Council and to the Orders of the Garter, Thistle, Bath, Merit, Star of India, St Michael and St George and the Royal Victorian Order. An official medal was also struck to mark the occasion, as is customary; however, unlike his father's and grandfather's coronation medals, it was produced in one class. The medal was issued to 90,279 people from across the Empire. Canada, for instance, was allowed just over 10,000, with many being issued to commanding officers in the military, cabinet ministers, senators and their staff and the staff of the Governor-General.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Royal Mint issued two special 1937 coin sets comprising the coinage for that year and commemorative issues. 5,501 gold Sovereigns and half-Sovereigns were minted (the only ones of George VI's reign). Additionally, over 400,000 Coronation crowns were issued, plus over 26,000 at proof grade. The Post Office had planned to issue special commemorative stamps to mark the coronation of Edward VIII, but, on his abdication, were uncertain as to whether a new design could be prepared in time, but invited Eric Gill to submit designs for a 1½d stamp. Another artist, Edmund Dulac, also submitted two plans. The King accepted Dulac's and they were printed in brown with a hint of violet the day after the Coronation.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The streets along the procession route were crowded with people, with women estimated by one newspaper to outnumber men two-to-one. In all, 20,000 police officers were deployed to line the route and keep the crowds calm and, apart from a "dense crush" in Trafalgar Square, which the police dispersed, there were few problems with managing the public in London. In London and elsewhere across Britain, the Coronation became a social occasion, with street parties taking place, in which inhabitants and communities closed off roads, decorated their streets with bunting and flags, and laid on a celebratory lunch; the Pearly Kings and Queens, a traditional part of working-class culture in London, turned out, joining in with festivities and theatrically mocking the Royal Family.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Mass Observation, a research programme aimed at curating a record of everyday life in Britain, had been launched in January 1937. Contributors across the country were invited to record the details of the day of the Coronation in a diary for the project, whether the events of the Coronation were part of this day for them or not. The same exercise was repeated every 12th May in following years, and again when Mass Observation was relaunched in 1981. It continues to be an annual initiative into the 2020s, open to anyone to contribute.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The Coronation Scot and The Coronation were trains operated by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway and the London and North Eastern Railway respectively, in order to celebrate the coronation. Both were uniquely constructed streamlined express trains, with the intent of matching the level of luxury surrounding the event and the royal family.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Two clock towers were built in Malaya (now Malaysia) to commemorate the coronation. One is located at Medan Pasar, Kuala Lumpur, and was erected in 1937. The clock tower still exists today; however, the memorial plaques were removed following the independence of Malaya (1957). The other tower is located at Kuala Kangsar, Perak, and was completed in 1939. It still exists today and is popular among tourists.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The National Archives released photographs of celebrations for the Coronation from across the British Empire where various commemorations were held. These included military parades, athletics events and religious services, and the gallery below shows examples of these commemorative events:


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The coronation was capitalised on by manufacturers as a means of selling commemorative material. Recordings of the service were put up for sale, while glassware and pottery were also made to commemorate the event. In Canada, for instance, at least five cookbooks were printed to mark the Coronation.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: The final coronation event was the Review of the Fleet, held on 20 May at Spithead off the coast at Portsmouth. The largest assembly of warships since the coronation review of 1911, it has been described by military historian Hedley Paul Willmott as "the last parade of the Royal Navy as the world's greatest and most prodigious navy". Ten British battleships and battlecruisers were present, and for the first time at a coronation review, four aircraft carriers. Altogether, there were 101 surface warships, 22 submarines and 11 auxiliaries drawn from the Home, Mediterranean and Reserve Fleets. The Review Procession included the royal yacht, HMY "Victoria and Albert", two minesweepers and a survey ship. The Commonwealth and Empire were represented by two warships from Canada and one each from New Zealand and India. A large complement of British merchant ships ranging from ocean liners to paddle steamers were also present.


