title: North Atlantic right whale

text: The single greatest danger to this species is injury sustained from ship strikes. Between 1970 and October 2006, 37% of all recorded North Atlantic right whale deaths were attributed to collisions. During the years 1999–2003, incidents of mortality and serious injury attributed to ship strikes averaged 1 per year. For the years 2004–2006, that number increased to 2.6. Additionally, it is possible that the official figures actually underestimate the actual ship-strike mortality rates, since whales struck in offshore areas may never be sighted due to low search effort.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In 2002, the International Maritime Organization shifted the location of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS, i.e. shipping lanes) in the Bay of Fundy (and approaches) from an area with the highest density of North Atlantic right whales to an area of lower density. This was the first time the IMO had changed a TSS to help protect marine mammals. In 2006, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) established a set of recommended vessel routes to reduce ship strikes in four important eastern-US right whale habitats. In 2007, and again on June 1, 2009, NOAA changed the TSS servicing Boston to reduce vessel collisions with right whales and other whale species. NOAA estimated that implementing an "Area To Be Avoided" (ATBA) and narrowing the TSS by would reduce the relative risk of right whale ship strikes by 74% during April–July (63% from the ATBA and 11% from the narrowing of the TSS). In 2008, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) and NOAA enacted a series of vessel speed restrictions to reduce ship collisions with North Atlantic right whales for ships in certain areas along the East Coast of the United States in order to reduce the probability of fatal ship strikes.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: The next greatest source of human-induced mortality is entanglement in fixed fishing gear such as bottom-set groundfish gillnet gear, cod traps and lobster pots. Between 1970 and October 2006, there have been 8 instances where entanglements have been the direct cause of death of North Atlantic right whales. This represents 11% of all deaths documented during that period. From 1986 to 2005, there were a total of 61 confirmed reports of entanglements, including the aforementioned mortalities. It is likely that official figures underestimate the actual impacts of entanglement. It is believed that chronically entangled animals may in fact sink upon death, due to loss of buoyancy from depleted blubber reserves, and therefore escape detection.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: According to a 2012 New England Aquarium report, 85 percent of the whales have had rope entanglement at least one time and it is the leading cause of death.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: A whale that survives an entanglement episode may be weakened, have reduced fertility, or become vulnerable to further injury. Because whales often free themselves of gear following an entanglement event, scarring may be a better indicator of fisheries interaction than entanglement sightings. A 2012 analysis of the scarification of right whales over the years 1980 to 2009 showed that 82.9% of all North Atlantic right whales experienced at least one fishing gear entanglement, 59.0% have had more than one such experience, and an average of 15.5% of the population are entangled in fishing gear annually.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In 2007, so as to protect northern right whales from serious injury or mortality from entanglement in gillnet gear in their calving area in Atlantic Ocean waters off the southeast United States, the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) revised regulations implementing the Atlantic Large Whale Take Reduction Plan (ALWTRP). This plan expands the restricted area to include the waters off of South Carolina, Georgia, and Northern Florida. It also prohibits gillnet fishing or even gillnet possession in those waters for a period of five months, beginning on November 15 of each year, which coincides with the annual right whale calving season.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: When entanglement prevention efforts fail, disentanglement efforts occasionally succeed, despite the fact that such efforts are more frequently impossible or unsuccessful. Nevertheless, they do in fact make a significant difference because saving a few whales in a population of only 400 has a large positive effect against mortality rates. During the period 2004–2008 there were at least four documented cases of entanglements for which the intervention of disentanglement teams averted a likely death of a right whale. For the first time in 2009 and again in 2011, scientists successfully used chemical sedation of an entangled whale to reduce stress on the animal and to reduce the time spent working with it. After disentangling the whale, scientists attached a satellite tracking tag, administered a dose of antibiotics to treat entanglement wounds and then another drug to reverse the sedation. Despite concerns that the trauma might impair reproduction, researchers confirmed in January 2013 that three disentangled whales had given birth.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Due to recently increased presences of right whales in Cape Breton to St. Lawrence regions, increases in entanglements and possible ship strikes have been confirmed as well including serious fatal cases involving three whales between June 24 and July 13, 2015.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: A female known as Snow Cone gained attention in September 2022 after being spotted off the coast of Massachusetts dragging fishing gear. The 17-year-old whale, who had been continuously entangled for at least 18 months, and was covered in lice and swimming slowly, was considered beyond saving by scientists.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In 2022, the Marine Stewardship Council revoked its certification for the commercial Gulf of Maine lobster fishery, citing risks of entanglement of North American right whales in lobster-fishing gear. The same year, Seafood Watch added the American and Canadian Maine lobster fisheries to its "red list" to seafood species to avoid, for the same reason. The MSC and Seafood Watch led some retailers to stop selling Maine lobster. The decision was welcomed by whale-conservation groups, but opposed by the Maine lobster industry and elected officials in Maine, where the fishery is economically important.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: A 2011 analysis of data collected in the Bay of Fundy has shown that exposure to low-frequency ship noise may be associated with chronic physiological stress in North Atlantic right whales.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: The US Navy proposed plans to build a new undersea naval sonar training range immediately adjacent to northern right whale calving grounds in shallow waters off the Florida/Georgia border. In September 2012, legal challenges by 12 environmental groups were denied in federal court, allowing the Navy to proceed.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Climate change poses a threat to the North Atlantic right whale as global temperatures increase and ocean processes change. Long migratory periods, gestations, and time gaps between calves results in slow-growing right whale populations. A brief change in food availability (in particular "Calanus finmarchicus") can affect right whale populations for years after. Females must have access to plenty of food to successfully make it through pregnancy and produce enough milk to rear a calf. To illustrate the species’ sensitivity to food availability, in 1998 zooplankton populations dropped dramatically following a climate shift. Even though zooplankton abundance began to rise again in 1999, right whales have such a long reproduction and migratory cycle that the population was greatly affected by the minimal food availability from the year before. In 1999, only one right whale calf was born, compared to the 21 that were born in 1996, before the climate shift. In 2001, after the zooplankton populations greatly recovered, 30 calves were born.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Zooplankton abundance has been found to be associated with the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO), the most influential climate force in the Northern Hemisphere. Periodically, pressure anomalies in the system shift from positive to negative as determined by the NAO Index, affecting temperatures and wind patterns. Abundant zooplankton populations have been linked to a positive NAO Index. As global temperatures increase, the NAO is predicted to shift more often and to greater intensities (so-called marine heatwaves). These shifts will likely greatly affect the abundance of zooplankton, posing a great risk for right whale populations that cannot rapidly adapt to a new food source.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Climate change causes warming of the ocean, and in turn changes ocean circulation patterns. This changes the foraging patterns and habitat of the North Atlantic right whale, "reducing the population’s calving rate and exposing it to greater mortality risks from ship strikes and fishing gear entanglement".


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: As defined by the Marine Mammal Protection Act an Unusual Mortality Event (UME) demands immediate response and is characterized by a stranding that is unexpected or involves a significant die-off of any marine mammal population. In 2017, a UME began in the North Atlantic right whale population. 2017 saw the population of under 400 suffer 17 deaths as a result of anthropogenic threats (12 in Canada, 5 in the U.S). In 2018 there were 3 deaths attributed to anthropogenic threats, and in 2019 another 10 were lost to such causes. 9 of the deaths were attributed to vessel strikes and 8 to entanglement with the rest lacking a thorough examination to determine the cause of death. The same time period (2017-2019) saw an additional 8 severely injured, as in they were observed in a condition that would likely kill them within weeks to months.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: It is not known how many populations of North Atlantic right whales existed prior to whaling, but the majority of studies usually consider that there were historically two populations, one each in the eastern and western North Atlantic. There are however two other hypotheses which claim, respectively, one super-population among the entire North Atlantic (with mixing of eastern and western migratory routes occurring at locations in relatively high latitudes such as in the Denmark Strait), and three sub-populations of eastern, western, and central Atlantic right whales (with the central stock ranging from Greenland's Cape Farewell in summer to the Azores, Bermuda, and Bahamas in winter, although recent study indicates that the Azores had probably been a migratory corridor rather than a wintering ground).


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Recent studies revealed that modern counterparts of the eastern and western populations are genetically much closer to each other than previously thought. Right whales' habitat can be affected dramatically by climate changes along with Bowhead whales.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In spring, summer and autumn, the western North Atlantic population feeds in a range stretching from Massachusetts to Newfoundland. Particularly popular feeding areas are the Bay of Fundy, the Gulf of Maine and Cape Cod Bay. In winter, they head south towards Georgia and Florida to give birth. According to census of individual whales identified using photo-identification techniques, the latest available stock assessment data (August 2012) indicates that a minimum of 396 recognized individuals were known to be alive in the western North Atlantic in 2010, up from 361 in 2005. Distributions within other parts of Bay of Fundy is rather unknown, although whales are occasionally observed at various locations in northern parts such as in Baxters Harbour or at Campobello Island.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Though their numbers are still scarce, some right whales migrate regularly into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, notably around the Gaspé Peninsula and in the Chaleur Bay, and up to Anticosti Island, Tadoussac and in the St. Lawrence River such as at Rouge Island. Until 1994, whales were regarded as rather vagrant migrants into St. Lawrence region, however annual concentrations of whales were discovered off Percé in 1995 and sightings in entire St. Lawrence regions have been shown gradual increases since in 1998. For example, in the survey conducted by the Canadian Whale Institute in 2006, three whales were detected off the peninsula. Some whales including cow and calf pairs also appear around Cape Breton Island with notable increasing regularities in recent years, notably since in 2014, and about 35 to 40 whales were confirmed around Prince Edward Island and Gaspe Peninsula in 2015. Further, the whales' regular range is known to reach up to off Newfoundland and the Labrador Sea, and several have been found in a former whaling ground east of Greenland's southern tip.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Parts of the western group, especially for those seen regularly in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, display different migratory or calving routines than other whales and these are so-called "Offshore Whales". There could be various areas along or off the west coasts where could have been frequented by whales potentially and might be re-colonized in the future such as Quoddy, Eastport, Plymouth Harbor, Sagamore Beach, Island of Nantucket, Florida Bay, Pamlico Sound, Gulf of Mexico (as far as to Texas), Bahamas, Long Island Sound and vicinity to New York City, the mouth of Potomac River, Delaware and Chesapeake Bay, the mouth of Altamaha River, Cape Canaveral, Sebastian Inlet and around Melbourne. As the population grows, it's also highly possible that more whales would start using rivers or river mouths, shallow estuaries, smaller inlets or bays. Whales have already seen repeatedly at various of these such as Indian River Inlet, Delaware River, Cape Cod Canal, and Jacksonville Drum.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In early 2009, scientists recorded a record number of births among the western North Atlantic population. 39 new calves were recorded, born off the Atlantic coast of Florida and Georgia:


