title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: Annapurna is mentioned in Hindu religious texts such as the "Rudrayamala", "Sivarahasya", "Annapurnamantratsava", "Maha Tripurasiddhanta", "Annapurna Kavacha", "Annapurnahavamti", "Annapurnamalininaksatramalika," and "Bhairvahyantantra". The "Kumara Sambhavam" by Kalidasa makes vivid mention about Varanasi and the deity Annapurna. The goddess is also described as the source of knowledge and the main deity in the Annapurna Upanishad, which is considered a minor Upanishad among the 108 Upanishads. In this text, praying to Annapurna is the means by which the sage Ribhu attains knowledge.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: The "Devi Bhagavata" written during the 3rd and 4th centuries CE refers to Annapurna as the goddess of Kanchipuram and Vishalakshi as the goddess of Varanasi. The "Skanda Purana," written during the 7th century, states the sage Vyasa was led to Varanasi by a curse, and Annapurna came as a housewife and offered him food. The "Linga Purana" mentions that Shiva was begging for food for his children as he could not get food in the world due to a miracle created by his consort Parvati. Parvati came out as Annapurna and offered food to Shiva at his doorsteps. The legend of Kasi Viswanath Temple in Varanasi is associated with the story that Shiva built the temple there in her honour. Adi Sankara (8th century), the proponent of the Advaita school of Hinduism, has written "Annapurna Stotra", a book glorifying the deity.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: The mention of Annapurna is also found in "Kumara Sambhava", a Telugu literature, by Nannechola, a Shaiva poet of the 12th century. There is also a mention of the deity in "Kasikhanda" by Srinatha, a Telugu poet of the 13th century.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: One day, the god Shiva and his consort Parvati got into an argument about the material world. Shiva said that everything materialistic was just an illusion, including the food that the humans ate. This infuriated Parvati, who governs materialistic aspects. To show Shiva and the world her importance, she disappeared, saying that she wanted to see how the world would survive without her.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: With Parvati's disappearance, the world was deprived of food, and there occurred a famine. Shiva's followers begged him for food; even the Gods were forced to beg for food, but could not find any food. Finally, Shiva and his followers realised that there was only one kitchen on earth, in the city of Varanasi (Kashi), where food was still available.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: Shiva went to Kashi to beg for food. To his surprise, the kitchen was owned by his wife Parvati, but in the form of Annapurna. She wore celestial purple and brown garments, which were lightly adorned with ornaments. She was seated on a throne, serving and distributed food to the starving gods and hungry inhabitants of the earth. Annapurna offered her food as alms to Shiva and made him realize that as Brahman, Shiva might have outgrown hunger; but his followers had not.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: There is also another legend from the southern Indian states that the Shiva was cured of a curse of bharamahatidosha (for removing one of Lord Bhrama's five heads) after getting food from the hands of Devis(Saraswathi, Lakshmi, Parvathi). The skull of Bhrama deva stuck to the hands of lord Shiva, hence the name Kapalieshwara. It fell from his hands after he was offered food from Annapurani Devis' hand. Hence all tri-devi goddesses are called Annapurani devis.


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: Food is considered sacred in Hinduism, and prayers are offered before consuming it. The person who identifies the importance of "Annam" (food) within the five layers of the body helps carry life in the worldly process and subsequently seeks to identify Brahman, the enlightenment. Annadana, the donation of food, is highly praised in Hinduism. The importance of Annadana is prescribed in the "Vishnu Dharamottara", "Agni Purana", "Padma Purana", "Kurma Purana", "Nandi Purana," and "Vayu Purana".


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: Annapurna is worshipped through the recitation of her thousand names and her one hundred and eight names. The "Sri Annapurna Ashtakam" composed by Shankaracharya is chanted by several devout Hindus around the world as a prayer for nourishment, wisdom, and renunciation. Before partaking of any food, Hindus chant the following prayer:


title: Annapurna (goddess)

text: In Marathi weddings, the bride is given metal idols of goddess Annapurna and Bala Krishna by her mother. She worships them before the wedding, by offering rice and grains to the idols. This Viddhi (custom) is known as Gauri Harap. She also takes images of her husband's house and places the idols on them.


title: Ozan Tufan

text: Ozan Tufan (born 23 March 1995) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Hull City and the Turkey national team. His primary position is holding midfielder but he can also play as both right back and also right winger.


title: Ozan Tufan

text: On 19 August 2021, Tufan left Turkey for the first time in his career when he joined newly promoted Premier League club Watford on a season-long loan deal with the option to buy. On 2 February 2022, the loan was terminated early with Tufan returning to Turkey having only made nine appearances in all competitions. Following his return, Watford's Academy Manager, Omer Riza, talked about Tufan's struggle to adapt to the pace of the Premier League.