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: By tradition, foreign navies were invited to send a single warship each to the review and seventeen were present. Notable among them were the USS "New York", the new French battleship "Dunkerque" and the elderly Soviet "Marat". Also present were the formidable looking German "pocket battleship", "Admiral Graf Spee", the Greek cruiser, "Georgios Averof" and the Japanese heavy cruiser, "Ashigara".


title: Coronation of George VI and Elizabeth

text: Following the review, in which the King and Queen on the royal yacht passed along seven lines of moored ships, there was a flypast by the Fleet Air Arm, however a planned second pass had to be abandoned because of the misty weather. That night, the assembled ships were illuminated by their own searchlights; the spectacle was famously described on BBC Radio by commentator Lieutenant-Commander Thomas Woodrooffe, who had enjoyed too much naval hospitality and was very drunk.


title: Dragée

text: A dragée ( ; ), also known as confetto (; ), malbas, Jordan almond, or Sugared almond in the U.K, is a bite-sized form of confectionery with a hard outer shell. It is often used for another purpose (e.g. decorative, symbolic, medicinal, etc.) in addition to consumption.


title: Dragée

text: In their most classic form of dragée and comfit, Jordan almonds, also known as koufeta, consist of almonds which are sugar panned in various pastel colors.


title: Dragée

text: Jordan almonds are often used as wedding favors—like the Italian "bomboniere"—with the "bitter" almonds and the "sweet" sugar symbolizing the bitterness of life and sweetness of love. The treats are often packaged in groups of five to represent happiness, health, longevity, wealth, and fertility. At Italian and Greek weddings, the almonds are placed in groups of five—an odd number that is indivisible—to symbolize the unity of husband and wife. In the Middle East, Jordan almonds are considered an aphrodisiac so there are always plenty on hand for the newlyweds and their guests.


title: Dragée

text: Jordan almonds are thought to originate in ancient Rome, where honey-covered almonds were introduced by a Roman baker and confectioner named Julius Dragatus. His confections were called dragati and were served by nobility at weddings and births. When sugar became more readily available in the 15th century, the nuts were coated in sugar instead. In Sulmona, Italy, the technique of creating the dragée almonds was perfected by the Pelino family.


title: Dragée

text: The term "Jordan" is most likely a corrupted version of the French word "jardin", meaning "garden", hence, a cultivated rather than wild almond. However, others suggest the term referred to a variety of almonds originally grown along the Jordan River characterized by long, thin, slender, rather smooth kernels in thick, heavy shells.


title: Dragée

text: Still others believe that "Jordan" is a corruption of the name of the town of Verdun in the northeast of France. In the 13th century, when the medieval crusaders brought sugar to Europe after their campaigns in the Holy Land, it was very valuable and considered medicinal. During that time, an apothecary in Verdun began coating other medicines with sugar (calling them dragées) to make them easier to take. The town of Verdun became very well known for its "dragées de Verdun".


title: Dragée

text: Other chocolate dragées with multi-colored candy shells are M&M's. Initially designed to allow easy transport and consumption of chocolate for the U.S. military, they have evolved into a popular candy, but are also sold as decorative dragées in 25 different colors.


title: Dragée

text: In Portugal sugared almonds ('amêndoas de Páscoa') are the most traditional treat and gift rather than chocolate eggs; and entire aisles in supermarkets may be devoted to them in the run-up to Easter itself.


title: Dragée

text: Used to increase tolerability of bitter medication or merely to compel consumption, medicated candies or sugar-coated pills can be referred to as dragées.


title: Dragée

text: Another form of dragée is a small sphere of sugar, in the Commonwealth often called a "cachou", used primarily in the decoration of cookies, cakes, and other forms of bakery. These are produced in various sizes, typically in diameter. This is larger than nonpareils and smaller than large pearl tapioca.


title: Dragée

text: Silver dragées have long been used for both wedding and holiday food decoration. More recently, metallic gold, copper, rainbow colors (red, green, blue, etc.), and pearlescent colors have become available.


title: Dragée

text: In most countries, including the United Kingdom and France, silver dragées are classified as food items. However, since 1906, US regulations have prohibited the manufacture or sale of any food that uses any metal or mineral substance, including silver, as a food coloring, coating, or additive. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers the silver and gold metallic-finish sugar dragées to be inedible, and they may be sold only when accompanied with a notice that they are to be used for decorative purposes only. Almonds that have been coated the same way are not permitted at all. Although the metallic-finish dragées can be purchased in 49 US states, they are no longer sold in California.


title: Pdogg

text: Kang Hyo-won (Korean: 강효원; born September 19, 1983), known professionally as Pdogg (Korean: 피독), is a South Korean record producer, composer, and lyricist for Big Hit Music. He has produced and composed for artists such as 8Eight, Baek Ji-young, BTS, Jo Kwon, and Lim Jeong-hee, among others.