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In contrast, 2012 was the worst calving season since 2000, with only seven calves sighted – and one of those was believed to have died. This is significantly below the annual average of 20 calves per year over the last decade. As the gestation period for right whales is a year long, researchers believe that a lack of food in the whales' summer feeding grounds in the Bay of Fundy during the summer of 2010 may be linked to the poor season in 2012. The right whale was purported to have reached a population of 500 in the North Atlantic, which was assumed to have been achieved for the first time in centuries, when counted in 2013. The population of the whale has been increasing at about 2.5 percent per year, but this is below the optimal goal of 6 or 7 percent that researchers were hoping to attain.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Aerial and shipboard surveys are conducted annually to locate and record seasonal distribution of North Atlantic right whales along the northeast and southeast United States coast. Researchers identify individual right whales, document whale behavior, monitor new calves, and respond to entangled whales. The surveys have been used to produce seasonal maps showing the density of right whales (number of animals per square kilometer) throughout the U.S. east coast and Nova Scotia. NOAA Fisheries maintains an interactive map of recent right whale sightings.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In the eastern North Atlantic, the right whale population probably numbers in the low double digits at best, with little information known about their distribution and migration pattern. Scientists believe that this population may be functionally extinct. The last catch occurred in February 1967 from a pod of three animals including a cow-calf pair: one escaped in Madeira and one was taken in the Azores.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Cintra Bay and "Bahia Gorrei", about 150 kilometers south of Villa Cisneros in the Western Sahara, the only known historical calving ground for this group, host no animals (or if any, then likely very few) nowadays, holding a situation similar to the Bay of Biscay area where many whales once congregated throughout years. Although there were several sightings in the late 20th century (see Bay of Biscay) and catch records indicate whales historically used the bay for both feeding and wintering, it is still unclear whether or not the Biscayne coasts were ever used as calving grounds. Other parts of coastlines or oceanic islands from Iberian Peninsula and Portugal to Morocco in north to south possibly reaching even Mauritania to Senegal. Locations such as Dakhla Peninsula and Bay of Arguin had been served potentially as wintering grounds similar to the Cintra and Gorrei Bays region. Historic presence of any summering or wintering grounds within the Mediterranean Basin including Black and Azov Sea is unknown although it has been considered to be feasible.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Entire European regions including French coasts, Hebrides, North and Baltic Seas, and further north up to Swedish, and Norwegian areas were once ranged by whales. Phenology of catch records in the early twentieth century in Nordic countries shows that whale presences in northern waters was at peak in June. In Ireland, catches were concentrated in the first half of June until 1930s and preceded catch in the Scottish bases of the Hebrides which were concentrated in the second half of June and July, and this indicates that those whales were likely to migrate along Irish coasts. Of all modern whaling grounds in European waters, Hebrides and the Shetland Islands were the center of whaling in the early 20th century, and any records afterwards these catches became scarce in eastern Atlantic where only two cow-calf pairs had been documented.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Any calm waters in north such as Porth Neigwl, the Wadden Sea region, Cornwall coasts, Moray Firth and in Irish Sea could have been migratory colliders/feeding or resting grounds, or seasonal habitats to stay for less-migrating or resident (fully or partially) individuals. Some might have reached to entrance of Baltic Sea and northern Scandinavian. Based on historical records, Scandinavian waters once had been a potential feeding area, and this idea corresponds with behaviors of the below mentioned vagrant individual "Porter" recorded in 1999 when he stayed in the fjord for several weeks, indicating the area provided to him a feasible condition for summering. Historical records suggest that summering grounds could have reached further north to northern coasts of Scandinavian Peninsula, and some might have turned up at the mouth of Hudson Bay.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Predicted summering range models suggest that small numbers of right whales could have been present year-round in the Mediterranean Sea although it is unclear whether whales ever penetrated Turkish Straits to Marmara, Black, and Azov Seas (historical presences at northern Aegean Sea were considered in this study which didn't include the northernmost basins in study areas).


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: There have been a few sightings further east over the past few decades, with several sightings close to Iceland in 2003. There was speculation that these could be the remains of a virtually extinct Eastern Atlantic stock, but examination of old whalers' records suggest that they are more likely to be strays from further west. A few have been sighted in waters adjacent to Norway (two documented sightings in 1926 and 1999), Ireland, shelf waters west of Scotland, Irish Sea, the Bay of Biscay in Spain, off the Iberian Peninsula, a cow-calf pair at Cape St. Vincent in Portugal, and continuous sightings of a single animal off the southwestern Tenerife in the Canary Islands in 1995. Subsequently, there have been two more sightings in Benderlau, La Gomera and some other observations were reported in Portugal and Galicia. A whale of unknown species, thought to be a right whale, was seen off Steenbanken, Schouwen-Duiveland (Netherlands) in July 2005 and was possibly the same animal previously seen off Texel in the West Frisian Islands. Another possible sighting was made along Lizard Point, Cornwall in May 2012.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Few recent sightings have also been recorded from pelagic waters such as off Hebrides and on Rockall Basin as late as in 2000s.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Right whales have also on rare occasion been observed in the Mediterranean Sea. Since the two records of a stranding (Italy) and a capture of one of a pair seen (Algeria) in early 20th century, one sighting recorded in Dutch sighting scheme possibly between 1954 and 1957, only one possible sighting have been confirmed. In May 1991, a petty officer of the Italian Navy happened to be in the water with his camera about off the small island of Sant' Antioco (southwestern Sardinia), when a right whale happened to swim by – his photos comprise the only confirmed sighting in the 20th century; on the other hand however, reliability of the record have been questioned due to failures to contact the photographers. Earlier known occurrences of right whales in the basin include the stranding of a juvenile near Taranto (southeastern Italy) in 1877 and the sighting of two (one of which was later captured) in the bay of Castiglione (Algiers) in 1888 and Portugal. The Norway sightings appear to be of vagrants, or strays from the western Atlantic stock.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Below is a list of some of recent records of right whales in eastern North Atlantic (not all of above-mentioned records and excluding vagrant records, according to the Spanish edition of this article). Records and confirmations close to Newfoundland, Iceland, and Cape Farewell are also excluded.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Some eastern sightings have been officially confirmed to be of vagrants from the western population. A right whale seen off Cape Cod in May 1999 was later seen in the Kvænangen fjord in Troms, Northern Norway in September 1999. This individual was later confirmed to be "Porter", an adult male in the catalog (No.1133). He was seen again back in Cape Cod in winter 2000, having traveled for over , making this the longest ever traveling record of right whales. The area vicinity to Scandinavian Peninsula was once in the historical "North Cape Ground", one of the major whaling grounds for this species in the 17th century.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In January 2009, one animal was sighted off Pico Island, Azores, the first confirmed appearance there since 1888. This animal was later identified as a female from the western Atlantic group, and nicknamed as "Pico" according to this event.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Some individuals are known to show interesting patterns of movements which may possibly help researchers to deepen understandings of future re-colonization to eastern Atlantic, if possible.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Several biologists have mentioned the possibility that a third population exists, which ranges from near Iceland or Greenland in the north to Bermuda or the Bahamas in the south. Some right whales are now said to live primarily in Icelandic waters, occasionally joining up with the western population. In July 2003, a research team from the New England Aquarium investigated the possibility of right whales inhabiting the Cape Farewell region. They recorded a sighting of a female right whale in the Irminger Sea, southwest of the Iceland coast. She was later named "Hidalgo" due to a scar mark on her head resembling a horse.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In 2009, right whales appeared in waters around Greenland although their origin was not confirmed. Prior to this, no right whales had been killed or confirmed present off the coast of Greenland for around 200 years except for the sighting of "1718", a unique animal seen only twice (off Cape Farewell in July 1987 and at the Nova Scotian Shelf in June 1989). Several sightings in the area made in the 1970s may or may not be of right whales, as the critically endangered population of Bowhead whales are also present in the area.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: For southward migration, the sighting of two whales displaying courtship behaviors in the Bermuda was recorded by a team of researchers including Roger Payne in April, 1970.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: In the United States, this species is listed as “endangered” by the NMFS under the Endangered Species Act. It is also listed as "depleted" under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: On a global level, the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS, or the "Bonn Convention") is a multilateral treaty specializing in the conservation of migratory species, their habitats and migration routes. CMS has listed the North Atlantic right whale on Appendix I, which identifies it as a migratory species threatened with extinction. This obligates member nations to strive towards strict protection of these animals, habitat conservation or restoration, mitigation of obstacles to migration, and control of other factors that might endanger them.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Additionally, CMS encourages concerted action among the range states of many Appendix I species. To that end, a small portion of the eastern Atlantic population's range is covered by the Agreement on the Conservation of Cetaceans in the Black Sea, Mediterranean Sea and Contiguous Atlantic Area (ACCOBAMS). The Atlantic area bounded on the west by a line running from Cape St. Vincent in southwest Portugal to Casablanca, Morocco, and on the east by the Straight of Gibraltar.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Another multilateral treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, (CITES, or the “Washington Convention”), also lists the North Atlantic right whale on its own Appendix I. Being so listed prohibits international trade (import or export) in specimens of this species or any derivative products (e.g. food or drug products, bones, trophies), except for scientific research and other exceptional cases with a permit specific to that specimen.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Either land based or organized whale watching activities are available along east coasts from Canada in north to Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida to south. Stellwagen Bank Sanctuary has also been designated for watching this species. Onlookers lucky enough can spot them from shores time to time on whales' migration seasons especially for feeding (vicinity to Cape Cod such as at Race Point and Brier Island), and breeding/calving (off Georgia to Florida coasts) when whales strongly approach shores or enters rivers or estuaries such as at Outer Banks, Pamlico Sound, Indian River Inlet, Cape Lookout, Virginia Beach, Virginia, Golden Isles of Georgia, beaches on Florida (e.g. most notably at Flagler, Jacksonville, St. Augustine, Ponte Vedra, Satellite, Crescent, and Cocoa, and any others like Ormond, New Smyrna, South Melbourne, Wrightsville, Vero), Boynton, and so on. There are some piers used for lookout points such as at Jacksonville and Wrightsville.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: With their low profile on the water, right whales can be difficult to spot, so all fishermen and boaters transiting through potential right whale habitat should keep a sharp lookout. Boaters should be advised that NOAA Fisheries has a "500-yard rule", prohibiting anyone from approaching within of a North Atlantic right whale. The regulations include all boaters, fishing vessels (except commercial fishing vessel retrieving gear), kayakers, surfers, and paddleboarders, and agencies such as the United States Coast Guard and the Massachusetts Environmental Police have been authorized to enforce it.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Right whale sightings can be valuable to researchers, who recommend all sightings be reported. In Florida, the Marine Resources Council maintains a volunteer sighting network to receive sighting information from the public and verify sightings with trained volunteers.