title: Pdogg

text: In 2007, at age 25, Pdogg established a relationship with Big Hit Entertainment's CEO Bang Si-hyuk—Bang managed an online composing community where Pdogg uploaded some of his own musical compositions. The music was well received, and Pdogg's tracks "Come Back" and "Love" were included on co-ed group 8Eight's debut studio album, "The First", and Lim Jeong-hee's third studio album, "Before I Go, J-Lim", respectively—both albums were released that same year. In 2010, with the help of rapper Sleepy, Pdogg discovered a young RM, around whom the formation of boy group BTS later began, and brought him to Big Hit. He eventually became the group's main producer.


title: Pdogg

text: At the Korea Music Copyright Awards held in February 2019, Pdogg was honoured by the Korea Music Copyright Association (KOMCA) and awarded the daesang as the highest-earning songwriter and composer of 2018. He has consecutively won the award every year since then, having earned the most royalties for songwriting and composition out of all Korean composers and lyricists. In November 2020, due to his major contribution to BTS' musical career, an episode of "" was dedicated to his songs.


title: Achill Island

text: Achill Island (; ) in County Mayo is the largest of the Irish isles, and is situated off the west coast of Ireland. It has a population of 2,594. Its area is . Achill is attached to the mainland by Michael Davitt Bridge, between the villages of Gob an Choire (Achill Sound) and Poll Raithní (Polranny). A bridge was first completed here in 1887. Other centres of population include the villages of Keel, Dooagh, Dumha Éige (Dooega), Dún Ibhir (Dooniver), and Dugort. The parish's main Gaelic football pitch and secondary school are on the mainland at Poll Raithní. Early human settlements are believed to have been established on Achill around 3000 BC.


title: Achill Island

text: The island is 87% peat bog. The parish of Achill consists of Achill Island, Achillbeg, Inishbiggle and the Corraun Peninsula.


title: Achill Island

text: Roughly half of the island, including the villages of Achill Sound and Bunacurry are in the Gaeltacht (traditional Irish-speaking region) of Ireland, although the vast majority of the island's population speaks English as their daily language.


title: Achill Island

text: It is believed that at the end of the Neolithic Period (around 4000 BC), Achill had a population of 500–1,000 people. The island would have been mostly forest until the Neolithic people began crop cultivation. Settlement increased during the Iron Age, and the dispersal of small promontory forts around the coast indicate the warlike nature of the times. Megalithic tombs and forts can be seen at Slievemore, along the Atlantic Drive and on Achillbeg.


title: Achill Island

text: Achill Island lies in the Barony of Burrishoole, in the territory of ancient Umhall (Umhall Uactarach and Umhall Ioctarach), that originally encompassed an area extending from the County Galway/Mayo border to Achill Head.


title: Achill Island

text: The hereditary chieftains of Umhall were the O'Malleys, recorded in the area in 814 AD when they successfully repelled an onslaught by the Vikings in Clew Bay. The Anglo-Norman invasion of Connacht in 1235 AD saw the territory of Umhall taken over by the Butlers and later by the de Burgos. The Butler Lordship of Burrishoole continued into the late 14th century when Thomas le Botiller was recorded as being in possession of Akkyll and Owyll.


title: Achill Island

text: In the 17th and 18th centuries, there was much migration to Achill from other parts of Ireland, particularly Ulster, due to the political and religious turmoil of the time. For a while there were two different dialects of Irish being spoken on Achill. This led to many townlands being recorded as having two names during the 1824 Ordnance Survey, and some maps today give different names for the same place. Achill Irish still has many traces of Ulster Irish.


title: Achill Island

text: Carrickkildavnet Castle is a 15th-century tower house associated with the O'Malley Clan, who were once a ruling family of Achill. Grace O' Malley, or Granuaile, the most famous of the O'Malleys, was born on Clare Island around 1530. Her father was the chieftain of the barony of Murrisk. The O'Malleys were a powerful seafaring family, who traded widely. Grace became a fearless leader and gained fame as a sea captain and pirate. She is reputed to have met with Queen Elizabeth I in 1593. She died around 1603 and is buried in the O'Malley family tomb on Clare Island.


title: Achill Island

text: One of Achill's most famous historical sites is that of the Achill Mission or 'the Colony' at Dugort. In 1831, the Anglican (Church of Ireland) Rev Edward Nangle founded a mission at Dugort. The Mission included schools, cottages, an orphanage, an infirmary and a guesthouse.