title: North Atlantic right whale

text: Due to the species' status, as of 2014, there is no whale watching location in eastern and mid Atlantic, and oceanic islands feasible to observe right whales regularly. Among these, only off Iceland right whales have been encountered during watching tours (save for expeditions and land-based observations targeting for birds and other faunas), and several observations were made in Iceland during the 2000s.


title: Nagaland Legislative Assembly

text: Nagaland Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of Nagaland. Nagaland became a state of India on 1 December 1963 and after election in January 1964, the first Nagaland Legislative Assembly was formed on 11 February 1964. In 1974, the strength of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly was increased to the present strength of 60 members.


title: Nagaland Legislative Assembly

text: There is no nominated member in the House, all the members are elected on the basis of adult franchise from single-seat constituencies. The normal tenure of the House is five years unless dissolved sooner. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is Kohima, the capital of Nagaland.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The Bank of Scotland plc (Scottish Gaelic: "Banca na h-Alba") is a commercial and clearing bank based in Scotland and is part of the Lloyds Banking Group, following the Bank of Scotland's implosion in 2008. The bank was established by the Parliament of Scotland in 1695 to develop Scotland's trade with other countries, and aimed to create a stable banking system in the Kingdom of Scotland.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: With a history dating to the end of the 17th century, it is the fifth-oldest extant bank in the United Kingdom (the Bank of England having been established one year earlier), and is the only commercial institution created by the Parliament of Scotland to remain in existence. It was one of the first banks in Europe to print its own banknotes, and it continues to print its own sterling banknotes under legal arrangements that allow Scottish banks to issue currency.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: In June 2006, the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006 was passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, allowing the bank's structure to be simplified. As a result, "The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland" became Bank of Scotland plc on 17 September 2007. Bank of Scotland has been a subsidiary of Lloyds Banking Group since 19 January 2009, when HBOS was acquired by Lloyds TSB.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland was established by an Act of the Parliament of Scotland on 17 July 1695, the Act for erecting a Bank in Scotland, opening for business in February 1696. Although established soon after the Bank of England (1694), the Bank of Scotland was a very different institution. Whereas the Bank of England was established specifically to finance defence spending by the English government, the Bank of Scotland was established by the Scottish government to support Scottish business, and was prohibited from lending to the government without parliamentary approval. The founding Act granted the bank a monopoly on public banking in Scotland for 21 years, permitted the bank's directors to raise a nominal capital of £1,200,000 pound Scots (£100,000 pound sterling), gave the proprietors (shareholders) limited liability, and in the final clause (repealed only in 1920) made all foreign-born proprietors naturalised Scotsmen "to all Intents and Purposes whatsoever". John Holland, an Englishman, was one of the bank's founders. Its first chief accountant was George Watson.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The Bank of Scotland was suspected of Jacobite sympathies. Its first rival, the Royal Bank of Scotland, was formed by royal charter in 1727. This led to a period of great competition between the two banks as they tried to drive each other out of business. Although the "Bank Wars" ended in around 1751, competition soon arose from other sources, as other Scottish banks were founded throughout the country. In response, the Bank of Scotland itself began to open branches throughout Scotland.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the bank supervised the reminting of the old Scottish coinage into Sterling. It was one of the first banks in Europe to print its own banknotes, and it continues to print its own sterling banknotes under legal arrangements that allow Scottish banks to issue currency.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The bank also took the lead in establishing the security and stability of the entire Scottish banking system, which became more important after the insolvency of Alexander Fordyce and collapse of the Ayr Bank in 1772, in the crisis following the collapse of the London house of Neal, James, Fordyce and Down.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Henry Dundas was Governor of the Bank of Scotland from 1790 to 1811. As well as governor, he was also Home Secretary in William Pitt the Younger's government. In 1792, Dundas was successful in passing the Slave Trade Bill in the House of Commons.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The bank was housed in the southern (1588) section of the Gourlay house on Melbourne Place before being moved to the customised bank building on the Mound in 1805.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The Western Bank collapsed in 1857, and the Bank of Scotland stepped in with the other Scottish banks to ensure that all the Western Bank's notes were paid. The first branch in London opened in 1865.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: In the 1950s, the Bank of Scotland was involved in several mergers and acquisitions with different banks. In 1955, the Bank merged with the Union Bank of Scotland. The Bank also expanded into consumer credit with the purchase of Chester-based, North West Securities (now Capital Bank). In 1971, the Bank agreed to merge with the British Linen Bank, owned by Barclays Bank. The merger saw Barclays Bank acquire a 35% stake in the Bank of Scotland, a stake it retained until the 1990s.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: In 1959, the Bank of Scotland became the first bank in the UK to install a computer to process accounts centrally. At 11:00 on 25 January 1985, the Bank of Scotland introduced HOBS (Home and Office Banking Services), an early example of remote access technology being made available to banking customers. This followed a small-scale service operated jointly with the Nottingham Building Society for two years but developed by the Bank of Scotland. The new HOBS service enabled customers to access their accounts directly on a television screen, using the Prestel telephone network.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The arrival of North Sea oil to Scotland in the 1970s allowed the Bank of Scotland to expand into the energy sector. The Bank later used this expertise in energy finance to expand internationally. The first international office opened in Houston, Texas, followed by more in the United States, Moscow and Singapore. In 1987, the Bank acquired Countrywide Bank of New Zealand (later sold to Lloyds TSB in 1998). The Bank later expanded into the Australian market by acquiring the Perth-based Bank of Western Australia.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: A controversial period in the Bank's history was the attempt in 1999 to enter the United States retail banking market via a joint venture with evangelist Pat Robertson. The move was met with criticism from civil rights groups in the UK, owing to Robertson's controversial views on homosexuality. The Bank was forced to cancel the deal when Robertson described Scotland as a "dark land overrun by homosexuals".


title: Bank of Scotland

text: In the late 1990s, the UK financial sector market underwent a period of consolidation on a large scale. Many of the large building societies were demutualising and becoming banks in their own right or merging with existing banks. For instance Lloyds Bank and TSB Bank merged in 1995 to create Lloyds TSB. In 1999, the Bank of Scotland made a takeover bid for National Westminster Bank. Since the Bank of Scotland was significantly smaller than the English-based NatWest, the move was seen as an audacious and risky move. However, The Royal Bank of Scotland tabled a rival offer, and a bitter takeover battle ensued, with the Royal Bank the victor.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: The Bank of Scotland was now the centre of other merger opportunities. A proposal to merge with the Abbey National was explored, but later rejected. In 2001, the Bank of Scotland and the Halifax agreed a merger to form HBOS ("Halifax Bank of Scotland").


title: Bank of Scotland

text: In 2006, HBOS secured the passing of the HBOS Group Reorganisation Act 2006, a private Act of Parliament that would allow the group to operate within a simplified structure. The Act allowed HBOS to make the Governor and Company of the Bank of Scotland a public limited company, Bank of Scotland plc, which became the principal banking subsidiary of HBOS. Halifax plc transferred its undertakings to Bank of Scotland plc, and although the brand name was retained, Halifax then began to operate under the latter company's UK banking licence.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Following the implosion of the Bank of Scotland in 2008, HBOS Group agreed to be taken over by Lloyds TSB Group.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Although the Bank of Scotland today is not a central bank, it retains the right (along with two other Scottish commercial banks) to issue pound sterling banknotes to this day. These notes are equal in value to notes issued by the Bank of England, the central bank of the United Kingdom.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Along with the Bank of England, the Bank of Scotland was one of the first European banks to issue paper currency redeemable for cash on demand (which was an extremely useful facility given the poor state of the Scottish coinage at the end of the 17th century) on a sustainable basis after the earlier failed attempt of the Swedish Stockholms Banco in 1661–64. Following the Acts of Union in 1707, the bank supervised the reminting of the old Scottish coinage into Sterling. Up until the middle of the 19th century, privately owned banks in Great Britain and Ireland were permitted to issue their own banknotes, and money issued by provincial Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish banking companies circulated freely as a means of payment.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: In 1826, there was outrage in Scotland at the attempt of the United Kingdom Parliament to prevent the production of banknotes of less than five pounds face value. Sir Walter Scott wrote a series of letters to the "Edinburgh Weekly Journal" under the pseudonym ""Malachi Malagrowther"", which provoked such a response that the government was forced to relent and allow the Scottish banks to continue printing £1 notes.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Bank of Scotland's previous note issue was in 1995, known as the "Tercentenary Series" as they were issued in the year of the three hundredth anniversary of the foundation of the bank. Each denomination features Sir Walter Scott on the front, and on the back are representations of industries that Scotland excels in:


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Few of these notes are still in circulation, although they remain legal currency, and they have been replaced by the 2007 series.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Bank of Scotland began issuing a new series of banknotes in the Autumn of 2007, which feature the common theme of Scottish bridges. It will take at least three years for the current issue of Bank of Scotland notes to be phased out of circulation. In keeping with the bank's tradition, the front of the notes depict an image of Sir Walter Scott; the image on the 2007 series is based on the portrait of Scott painted by Henry Raeburn.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Some new security features have also been added to the new design. These include a metallic security thread embedded in every banknote, which contains the numerical value of the note and the note's bridge image. A new hologram and foil patch has been introduced on the front of the £20, £50 and £100 notes, which features the Bank of Scotland logo and the numerical value of the note.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: On 1 March 2018 the Bank of Scotland decided to withdraw all of its paper £5 and £10 notes, and fully replace them with its polymer equivalents (see below).


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Bank of Scotland began issuing new banknotes on polymer in 2016, beginning with the £5 note. The main theme of the bridges of Scotland are kept for this series, but have been redesigned to incorporate additional design features. The portrait of Sir Walter Scott by Henry Raeburn is the same as the 2007 issues, but have been shifted from the centre to the right side of the notes. The bank's headquarters, "The Mound" is featured at the centre of the note. The size of the notes for this series is also reduced.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Bank of Scotland sponsored the Scottish Premier League from its inception in 1998 to season 2006/2007 when it declined to renew the deal in favour of investing in grassroots sport instead. They also sponsored Scottish Athletics for a number of years.


title: Bank of Scotland

text: Henry Dundas was Governor of the Bank of Scotland from 1790 to 1811. As well as governor, he was also Home Secretary in William Pitt the Younger's government. In 1792 Dundas was successful in passing the Slave Trade Bill in the House of Commons.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is a Lego-themed action-adventure video game developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts and TT Games Publishing. It was released on 11 September 2006. Part of the "Lego Star Wars" series, it is based on the "Star Wars" science fiction media franchise and Lego Group's Lego Star Wars eponymous "Star Wars"-themed toy line. It follows the events of the "Star Wars" films, "A New Hope", "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". The game allows players to assume the roles of over 50 Lego versions of characters from the film series; customized characters can also be created. Camera movement was improved from its predecessor "" and the concept of "vehicle levels" was explored more thoroughly. The game was revealed at American International Toy Fair. Promotions for the game were set up at chain stores across the United States.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: "Lego Star Wars II" was critically and commercially successful; it has sold over 8.2 million copies worldwide as of May 2009. Critics praised the game for its comedic and "adorable" portrayal of the film series and due to preference for the original trilogy over the prequel trilogy. However, the game's low difficulty, and its Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions in general, were received more poorly. The game received awards from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and Spike TV, among others. A mobile phone adaptation, "Lego Star Wars II Mobile", was later developed by Universomo, published by THQ, and released on 19 December 2006. "Lego Star Wars II" and its predecessor were compiled in "", released a year later.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: "Lego Star Wars II"s gameplay is from a third-person perspective, and takes place in a 3D game world that contains objects, environments, and characters designed to resemble Lego pieces. Its gameplay—a combination of the action-adventure, platform, and sometimes puzzle genres—shares elements with that of "" (2005). While "Lego Star Wars" followed the events of "" (1999), "" (2002), and "" (2005), "Lego Star Wars II" is based on "Star Wars" (1977), "The Empire Strikes Back" (1980), and "Return of the Jedi" (1983). The game comically retells the trilogy's events using cutscenes without dialogue. The player assumes the roles of the films' characters, each of whom possesses specific weapons and abilities. At any time, a second player can join the game, by activating a second controller. During gameplay, players can collect Lego studs – small, disk-shaped objects, which serve as the game's currency. The player has a health meter, which is displayed on the game's heads-up display. The player's health is represented by four hearts; when these hearts are depleted, the player dies, and a small amount of their studs bounce away. However, they instantly respawn and can often re-collect the lost studs.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: The game's central location is the Mos Eisley cantina, a spaceport bar on the planet Tatooine. At the counter, the player may use their Lego studs to purchase characters, vehicles, gameplay hints and extras, or activate cheat codes. In a small area outside the cantina, players may view collected vehicles. The game is broken into levels, which are accessed from the cantina; each film is represented by six levels, representing key locations and scenes in that film. The locations include Hoth, Bespin, Dagobah, Tatooine, the Death Star, and Endor. The game also features bonus levels. During levels, the player defeats enemies, builds objects out of Lego bricks, and drives vehicles. Certain levels are played entirely while piloting vehicles, including a TIE fighter, a Snowspeeder, and the Millennium Falcon. Levels must first be played in Story Mode. This unlocks the next level as well as a Free Play mode for the recently completed level. Gameplay is identical in the two modes. However, Story Mode restricts playable characters to those followed in the film scenes the levels are based on, while Free Play-offers all those unlocked. Levels can be replayed in either mode to collect studs and secret items.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: Three types of secret items are available: gold bricks, minikits, and power bricks. Within each level is hidden one power brick. When a power brick is collected, its corresponding extra, such as invincibility or stud multipliers, becomes available for purchase. Each level also contains ten hidden minikits, that is, ten pieces of a "Star Wars" vehicle. When all ten have been collected, the player is awarded a gold brick. Collecting a certain number of gold bricks unlocks free rewards, such as a spigot that spews out studs. Gold bricks are also awarded when levels are completed, and when a predefined number of studs is accumulated in a level; ninety-nine gold bricks are available. The vehicles represented by the minikits are displayed outside the cantina. As each vehicle is completed (all ten minikits collected), it becomes available for play in a bonus level.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: 68 characters from the films are playable over the course of the game, including variations of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, R2-D2, C-3PO, Darth Vader, Wicket the Ewok, and Boba Fett. Character abilities have a greater role in "Lego Star Wars II" than in "Lego Star Wars". Certain characters armed with guns can use a grappling hook in predesignated areas. Characters wielding lightsabers can deflect projectiles, double jump and use the Force. R2-D2, C-3PO, and other droid characters are needed to open particular doors. Small characters like the Ewok and Jawa can crawl through hatches to reach otherwise inaccessible areas. Bounty hunters, such as Boba Fett, may use thermal detonators to destroy otherwise indestructible objects. Sith, like Darth Vader, can use the Force to manipulate black Lego objects. Some characters have unique abilities; for example, Chewbacca can rip enemies' arms from their sockets, Darth Vader can choke enemies with the Force, Princess Leia possesses a slap attack, and Lando Calrissian can use a kung-fu-like attack. Special abilities are often necessary to unlock secrets, and story mode does not always provide characters with needed abilities. This means that some secrets can be found only in free play mode. The player can unlock the "Use Old Save" extra, which imports all unlocked characters from "Lego Star Wars" for use in free play; however, a "Lego Star Wars" saved game must be present on the same memory card that contains "Lego Star Wars II"s save data.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: Players can create two customized characters in the Mos Eisley cantina. These characters can be built using both miscellaneous parts and those of unlocked characters; 2,258,163,204 combinations are possible. Entering two cheat codes, publicized by IGN, makes pieces for a Santa Claus character available. The game generates names for the characters based on the pieces used (for example, a character made from pieces of Darth Vader and C-3PO might have the name "Darth-3PO"); alternately, the player may create a name.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: "Lego Star Wars II" was created by the Cheshire game developer Traveller's Tales. LucasArts – busy with other projects – had deferred publishing of "Lego Star Wars" to Eidos Interactive, but regained the "necessary resources" to publish its sequel alongside TT Games Publishing. "Lego Star Wars II" was created for Microsoft Windows, OS X, Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance (GBA), Nintendo DS, PlayStation Portable (PSP), and Xbox 360. Differences exist between platforms: the DS and GBA versions have some different playable characters than the other versions, and the DS and PSP versions support a "Wireless Lobby" for multiplayer gameplay.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: "Lego Star Wars II" uses a modified "Lego Star Wars" engine. However, many gameplay improvements were made over its predecessor, most notably camera angles and movement. Camera movement in co-op was a specific point of concern, as LucasArts received critical feedback from fans over this issue. Traveller's Tales looked to expand upon the concept of levels completed entirely in vehicles. These "vehicle levels" were explored more thoroughly in "Lego Star Wars II" than in its predecessor. In response to complaints from fans, LucasArts and Traveller's Tales granted the ability to build bricks to all non-droid characters. Character customization, an entirely new concept, was considered a significant improvement over the original game, and is one of three features highlighted on the game's final back cover. Tom Stone, director at Traveller's Tales, stated of the various improvements made over the original game:


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: The designers attempted to recreate the films' characters and events in a "cute" way. Assistant producer Jeff Gullet said that, in the game's recreation of a "Return of the Jedi" scene where Luke Skywalker "jumps off the plank... and somersaults onto the skiff", Skywalker "performs an all-out acrobatic routine with all sorts of jumps from the plank. It's hilarious". LucasArts producer David Perkinson said, "unless you've got the heart of the Emperor, you are going to chuckle at many of [the characters] the first time you see them – you just have to. They're so darn cute!"