title: Achill Island

text: The Colony gave rise to mixed assessments, particularly during the Great Famine when charges of "souperism" were leveled against Nangle. The provision of food across the Achill Mission schools - which also provided 'scriptural' religious instruction - was particularly controversial.


title: Achill Island

text: For almost forty years, Nangle edited a newspaper called the "Achill Missionary Herald and Western Witness", which was printed in Achill. He expanded his mission into Mweelin, Kilgeever, West Achill where a school, church, rectory, cottages and a training school were built. Edward's wife, Eliza, suffered poor health in Achill and died in 1852; she is buried with six of the Nangle children on the slopes of Slievemore in North Achill.


title: Achill Island

text: In 1848, at the height of the Great Famine, the Achill Mission published a prospectus seeking to raise funds for the acquisition of significant additional lands from Sir Richard O'Donnell. The document gives an overview, from the Mission's perspective, of its activities in Achill over the previous decade and a half including considerable sectarian unrest. In 1851, Edward Nangle confirmed the purchase of the land which made the Achill Mission the largest landowner on the island.


title: Achill Island

text: The Achill Mission began to decline slowly after Nangle was moved from Achill and closed in the 1880s. When Edward Nangle died in 1883 there were opposing views on his legacy.


title: Achill Island

text: In 1894, the Westport – Newport railway line was extended to Achill Sound. The railway station is now a hostel. The train provided a great service to Achill, but it also is said to have fulfilled an ancient prophecy. Brian Rua O' Cearbhain had prophesied that 'carts on iron wheels' would carry bodies into Achill on their first and last journey. In 1894, the first train on the Achill railway carried the bodies of victims of the Clew Bay Drowning. This tragedy occurred when a boat overturned in Clew Bay, drowning thirty-two young people. They had been going to meet the steamer which would take them to Scotland for potato picking.


title: Achill Island

text: The Kirkintilloch Fire in 1937 almost fulfilled the second part of the prophecy when the bodies of ten victims were carried by rail to Achill. While it was not literally the last train, the railway would close just two weeks later. These people had died in a fire in a bothy in Kirkintilloch. This term referred to the temporary accommodation provided for those who went to Scotland to pick potatoes, a migratory pattern that had been established in the early nineteenth century.


title: Achill Island

text: Kildamhnait on the south-east coast of Achill is named after St. Damhnait, or Dymphna, who founded a church there in the 7th century. There is also a holy well just outside the graveyard. The present church was built in the 1700s and the graveyard contains memorials to the victims of two of Achill's greatest tragedies, the Kirchintilloch Fire (1937) and the Clew Bay Drowning (1894).


title: Achill Island

text: In 1852, Dr John MacHale, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tuam, purchased land in Bunnacurry, on which a Franciscan Monastery was established, which, for many years, provided an education for local children. The building of the monastery was marked by a conflict between the Protestants of the mission colony and the workers building the monastery. The dispute is known in the island folklore as the "Battle of the Stones".


title: Achill Island

text: A notable monk who lived at the monastery for almost thirty years was Brother Paul Carney. He wrote a biography of James Lynchehaun who rose to either fame or infamy (depending on whom you spoke to) following his conviction for the 1894 attack on an Englishwoman named Agnes MacDonnell, which left her face disfigured, and the burning of her home, Valley House, Tonatanvally, North Achill. (The home was rebuilt and Mrs MacDonnell died there in 1923, while Lynchehaun escaped to the USA after serving 7 years and successfully resisted extradition but spent his last years in Scotland, where he died.) Brother Carney's-great grandniece, Patricia Byrne, write her own account of Mrs MacDonnell and Lynchehaun, entitled "The Veiled Woman of Achill".


title: Achill Island

text: Brother Carney also wrote accounts of his lengthy fundraising trips across the U.S. at the start of the 20th century. The ruins of this monastery are still to be seen in Bunnacurry today.