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: On 2 February 2006, images of the game were leaked to the Internet. However, they were quickly removed, and LucasArts, if telephoned, did not confirm or deny the game's development. The game was formally announced on 10 February, at American International Toy Fair 2006. A preview was later hosted at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2006. Because the original "Lego Star Wars" had been well received commercially and critically, selling 3.3 million copies by March 2006 and winning several awards, its sequel was highly anticipated both by fans of the original game and by video game publications such as IGN and GameSpot. Shortly before the game's release, promotions were set up at chain stores across the United States, including Toys "R" Us, Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, GameStop, and Circuit City.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: In Europe, "Lego Star Wars II" was released on 11 September 2006, for PC, Xbox, GameCube, GBA, DS, and Xbox 360; on 15 September for PlayStation 2; and on 10 November for PSP. The game's North American release fell on 12 September for all platforms, coinciding with the release of the individual two-disc DVD releases of the films on which it was based. The game's Australian release fell on 15 September for all platforms, but the Xbox 360 version was not released in this region. The OS X version of the game was released in 2007. The PlayStation2 and Nintendo DS versions were the only versions that saw release in Japan, which occurred on 2November 2006. The game received a rating of E10+ from the Entertainment Software Rating Board (for "cartoon violence" and "crude humor"), 3+ from PEGI, and A from CERO.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: A mobile phone adaptation of the game was developed by Universomo and published by THQ. It was released on 19 December 2006. Several gameplay features – such as two-dimensional graphics, limited character selection, and coverage only of the film "Star Wars" — distinguish this version of the game from the versions for other platforms. "Lego Star Wars" and "Lego Star Wars II" were later compiled in "", developed by Traveller's Tales and published by LucasArts. "The Complete Saga" incorporated improvements from the sequel into the original game, and expanded the Mos Eisley cantina to allow access to both games' levels. It was created for Windows, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, and DS. It was released on 6November 2007.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: Upon release, "Lego Star Wars II" was positively received by critics, who praised its portrayal of the films' characters and events. "Nintendo Power" staff writer Chris Shepperd claimed that "[t]he adorable LEGO adaptations also led to some hilarious story moments: the 'I am your father' scene from The Empire Strikes Back is priceless". Reviewers from GameSpy, 1UP.com, GameSpot, IGN, and "" offered similar opinions. Shepperd and "Variety"s Ben Fritz called the game "adorable". In reviews of the Xbox 360 version, "Official Xbox Magazine" praised the game's "off-kilter humor", and "Electronic Gaming Monthly" stated that "[y]ou have to give credit to the brilliant blockhead who forced this awesome yet fundamentally bizarro idea on LucasArts." Jeff Bell, corporate vice president of global marketing for Microsoft, commended "Lego Star Wars II" for expanding the range of consumers for the Xbox 360, noting its family-friendly appeal.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: The game was praised as a result of reviewers' preference of the original trilogy over the prequel trilogy. Andrew Reiner of "Game Informer" said that "comparing [the prequel trilogy] to the films in the original trilogy is similar to comparing Jar Jar Binks to Han Solo". Shepperd praised the level design of "Lego Star Wars II", and called its predecessor's environments "sterile". These views were echoed by reviewers from 1UP.com, "Variety", GameSpot, GameSpy, "Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine" (for the PlayStation2), and "BusinessWeek".


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: Critics were divided on the game's level of difficulty. Fritz claimed that, though "Lego Star Wars II" provided only a "short journey", it was "loads of fun". GameSpots Ryan Davis estimated that it could be completed in six hours, but praised its bonus content. GameSpy and 1UP.com's reviewers thought similarly. A review by "USA Today"s Brett Molina claimed that "[t]he game's difficulty is balanced well enough so kids won't feel too frustrated while older gamers will still find a solid challenge" and gave the game an overall score of 8out of 10. "Official Xbox Magazine"s review praised its "weird puzzles". IGN's Jeremy Dunham and Reiner were more critical of the perceived low difficulty.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: Critics disliked the game's Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS versions. Davis believed that the Game Boy Advance version could be completed in two hours. GameSpy staff writer Phil Theobald bemoaned this version's poor controls, easy levels, and vehicle-piloting sections. He concluded that "for goodness sake, [one should] buy one of the [home] console versions". Theobald, Davis, and IGN's Craig Harris criticized the high number of glitches in the DS version.


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: "Lego Star Wars II" won and was nominated for numerous awards, and ranked on several video game lists. The official "Star Wars" website declared "Lego Star Wars II" to be the best "Star Wars"-related product of 2006. The game won iParenting Media Awards' "2006 Greatest Products Call", and was placed on "Reader's Digest"s September 2006 "5 Things We Don't Want You to Miss" list, "Time" magazine's list of the top ten video games of 2006, and GameSpy's PC "Game of the Year" list. It received the 2006 Game of the Year award from Nick Jr. and IGN (for PC games only). It won Spike TV Video Game Awards 2006's "Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show", and "Best Gameplay" from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts's 3rd British Academy Video Games Awards. It received BAFTA nominations in three other categories, including "Best Game". In contrast, the previously poorly received DS version was listed as one of the "tears" on IGN's September 2009 "Cheers & Tears" list of action games for the DS. The editors of "Computer Games Magazine" named "Lego Star War II" the fifth-best computer game of 2006, and called it "a superb action/adventure, one with [...] an almost puppy dog-like insistence that you love it."


title: Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy

text: "Lego Star Wars II" sold over 1.1million copies worldwide in its opening week. The PlayStation2, GameCube, Xbox 360, and Xbox versions were the third, fifth, eighth, and ninth-best selling games of September 2006, respectively. The GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation2 versions were the third, eighth, and ninth-best selling games of 2006, respectively. All platforms except PC combined, the game was the third-highest selling of 2006 in the United States, behind "Madden NFL 07" and "Cars". All platforms combined, the game was the fifth-highest selling of 2006 in the United Kingdom. The GameCube, GBA, and DS versions were the first, second, and fifth best-selling of January 2007 for their respective platforms. By 2May 2009, the game's worldwide sales had surpassed 8.2 million. It has been certified as part of the budget lines Platinum Hits for the Xbox 360, Greatest Hits for the PlayStation2 (each represents a worldwide sales total of at least 400,000 on its respective platform), and Player's Choice for the GameCube (250,000).


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Pisa Sporting Club, commonly referred to as Pisa, is an Italian football club based in Pisa, Tuscany. The team currently plays in Serie B.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: The club was founded in 1909 as Pisa Sporting Club and refounded in 1994 as Pisa Calcio (and registered in "Eccellenza", the regional football division in Italy), after the cancellation of the former because of economical troubles. It was excluded again from Italian football in 2009, after the property failed to collect enough money to pay off the club's debts. In summer 2009 it was refounded with the denomination A.C. Pisa 1909.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Pisa won two Mitropa Cups, in 1986 and 1988. They play their home matches at Arena Garibaldi - Stadio Romeo Anconetani, named after Romeo Anconetani, the chairman who brought and led the club in Serie A during the 1980s. In 2016, Giuseppe Corrado bought the club and planned the new Pisa stadium. In January 2021, billionaire Alexander Knaster acquired a 75% stake in the club.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: After promotion to Serie B in 1965, Pisa took three years to reach Serie A for the first time. Despite a brave effort, Pisa was relegated on the final day of the 1968–69 season.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Spending much of the 1970s in Serie C, Pisa returned to Serie B in 1979 (by which time the club had come under the presidency of the much-loved Romeo Anconetani) and were promoted to Serie A in 1982, embarking on a period of six out of nine seasons in Serie A. With Danish international Klaus Berggreen among their stars, Pisa managed a credible 11th place in the 1982–83 Serie A with 27 points and 27 goals scored and conceded in 30 games. The following season brought relegation (during which they recorded just 3 wins and 16 draws) with 15,000 fans travelling to Milan for the fateful penultimate game.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Promotion followed in 1985, and the team seemed capable of staying up until losing their last three games. The cycle was repeated in 1987, only for a side containing players like Dunga and Paul Elliott to stay up. The last promotion to Serie A was achieved in 1990, and with the talents of players like Maurizio Neri, Michele Padovano and Lamberto Piovanelli up front and Diego Simeone, Henrik Larsen and Aldo Dolcetti in midfield, the side started well and was briefly atop the standings, only to suffer another relegation.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Relegation brought considerable financial strains to the club, and by 1994 they had lost a relegation play-off and were condemned to Serie C1.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Bankruptcy saw Pisa reformed in Eccellenza, only to return to Serie C2 in 1996 and C1 in 1999. Pisa have since worked towards attaining Serie B status, which was achieved in 2007. Their crowds have been among the better in Italy's lower divisions owing to the dedication of their fans.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: In May 2002 Maurizio Mian's "Gunther Reform Trust" became the owner of Pisa, installing wealthy celebrity German shepherd dog Gunther IV as honorary president. In the 2002–03 Serie C1 season, Pisa reached the play-off final but were defeated in extra-time by UC AlbinoLeffe. President Gunther would attend matches at Arena Garibaldi and bark in support of the team. On one occasion Rival Livorno ultras unfurled a banner bearing the legend: "Poisoned meatballs for Gunther". After two further seasons ended in mid-table finishes, Mian sold Pisa in 2005.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: In 2005–06, the team, initially thought to be a protagonist for the promotion, were in continuous struggles, and avoided relegation after playoffs in two dramatic regional derbies against Massese. The 2006–07 season, with new boss Piero Braglia, brought Pisa back to fight for a promotion spot: the "nerazzurri" ended the regular season in third place, and eventually won the promotion playoffs by defeating Venezia in the semi-finals and Monza in the finals.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: For the 2007–08 Serie B campaign, the first in 13 years, Giampiero Ventura was named to replace Braglia at the helm of the "nerazzurri". Despite initial predictions of a mid-low table place, Pisa's impressive performances brought the team to fight for a direct promotion spot, also thanks to a forward line composed by Alessio Cerci, José Ignacio Castillo and Vitali Kutuzov which proved to be among the finest in the league. The club ended the regular season in sixth place, therefore achieving a spot to the promotion playoffs, where Pisa was later defeated by Lecce.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: In 2008–09, the club was acquired by Rome entrepreneur Luca Pomponi, who initially failed into appointing Alessandro Costacurta as new head coach, thus confirming Ventura as "nerazzurri" boss. The club, which was weakened by the departures of Cerci, Castillo, Kutuzov and several other players, did not manage to repeat its performances, with Ventura being ultimately sacked in March 2009, with the club in mid-table place. The appointment of Bruno Giordano, which was made to improve the team results, however proved to be disappointing in terms of results, as Pisa slowly lost positions in the table, and shockingly got directly relegated in the final game of the season due to an injury-time home defeat to Brescia which left the Tuscans in 18th place. The unexpected relegation also unveiled a number of massive financial issues which prevented the club from registering in the Lega Pro Prima Divisione, and in July 2009 the club was excluded by the Italian Football Federation for the second time in its history.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Pisa has been refounded with the denomination of A.C. Pisa 1909 S.S.D. (in which S.S.D. is a legal suffix required by F.I.G.C.) to start again from Serie D under new ownership. At the end of the season Pisa won Group D () of Serie D and was promoted to Lega Pro Seconda Divisione for the 2010–11 season.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: The team was then admitted to Lega Pro Prima Divisione for the 2010–11 season to fill vacancies created by a row of club exclusions in second and third tier of Italian football league system. Thus the S.S.D. legal suffix was drop and replaced by S.r.l.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: On 12 June 2016 Pisa gained promotion to Serie B after seven years by defeating Maceratese (3–1), Pordenone (3–0 on aggregate) and Foggia in the two-legged play-off final (5–3 on aggregate), however, the club was relegated to Serie C the following season after finishing second-last.


title: Pisa S.C.

text: Having moved back to Serie B in 2019, the club changed back its name to Pisa Sporting Club in the summer of 2021.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Sunbeam Tiger is a high-performance V8 version of the British Rootes Group's Sunbeam Alpine roadster, designed in part by American car designer and racing driver Carroll Shelby and produced from 1964 until 1967. Shelby had carried out a similar V8 conversion on the AC Cobra, and hoped to be offered the contract to produce the Tiger at his facility in the United States. Rootes decided instead to contract the assembly work to Jensen at West Bromwich in England, and pay Shelby a royalty on every car produced.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Two major versions of the Tiger were built: the Mark I (1964–1967) was fitted with the Ford V8; the Mark II, of which only 633 were built in the final year of Tiger production, was fitted with the larger displacement Ford engine. Two prototype and extensively modified versions of the Mark I competed in the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, but neither completed the race. Rootes also entered the Tiger in European rallies with some success, and for two years it was the American Hot Rod Association's national record holder over a quarter-mile drag strip.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Production ended in 1967 soon after the Rootes Group was taken over by Chrysler, which did not have a suitable engine to replace the Ford V8. Owing to the ease and affordability of modifying the Tiger, there are few remaining cars in standard form.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Sunbeam Tiger was a development of the Sunbeam Alpine series I, introduced by the British manufacturer Rootes in 1959. Rootes realised that the Alpine needed more power if it was to compete successfully in world markets, but lacked a suitable engine and the resources to develop one. The company approached Ferrari to redesign the standard inline-four engine, recognising the cachet that "powered by Ferrari" would likely bring. Negotiations initially went well, but ultimately failed.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: In 1962 racing driver and Formula 1 champion Jack Brabham proposed to Rootes competition manager Norman Garrad the idea of fitting the Alpine with a Ford V8 engine, which Garrad relayed to his son Ian, then the West Coast Sales Manager of Rootes American Motors Inc. Ian Garrad lived near Carroll Shelby's Shelby American operation, which had done a similar V8 conversion for the British AC Cobra.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: According to journalist William Carroll, after measuring the Alpine's engine bay with "a 'precision' instrument of questionable antecedents" – a wooden yardstick – Ian Garrad despatched his service manager Walter McKenzie to visit the local new car dealerships, looking for a V8 engine that might fit. McKenzie returned with the news that the Ford 260 V8 engine appeared to be suitable, which apart from its size advantage was relatively light at . Ian Garrad asked Shelby for an idea of the timescale and cost to build a prototype, which Shelby estimated to be eight weeks and $10,000. He then approached Brian Rootes, head of sales for the Rootes Group, for funding and authorisation to build a prototype, to which Brian Rootes agreed.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Ian Garrad, impatient to establish whether the conversion was feasible, commissioned racing driver and fabricator Ken Miles to build another prototype as quickly as he could. Miles was provided with a budget of $800, a Series II Alpine, a Ford V8 engine and a 2-speed automatic transmission, and in about a week he had a running V8 conversion, thus proving the concept.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Shelby began work on his prototype, the white car as it came to be known, in April 1963, and by the end of the month it was ready for trial runs around Los Angeles. Ian Garrad and John Panks, director of Rootes Motors Inc. of North America, tested an early version of the car and were so impressed that Panks wrote a glowing report to Brian Rootes: "we have a tremendously exciting sports car which handles extremely well and has a performance equivalent to an XX-K Jaguar … it is quite apparent that we have a most successful experiment that can now be developed into a production car."


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Provisionally known as the Thunderbolt, the Shelby prototype was more polished than the Miles version, and used a Ford 4-speed manual transmission. The Ford V8 was only 3.5 inches longer than the Alpine's 4-cylinder engine it replaced, so the primary concern was the engine's width. Like Miles, Shelby found that the Ford V8 would only just fit into the Alpine engine bay: "I think that if the figure of speech about the shoehorn ever applied to anything, it surely did to the tight squeak in getting that 260 Ford mill into the Sunbeam engine compartment. There was a place for everything and a space for everything, but positively not an inch to spare."


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: All Rootes products had to be approved by Lord Rootes, who was reportedly "very grumpy" when he learned of the work that had gone into the Tiger project without his knowledge. He agreed to have the Shelby prototype shipped from America in July 1963 for him and his team to assess. He insisted on driving the car himself, and was so impressed that shortly after returning from his test drive he contacted Henry Ford II directly to negotiate a deal for the supply of Ford V8 engines. Rootes placed an initial order for 3000, the number of Tigers it expected to sell in the first year, the largest single order Ford had ever received for its engines from an automobile manufacturer. Not only did Lord Rootes agree that the car would go into production, but he decided that it should be launched at the 1964 New York Motor Show, only eight months away, despite the company's normal development cycle from "good idea" to delivery of the final product being three to four years.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Installing such a large engine in a relatively small vehicle required some modifications, although the exterior sheet metal remained essentially the same as the Alpine's. Necessary chassis modifications included moving from the Burman recirculating ball steering mechanism to a more modern rack and pinion system.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Although twice as powerful as the Alpine, the Tiger is only about 20% heavier, but the extra weight of the larger engine required some minor suspension modifications. Nevertheless, the Tiger's front-to-back weight ratio is very similar to the Alpine's, at 51.7/48.3 front/rear.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Shortly before its public unveiling at the New York Motor Show in April 1964 the car was renamed from Thunderbolt to Tiger, inspired by Sunbeam's 1925 land-speed-record holder.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Shelby had hoped to be given the contract to produce the Tiger in America, but Rootes was uneasy about the closeness of his relationship with Ford, so it was decided to build the car in England. The Rootes factory at Ryton did not have the capacity to build the Tiger, so the company contracted the job to Jensen in West Bromwich. Any disappointment Shelby may have felt was tempered by an offer from Rootes to pay him an undisclosed royalty on every Tiger built.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Jensen was able to assume production of the Tiger because its assembly contract for the Volvo P1800 had recently been cancelled. An additional factor in the decision was that Jensen's chief engineer Kevin Beattie and his assistant Mike Jones had previously worked for Rootes, and understood how the company operated. The first of 14 Jensen-built prototypes were based on the Series IV body shell, which became available at the end of 1963.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Tiger went into production in June 1964, less than a year after completion of the Shelby prototype. Painted and trimmed bodies were supplied by Pressed Steel in Oxfordshire, and the engines and gearboxes directly from Ford in America. Installing the engine required some unusual manufacturing methods, including using a sledgehammer to bash in part of the already primed and painted bulkhead to allow the engine to be slid into place. Jensen was soon able to assemble up to 300 Tigers a month, which were initially offered for sale only in North America. The first few Tigers assembled had to be fitted with a Borg-Warner 4-speed all-synchromesh manual gearbox, until Ford resolved its supply problems and was able to provide an equivalent unit as used in the Ford Mustang.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Several performance modifications were available from dealers. The original 260 CID engine was considered only mildly tuned at , and some dealers offered modified versions with up to for an additional $250. These modifications were particularly noticeable to the driver above , although they proved problematic for the standard suspension and tyres, which were perfectly tuned for the stock engine. A 1965 report in the British magazine "Motor Sport" concluded that "No combination of an American V8 and a British chassis could be happier."