title: Achill Island

text: The historic Valley House is located in Tonatanvally, "The Valley", near Dugort, in the northeast of Achill Island. The present building sits on the site of a hunting lodge built by the Earl of Cavan in the 19th century. Its notoriety arises from an incident in 1894 in which the then owner, an Englishwoman, Mrs Agnes McDonnell, was savagely beaten and the house set alight by a local man, James Lynchehaun. Lynchehaun had been employed by McDonnell as her land agent, but the two fell out and he was sacked and told to quit his accommodation on her estate. A lengthy legal battle ensued, with Lynchehaun refusing to leave. At the time, in the 1890s, the issue of land ownership in Ireland was politically charged. After the events at the Valley House in 1895, Lynchehaun would falsely claim his actions were carried out on behalf of the Irish Republican Brotherhood and motivated by politics. He escaped custody after serving seven years and fled to the United States seeking political asylum (although Michael Davitt refused to shake his hand, calling Lynchehaun a "murderer"), where he successfully defeated legal attempts by the British authorities to have him extradited to face charges arising from the attack and the burning of the Valley House. Agnes McDonnell suffered terrible injuries from the attack but survived and lived for another 23 years, dying in 1923. Lynchehaun is said to have returned to Achill on two occasions, once in disguise as an American tourist, and eventually died in Girvan, Scotland, in 1937. The Valley House is now a hostel and bar.


title: Achill Island

text: Close by Dugort, at the base of Slievemore mountain lies the Deserted Village. There are approximately 80 ruined houses in the village. The houses were built of unmortared stone, which means that no cement or mortar was used to hold the stones together. Each house consisted of just one room and this room was used as a kitchen, living room, bedroom and even a stable. If one looks at the fields around the Deserted Village and right up the mountain, one can see the tracks in the fields of 'lazy beds', which is the way crops like potatoes were grown. In Achill, as in many areas of Ireland, a system called 'Rundale' was used for farming. This meant that the land around a village was rented from a landlord. This land was then shared by all the villagers to graze their cattle and sheep. Each family would then have two or three small pieces of land scattered about the village, which they used to grow crops. For many years people lived in the village and then in 1845 Famine struck in Achill as it did in the rest of Ireland. Most of the families moved to the nearby village of Dooagh, which is beside the sea, while some others emigrated. Living beside the sea meant that fish and shellfish could be used for food. The village was completely abandoned which is where the name 'Deserted Village' came from.


title: Achill Island

text: No one has lived in these houses since the time of the Famine, however, the families that moved to Dooagh and their descendants, continued to use the village as a 'booley village'. This means that during the summer season, the younger members of the family, teenage boys and girls, would take the cattle to graze on the hillside and they would stay in the houses of the Deserted Village. This custom continued until the 1940s. Boolying was also carried out in other areas of Achill, including Annagh on Croaghaun mountain and in Curraun. At Ailt, Kildownet, the remains of a similar deserted village can be found. This village was deserted in 1855 when the tenants were evicted by the local landlord so the land could be used for cattle grazing; the tenants were forced to rent holdings in Currane, Dooega and Slievemore. Others emigrated to America.


title: Achill Island

text: Recent archaeological research suggests the village was occupied year-round at least as early as the 19th century, though it is known to have served as a seasonally occupied 'booley village' by the first half of the 20th century. A booley village (a number of which exist in a ruined state on the island) is a village occupied only during part of the year, such as a resort community, a lake community, or (as the case on Achill) a place to live while tending flocks or herds of ruminants during winter or summer pasturing. Specifically, some of the people of Dooagh and Pollagh would migrate in the summer to Slievemore and then go back to Dooagh in the autumn. The summer 2009 field school excavated Round House 2 on Slievemore Mountain under the direction of archaeologist Stuart Rathbone. Only the outside north wall, entrance way and inside of the Round House were completely excavated.


title: Achill Island

text: From 2004 to 2006, the Achill Island Maritime Archaeology Project directed by Chuck Meide was sponsored by the College of William and Mary, the Institute of Maritime History, the Achill Folklife Centre (now the Achill Archaeology Centre), and the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP). This project focused on the documentation of archaeological resources related to Achill's rich maritime heritage. Maritime archaeologists recorded a 19th-century fishing station, an ice house, boat house ruins, a number of anchors which had been salvaged from the sea, 19th-century and more recent currach pens, a number of traditional vernacular watercraft including a possibly 100-year-old Achill yawl, and the remains of four historic shipwrecks.


title: Achill Island

text: The cliffs of Croaghaun on the western end of the island are the third highest sea cliffs in Europe but are inaccessible by road. Near the westernmost point of Achill, Achill Head, is Keem Bay. Keel Beach is quite popular with tourists and some locals as a surfing location. South of Keem beach is Moytoge Head, which with its rounded appearance drops dramatically down to the ocean. An old British observation post, built during World War I to prevent the Germans from landing arms for the Irish Republican Army, is still standing on Moytoge. During the Second World War this post was rebuilt by the Irish Defence Forces as a lookout post for the Coast Watching Service wing of the Defence Forces. It operated from 1939 to 1945.