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Production reached 7128 cars over three distinct series. The factory only ever designated two, the Mark I and Mark II, but as the official Mark I production spanned the change in body style from the Series IV Alpine panels to the Series V panels, the later Mark I cars are generally designated Mark IA by Sunbeam Tiger enthusiasts. The Mark II Tiger, fitted with the larger Ford , was intended exclusively for export to America and was never marketed in the UK, although six right-hand drive models were sold to the Metropolitan Police for use in traffic patrols and high-speed pursuits; four more went to the owners of important Rootes dealerships.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: All Tigers were fitted with a single Ford two barrel carburetor. The compression ratio of the larger Mark II engine was increased from the 8.8:1 of the smaller block to 9.3:1. Other differences between the versions included upgraded valve springs (the 260 had developed a reputation for self-destructing if pushed beyond 5000 rpm), an engine-oil cooler, an alternator instead of a dynamo, a larger single dry plate hydraulically operated clutch, wider ratio transmission, and some rear-axle modifications. There were also cosmetic changes: speed stripes instead of chrome strips down the side of the car, a modified radiator grille, and removal of the headlamp cowls. All Tigers were fitted with the same wide steel disc bolt-on wheels as the Alpine IV, and Dunlop RS5 cross-ply tyres. The lack of space in the Tiger's engine bay causes a few maintenance problems; the left bank of spark plugs is only accessible through a hole in the firewall, normally sealed with a rubber bung, and the oil filter was relocated from the lower left on the block to a higher position on the right-hand side, behind the alternator.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Ford V8 as fitted to the Tiger produced @ 4400 rpm, sufficient to give the car a 0– time of 8.6 seconds and a top speed of .


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Girling-manufactured brakes used discs at the front and drums at the rear. The suspension was independent at the front, using coil springs, and at the rear had a live axle and semi-elliptic springs. Apart from the addition of a Panhard rod to better locate the rear axle, and stiffer front springs to cope with the weight of the V8 engine, the Tiger's suspension and braking systems are identical to that of the standard Alpine. The fitting points for the Panhard rod interfered with the upright spare wheel in the boot, which was repositioned to lie horizontally beneath a false floor. The battery was moved from beneath the rear seat to the boot at the same time. The kerb weight of the car increased from the of the standard Alpine to .


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: In 1964, its first year of production, all but 56 of the 1649 Mark I Tigers assembled were shipped to North America, where it was priced at $3499. In an effort to increase its marketability to American buyers the car was fitted with "Powered by Ford 260" badges on each front wing beneath the Tiger logo. The Mark I was unavailable in the UK until March 1965, when it was priced at £1446. It was also sold in South Africa for R3350, badged as the Sunbeam Alpine 260.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Priced at $3842, the Mark II Tiger was little more than a re-engined Mark IA; by comparison, a contemporary V8 Ford Mustang sold for $2898. The larger Ford engine improved the Tiger's 0– time to 7.5 seconds, and increased the top speed to . Officially the Mark II Tiger was only available in the US, where it was called the Tiger II. By the time the Mark II car went into production Chrysler was firmly in charge of Rootes, and the "Powered by Ford" shields were replaced by "Sunbeam V-8" badges.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Rootes had always been insufficiently capitalised, and losses resulting from a damaging thirteen-week strike at one of its subsidiaries, British & Light Steel Pressings, coupled with the expense of launching the Hillman Imp, meant that by 1964 the company was in serious financial difficulties. At the same time, Chrysler was looking for ways to boost its presence in Europe, and so a deal was struck in June 1964 in which Chrysler paid £12.3 million ($34.44 million) for a large stake in Rootes, although not a controlling one. As part of the agreement Chrysler committed not to acquire a majority of Rootes voting shares without the approval of the UK government, which was keen not to see any further American ownership of the UK motor industry. In 1967 Minister of Technology Anthony Wedgewood Benn approached BMH and Leyland to see if they would buy out Chrysler and Rootes and keep the company British, but neither had the resources to do so. Later that year Chrysler was allowed to acquire a controlling interest in Rootes for a further investment of £20 million.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Manufacturing a car powered by a competitor's engine was unacceptable to the new owner, but Chrysler's own 273 small-block V-8 was too large to fit under the Tiger's bonnet without major modifications. Compounding the problem, the company's small-block V8 engines had the distributor positioned at the rear, unlike the front-mounted distributor of the Ford V8. Chrysler's big-block V8 had a front-mounted distributor but was significantly larger. Shortly after the takeover Chrysler ordered that production of the Tiger was to end when Rootes' stock of Ford V8 engines was exhausted; Jensen assembled the last Tiger on 27 June 1967. Chrysler added its pentastar logo to the car's badging, and in its marketing literature de-emphasised the Ford connection, simply describing the Tiger as having "an American V-8 power train".


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Rootes' design director Roy Axe commented later that "The Alpine and Tiger were always oddballs in the [Rootes] range. I think they [Chrysler] didn't understand it, or have the same interest in it as the family cars – I think it was as simple as that."


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Tiger name was resurrected in 1972 when Chrysler introduced the , a limited-edition modified Hillman Avenger intended primarily for rallying.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Three racing Tigers were constructed for the 1964 24 Hours of Le Mans, a prototype and two that were entered in the race. Costing $45,000 each, they were highly modified versions of the production cars, fitted with fastback coupe bodies produced by Lister. But they were still steel monocoques, and made the Le Mans Tigers heavier than a road-going Tiger at , almost more than the winning Ferrari. The standard Ford four-speed manual transmission was replaced with a BorgWarner T10 close-ratio racing transmission, which allowed for a top speed of .


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Both Tigers suffered early mechanical failures, and neither finished the race. The engines had been prepared by Shelby but had not been properly developed, and as a result overheated; Shelby eventually refunded the development cost to Rootes. All three of the Le Mans Tigers have survived.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Once Rootes had made the decision to put the Tiger into production an Alpine IV minus engine and transmission was shipped to Shelby, who was asked to transform the car into a racing Tiger. Shelby's competition Tiger made an early appearance in the B Production Class of Pacific Coast Division SCCA races, which resulted in some "highly successful" publicity for the new car. But Shelby was becoming increasingly preoccupied with development work for Ford, and so the racing project was transferred to the Hollywood Sports Car dealership, whose driver Jim Adams achieved a third-place finish in the Pacific Coast Division in 1965. A Tiger driven by Peter Boulton and Jim Latta finished twelfth overall and first in the small GT class at the 1965 Daytona Continental. The Tiger was also raced on quarter-mile drag strips, and for two years was the American Hot Rod Association's national record holder in its class, reaching a speed of in 12.95 seconds.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Rootes entered the Tiger in European rallies, taking first, second and third places in the 1964 Geneva Rally. Two Tigers took part in the 1965 Monte Carlo Rally, one finishing fourth overall, the highest placing by a front-engined rear-wheel drive car, and the other eleventh. After finally having sorted out the engine overheating problem by fitting a forward-facing air scoop to the bonnet, Rootes entered three Tigers in the 1965 Alpine Rally, one of which crossed the finishing line as outright winner. Scrutineers later disqualified the car however, because it had been fitted with undersized cylinder head valves. By the end of the 1966 Acropolis Rally though, it had become clear that low-slung sports cars such as the Tiger were unsuited to the increasingly rough-terrain rally stages, and the car was withdrawn from competition soon after. In the words of Ian Hall, who drove the Tiger in the Acropolis Rally, "I felt that the Tiger had just had it – it was an out of date leviathan".


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The 1965 Tiger Mark I gained some exposure on American television as the car of choice for Maxwell Smart in the spoof spy series "Get Smart". The Tiger was used for the first two seasons in the opening credits, in which Smart screeched to a halt outside his headquarters, and was used through the remainder of the series in several episodes. Some of the scenes featured unusual modifications such as a retractable James Bond-style machine gun that could not have fitted under the Tiger's bonnet, so rebadged Alpine models were used instead.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: Don Adams, who played the protagonist Maxwell Smart, gained possession of the Tiger after the series ended and later gave it to his daughters; it is reportedly on display at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles. During its early years Rootes advertised the car extensively in "Playboy" magazine and lent a pink Tiger with matching interior to 1965 Playmate of the Year Jo Collins for a year.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: A Tiger Mark 1 is driven by one of the lead characters in the 1965 film "Bunny Lake Is Missing". The V8 engine note is unfamiliar in an English setting but emphasises that the driver is American.


title: Sunbeam Tiger

text: The Tiger also featured in the 2008 film adaptation of the "Get Smart" TV series. A replica Tiger had to be constructed using a stock Sunbeam Alpine and re-created Tiger badging as no available Tiger could be found in Canada, where the film was produced. The production team recorded the sound of an authentic Tiger owned by a collector in Los Angeles and edited it into the film.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: Puccini had long considered writing a set of one-act operas which would be performed together in a single evening, but faced with a lack of suitable subjects and opposition from his publisher, he repeatedly put the project aside. However, by 1916 Puccini had completed the one-act tragedy and, after considering various ideas, he began work the following year on the solemn, religious, all-female opera . , a comedy, completes the triptych with a further contrast of mood. The score combines elements of Puccini's modern style of harmonic dissonance with lyrical passages reminiscent of Rossini, and it has been praised for its inventiveness and imagination.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: When premiered at New York's Metropolitan Opera in December 1918, became an immediate hit, while the other two operas were received with less enthusiasm. This pattern was broadly repeated at the Rome and London premieres and led to commercial pressures to abandon the less successful elements. Although on artistic grounds Puccini opposed performing the three operas except as the original triptych, by 1920 he had given his reluctant consent to separate performances. has subsequently become the most-performed part of and has been widely recorded.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: Gianni Schicchi de' Cavalcanti was a 13th-century Italian knight, a Florentine historical figure mentioned by Dante in the "Inferno," Canto XXX. In that canto, Dante visits the Circle of Impersonators and sees a man savagely attacking another: he is told that the attacker is Schicchi, condemned to Hell for impersonating Buoso Donati and making his will highly favorable to Schicchi.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: The plot used in the opera derives from an 1866 edition of "The Divine Comedy" by philologist Pietro Fanfani, which contained an appendix with a commentary attributed to an anonymous Florentine of the 14th century. In this version, Buoso wishes to make a will, but is put off doing so by his son, Simone. Once it is too late, Simone fears that Buoso, before his illness, may have made a will unfavourable to him. Simone calls on Schicchi for advice, and Schicchi has the idea of impersonating Buoso and making a new will. Simone promises Schicchi he will be well rewarded, but Schicchi takes no chances, "leaving" a considerable sum and Buoso's mule to himself (though most goes to Simone), and makes the bequests conditional on Simone's distributing the estate within fifteen days, otherwise everything will go to charity.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: Both Schicchi and Buoso Donati were historical characters. Dante's verses, and the opera, are based on an actual incident that took place in 13th century Florence. Dante had several reasons for his harsh treatment of Schicchi: Dante's wife, Gemma, was of the Donati family; the poet himself was of pure Florentine descent. He despised members of the peasant class such as Schicchi. Dante's class prejudice displays itself in several episodes in the "Inferno": in one, three noble Florentines, who have died and gone to Hell, ask Dante for news of their home city. A disgusted Dante tells them that the city is now dominated by the "nouveau riche".


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: According to Burton Fisher, Puccini and Forzano borrowed heavily from the tradition in . Schicchi himself recalls the roguish Harlequin, while his daughter Lauretta, whose romance is nearly foiled by Buoso's relatives, resembles Columbina. Simone is drawn from Pantaloon, while the poverty-stricken Betto recalls the buffoonish valet Zanni. Doctor Spinelloccio recalls the classic doctor from the , Balanzone, even to his Bolognese origin. The Moor whose death momentarily scares the relatives, and his captain, are stock characters from .


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: The story takes place in Florence, 1299. As Buoso Donati lies dead in his curtained four-poster bed, his relatives gather round to mourn his passing, but are really more interested in learning the contents of his will. Among those present are his cousins Zita and Simone, his poor-relation brother-in-law Betto, and Zita's nephew Rinuccio. Betto mentions a rumour he has heard that Buoso has left everything to a monastery; this disturbs the others and precipitates a frantic search for the will. The document is found by Rinuccio, who is confident that his uncle has left him plenty of money. He withholds the will momentarily and asks Zita to allow him to marry Lauretta, daughter of Gianni Schicchi, a newcomer to Florence. Zita replies that if Buoso has left them rich, he can marry whom he pleases; she and the other relatives are anxious to begin reading the will. A happy Rinuccio sends little Gherardino to fetch Schicchi and Lauretta.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: As they read, the relatives' worst fears are soon realised; Buoso has indeed bequeathed his fortune to the monastery. They break out in woe and indignation and turn to Simone, the oldest present and a former mayor of Fucecchio, but he can offer no help. Rinuccio suggests that only Gianni Schicchi can advise them what to do, but this is scorned by Zita and the rest, who sneer at Schicchi's humble origins and now say that marriage to the daughter of such a peasant is out of the question. Rinuccio defends Schicchi in an aria ("You're mistaken"), after which Schicchi and Lauretta arrive. Schicchi quickly grasps the situation, and Rinuccio begs him for help, but Schicchi is rudely told by Zita to "be off" and take his daughter with him. Rinuccio and Lauretta listen in despair as Schicchi announces that he will have nothing to do with such people. Lauretta makes a final plea to him with ("Oh, my dear papa"), and he agrees to look at the will. After twice scrutinizing it and concluding that nothing can be done, an idea occurs to him. He sends his daughter outside so that she will be innocent of what is to follow.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: First, Schicchi establishes that no one other than those present knows that Buoso is dead. He then orders the body removed to another room. A knock announces the arrival of the doctor, Spinelloccio. Schicchi conceals himself behind the bed curtains, mimics Buoso's voice, and declares that he is feeling better; he asks the doctor to return that evening. Boasting that he has never lost a patient, Spinelloccio departs. Schicchi then unveils his plan in the aria ("Run to the notary"); having established in the doctor's mind that Buoso is still alive, Schicchi will disguise himself as Buoso and dictate a new will. All are delighted with the scheme, and importune Schicchi with personal requests for Buoso's various possessions, the most treasured of which are "the mule, the house and the mills at Signa". A funeral bell rings, and everyone fears that the news of Buoso's death has emerged, but it turns out that the bell is tolling for the death of a neighbour's Moorish servant. The relatives agree to leave the disposition of the mule, the house and the mills to Schicchi, though each, in turn, offers him a bribe. The women help him to change into Buoso's clothes as they sing the lyrical trio ("Undress, little boy"). Before taking his place in the bed, Schicchi warns the company of the grave punishment for those found to have falsified a will: exile from Florence together with the loss of a hand.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: The notary arrives, and Schicchi starts to dictate the new will, declaring any prior will null and void. To general satisfaction, he allocates the minor bequests, but when it comes to the mule, the house and the mills, he orders that these be left to "my devoted friend Gianni Schicchi". Incredulous, the family can do nothing while the lawyer is present, especially when Schicchi slyly reminds them of the penalties that discovery of the ruse will bring. Their outrage when the notary leaves is accompanied by a frenzy of looting as Schicchi chases them out of what is now his house.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: Meanwhile, Lauretta and Rinuccio sing a love duet, , as there is no bar to their marriage since Schicchi can now provide a respectable dowry. Schicchi, returning, stands moved at the sight of the two lovers. He turns to the audience and asks them to agree that no better use could be found for Buoso's wealth: although the poet Dante has condemned him to hell for this trick, Schicchi asks the audience to forgive him in light of "extenuating circumstances."


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: The one-act opera genre had become increasingly popular in Italy following the 1890 competition sponsored by publisher Edoardo Sonzogno for the best such work, which was won by the young Pietro Mascagni's . With essentially completed by November 1899, Puccini sought a new project. Among sources he considered, before proceeding with "Madama Butterfly", were three works by French dramatist Alphonse Daudet that Puccini thought might be made into a trilogy of one-act operas.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: After "Butterfly" premiered in 1904, Puccini again had difficulty finding a new subject. He further considered the idea of composing three one-act operas to be performed together but found his publisher, Giulio Ricordi, firmly opposed to such a project, convinced that it would be expensive to cast and produce. The composer then planned to work with his longtime librettist, Giuseppe Giacosa, on an opera about Marie Antoinette, a project frustrated by the librettist's illness. Puccini wrote in November 1905, "Will we go back to it? ["Maria Antonietta"] If I find three one-act works that suit me, I'll put off "M.A."" Puccini pursued neither project, as Giacosa's illness led to his death in September 1906.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: In March 1907, Puccini wrote to Carlo Clausetti, Ricordi's representative in Naples, proposing three one-act operas based on scenes from stories by Russian novelist Maxim Gorky. By May the composer had set aside this proposal to concentrate on the project which became , although he did not wholly abandon the idea of a multiple-opera evening. His next idea in this vein, some years later, was for a two-opera bill, one tragic and one comic; he later expanded this to include a third opera with a mystic or religious tone. By November 1916 Puccini had completed the "tragic" element, which became , but he still lacked ideas for the other two works. He considered staging in combination with his own early work , or with other two-act operas which might be used to round out the evening's entertainment. Finally, librettist Giovacchino Forzano presented the composer with two works of his own, which became and . The latter would be Puccini's first setting of a comic text; although his earlier operas, for example , contain comic episodes, these are merely ancillary to the drama to provide contrast.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: I sent the libretto of to Maestro Puccini some days ago. He has declared himself – kind as he is – very satisfied ... I have also finished a brief outline of a plot based on . You know the Maestro's opinion of this subject, which is rich in possibilities and whose comic nature is quite out of the ordinary.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: In fact, Puccini was at first less than enthusiastic about the idea for this comic opera – Florence as a setting did not appeal to him, and he feared the public would have little interest in the subject. However, he soon became interested and did some work on the piece even while composing . The religious-themed opera was completed in September 1917, and Puccini turned his full attention to , although the war news and the 1918 influenza pandemic, in which Puccini lost a sister, distracted him from his work. The first draft was completed on 20 April 1918, and Puccini continued to refine and orchestrate it through the summer of 1918.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: With the trilogy complete, Puccini had to decide on a place for the premiere. In 1918, travel was risky and uncertain. Puccini received an offer from Buenos Aires which he refused, unwilling to have so complex a work first performed overseas in his absence. He finally agreed that the premiere could take place at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, without his being there, on the basis of performing instructions which he supplied to the conductor. proved to be the last opera completed by Puccini.


title: Gianni Schicchi

text: was first performed at the Metropolitan Opera on 14 December 1918, with Roberto Moranzoni conducting, as the final part of . While the sold-out house showed polite enthusiasm for and , was, in the words of the "New-York Tribune"s critic, "received with uproarious delight". In the "Evening Sun", W.J. Henderson called it "one of the most delightful bits ever put upon the Met stage". The undoubted "pearl of the evening", he said, was Lauretta's aria which, despite a public notice forbidding encores, was repeated through popular insistence. The only singer to appear in all three works was American soprano Marie Tiffany, who played one of the lovers in , a lay sister in , and Nella in . was performed at the Met's Philadelphia opera house on 17 December with the same cast, before returning to New York for five more performances during the 1918/19 season.