title: Achill Island

text: The mountain of Slievemore, (672 m) rises dramatically in the north of the island and the Atlantic Drive (along the south/west of the island) has some scenic views. On the slopes of Slievemore, there is an abandoned village, the "Deserted Village", traditionally thought to be a remnant village from An Gorta Mór (The Great Hunger of 1845–1849). Just west of the deserted village is an old Martello tower, again built by the British to warn of any possible French invasion during the Napoleonic Wars. The area also boasts an approximately 5000-year-old Neolithic tomb.


title: Achill Island

text: Achillbeg ("", "Little Achill") is a small island just off Achill's southern tip. Its inhabitants were resettled on Achill in the 1960s. A plaque to Johnny Kilbane is situated on Achillbeg and was erected to celebrate 100 years since his first championship win.


title: Achill Island

text: The villages of Dooniver and Askill have picturesque scenery and the cycle route is popular with tourists.


title: Achill Island

text: Caisleán Ghráinne, also known as Kildownet Castle, is a small tower house built in the early 1400s. It is located in Cloughmore, on the south of Achill Island. It is noted for its associations with Grace O'Malley, along with the larger Rockfleet Castle in Newport.


title: Achill Island

text: While a number of attempts at setting up small industrial units on the island have been made, its economy is largely dependent on tourism. Subventions from Achill people working abroad allowed many families to remain living in Achill throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. In the past, fishing was a significant activity but this aspect of the economy is small now. At one stage, the island was known for its shark fishing, basking shark in particular was fished for its valuable shark liver oil. There was a big spurt of growth in tourism in the 1960s and 1970s before which life was tough and difficult on the island. Despite healthy visitor numbers each year, the common perception is that tourism in Achill has been slowly declining since its heyday. Currently, the largest employers on Achill are two hotels.


title: Achill Island

text: For almost two centuries, a number of artists have had a close relationship with Achill Island, including the landscape painter Paul Henry. Within the emerging Irish Free State, Paul Henry's landscapes from Achill and other areas reinforced a vision of Ireland of communities living in harmony with the land. He lived in Achill for almost a decade with his wife, artist Grace Henry and, while using similar subject-matter, the pair developed very different styles.


title: Achill Island

text: This relationship of artists with Achill was particularly intense in the early decades of the twentieth century when Eva O'Flaherty (1874-1963) became a focal point for artistic networking on the island. A network of over 200 artists linked to Achill is charted in "Achill Painters - An Island History" and includes painters such as the Belgian Marie Howet, the American Robert Henri, the modernist painter Mainie Jellett and contemporary artist Camille Souter.


title: Achill Island

text: The 2018 "Coming Home Art & The Great Hunger" exhibition, in partnership with The Great Hunger Museum of Quinnipiac University, USA, featured Achill's Deserted Village and the island lazy beds prominently in works by Geraldine O'Reilly and Alanna O'Kelly; also included was an 1873 painting, 'Cottage, Achill Island' by Alexander Williams - one of the first artists to open up the island to a wider audience.


title: Achill Island

text: Hedge schools existed in most villages of Achill in various periods of history. A university was started by the missions to Achill in Mweelin. In the modern age, there used to be two secondary schools in Achill, Mc Hale College and Scoil Damhnait. However, in August 2011, the two schools amalgamated to form Coláiste Pobail Acla. For primary education, there are eight national schools including Bullsmouth NS, Valley NS, Bunnacurry NS, Dookinella NS, Dooagh NS, Saula NS, Achill Sound NS and Tonragee NS. National schools closed down include Dooega NS, Crumpaun NS, Ashleam NS and Currane NS.


title: Achill Island

text: Achill railway station, still on the mainland and not on the island, was opened by the Midland Great Western Railway on 13 May 1895, the terminus of its line from Westport via Newport and Mulranny. The station, and the line, were closed by the Great Southern Railways on 1 October 1937. The Great Western Greenway, created during 2010 and 2011, follows the line's route and has proved to be very successful in attracting visitors to Achill and the surrounding areas.


title: Achill Island

text: Bus Éireann's route 450 operates several times daily to Westport and Louisburgh from the island's scattered villages. Bus Éireann also provides transport for the area's secondary school children.


title: Achill Island

text: Achill Island has several bars, cafes and restaurants. The island's Atlantic location means that seafood, including lobster, mussels, salmon, trout and winkles, are common meals. With a large sheep and cow populations, lamb and beef are popular on the island too.


title: Achill Island

text: Achill has a Gaelic football club which competes in the junior championship and division 1E of the Mayo League. There are also Achill Rovers which play in the Mayo Association Football League.


title: Achill Island

text: There is a 9-hole links golf course on the island. Outdoor activities can be done through Achill Outdoor Education Centre. Achill Island's rugged landscape and the surrounding ocean offers multiple locations for outdoor adventure activities, like surfing, kite-surfing and sea kayaking. Fishing and watersports are also common. Sailing regattas featuring a local vessel type, the Achill Yawl, have been popular since the 19th century, though most present-day yawls, unlike their traditional working boat ancestors, have been structurally modified to promote greater speed under sail. The island's waters and underwater sites are occasionally visited by scuba divers, though Achill's unpredictable weather generally has precluded a commercially successful recreational diving industry.


title: Achill Island

text: In 2016, the population was 2,594, with 5.2% claiming they spoke the Irish on a daily basis outside the education system. The island's population has declined from around 6,000 before the Great Famine of the mid-19th century.


title: Achill Island

text: The table below reports data on Achill Island's population taken from "Discover the Islands of Ireland" (Alex Ritsema, Collins Press, 1999) and the census of Ireland.


title: Achill Island

text: Few inhabited houses date from before the 20th century, though there are many examples of abandoned stone structures dating to the 19th century.


title: Achill Island

text: The best known of these earlier can be seen in the "Deserted Village" ruins near the graveyard at the foot of Slievemore. Even the houses in this village represent a relatively comfortable class of dwelling as, even as recently as a hundred years ago, some people still used "Beehive" style houses (small circular single-roomed dwellings with a hole in the ceiling to let out smoke).


title: Achill Island

text: Many of the oldest inhabited cottages date from the activities of the Congested Districts Board for Ireland—a body set up around the turn of the 20th century in Ireland to improve the welfare of the inhabitants of small villages and towns. Most of the homes in Achill at the time were very small and tightly packed together in villages. The CDB subsidised the building of new, more spacious (though still small by modern standards) homes outside of the traditional villages.


title: Achill Island

text: The island is featured throughout the film "The Banshees of Inisherin" in various locations on the island including Keem Bay, Cloughmore, and Purteen Pier.


title: Unicum

text: Unicum () is a Hungarian herbal liqueur or bitters, drunk as a digestif and apéritif. The liqueur was created in 1790 and is today produced by Zwack according to a secret formula of more than forty herbs; the drink is aged in oak casks. During communism in Hungary, the Zwack family lived in exile in New York City and Chicago, and Unicum in Hungary was produced using a different formula. Before moving to the United States, János Zwack had entrusted a family friend in Milan with the production of Unicum based on the original recipe. After the fall of communism, Péter Zwack returned to Hungary and resumed production of the original Unicum.


title: Unicum

text: The texture of the drink is "thick, black, goopy" and so bitter that it is often described as an acquired taste. The drink's name originates from the words of Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, who in 1790, when being given the drink, said (in German) "Das ist ein Unikum!" ("This is unique!").


title: Unicum

text: Unicum is regarded as one of the national drinks of Hungary. The production facility offers tours which include a tasting session of the multiple different varieties including Unicum and Unicum Plum. According to the manufacturer, the original Unicum is no longer distributed in the United States, having been replaced by Unicum Next (a sweeter, thinner-bodied drink with a more prominent citrus flavour), re-branded as "Zwack".


title: Fun Lovin' Criminals

text: Fun Lovin' Criminals are an American rap rock band from New York City. They are best known for their hit "Scooby Snacks", which features samples from films by Quentin Tarantino, and the song "Love Unlimited", which recalls Barry White's backing vocal group. Their songs often focus on life in New York City, as well as urban life in general. Their lyrics can be gritty or existentialist in nature, touching on topics such as organized crime and urban violence, but they are just as often humorous or satirical. The band gained a large following internationally, notably in Northwest Europe, around the release of their first two albums in the late 1990s.


title: Fun Lovin' Criminals

text: The band's music encompasses alternative rock, rap rock, hip hop, alternative hip hop, jazz rap, punk rock, funk, blues, mafioso rap and R&B.