title: Ozan Tufan

text: On 1 July 2022, Tufan signed for Championship club Hull City for an undisclosed fee. Tufan signed a three-year deal with the club holding the option for a further year. Tufan made his debut on 30 July 2022 in the home match against Bristol City and scored a penalty to level the score.


title: Ozan Tufan

text: Tufan played for the Turkey national under-19 team, which won the silver medal at the 2013 Mediterranean Games in Mersin, Turkey. He also represented his country at the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.


title: Ozan Tufan

text: On 3 September 2014, Tufan scored his first goal, a long range shot against Denmark National Football Team in a friendly game at 90th minute. Turkey won the game 2–1. In a post-match interview about the game he replied " I had the ball in front of me and right when I was about to kick it, I heard Arda Turan backing me to shoot. I initially had the scare of hitting my shot off-range, on such an important moment; but I kept my composure and hit the ball right after. I want to thank Fatih Terim for giving me this chance, I think I've done the best I could today."


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: The Starry Plough banner () is a flag which was originally used by the Irish Citizen Army, a socialist Irish republican movement, and subsequently adopted by other Irish political organizations.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: The original Starry Plough was designed by William H. Megahy, though the concept may have originated with George William Russell, for the Irish Citizen Army and showed silver stars on a green background. The flag depicts an asterism (an identified part) of the constellation Ursa Major, called "The Plough" (or "Starry Plough") in Ireland and Britain, the "Big Dipper" in North America, and various other names worldwide. Two of the Plough's seven stars point to Polaris, the North Star. James Connolly, co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army with Jack White and James Larkin, said the significance of the banner was that a free Ireland would control its own destiny from the plough to the stars.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: The sword as the ploughshare is also a biblical reference in Isaiah 2:3-4. In the bible verse, God pushes his followers to turn their weapons into tools, turning the means for war into the means for peace. The marriage of Catholic tradition, the biblical reference being integral to the flag’s design, with socialist concepts, like the working class and the oppressor forcing them to take up their plowshares as arms, leaves the Starry Plough flag with complexity and nuanced implications, which culminate in a very wide range of interpretations.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: The original Starry Plough was unveiled on 5 April 1914 and flown over the Imperial Hotel by the Irish Citizen Army during the 1916 Easter Rising. The 1916 flag is on display at the National Museum, Collins Barracks, in Dublin.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: At public performances of "The Plough and the Stars", the Seán O'Casey play which takes its name from the flag, riots were known to break out when the Starry Plough appeared.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: During the 1930s the design changed to a blue banner which was designed by members of the Republican Congress, and was adopted as the emblem of the Irish Labour movement, including the Irish Labour Party. Labour adopted the rose as its official emblem in 1991 but continued to use the Starry Plough for ceremonial occasions, and in 2021 the party reverted to using the Starry Plough as their primary symbol (this time with white stars on a red background). It is also used by Irish republicans and has been carried alongside the Irish tricolour and Irish provincial flags and the sunburst flag, as well as the red flag at Provisional IRA, Continuity IRA, Real IRA, Official IRA, Irish People's Liberation Organisation and Irish National Liberation Army rallies and funerals.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: The flag, and alternative versions of it, are also used by "Saoradh," "Éirígí", the Connolly Youth Movement, Republican Sinn Féin, Labour Youth, Ógra Shinn Féin, Communist Party of Ireland, the Republican Socialist Youth Movement, and socialist Celtic F.C. supporters. In the past it was used by the Sligo/Leitrim Independent Socialist Organisation before it merged with the Irish Labour Party. The flag was draped on the coffin of the Independent TD Tony Gregory during his funeral.


title: Starry Plough (flag)

text: The older banner featuring the plough is still occasionally used today by the Irish Republican Socialist Party, Sinn Féin, the Workers' Party of Ireland (formerly known as "Official Sinn Féin") and many other socialist republican parties.


title: 5-over-1

text: 5-over-1, also known as a one-plus-five, or a podium building, is a type of multi-family residential building commonly found in urban areas of North America. The mid-rise buildings are normally constructed with four or five wood-frame stories above a concrete podium (usually for retail or resident amenity space). The name derives from the maximum permissible five floors of combustible construction (Type III or Type V) over a fire-resistive Type I podium of one floor for "5-over-1" or two floors for "5-over-2", as defined in the United States-based International Building Code (IBC) Section 510.2. Some sources instead attribute the name to the wood framing of the upper construction; the International Building Code uses "Type V" to refer to non-fireproof structures, including those framed with dimensional lumber.


title: 5-over-1

text: The style of buildings originated with the work of architect Tim Smith in Los Angeles, who took advantage of a change in construction code allowing the use of fire-retardant treated wood (FRTW) to construct buildings up to five stories. From this he saw that what became the "Five-Over-One" model would bring the construction costs down substantially, making a 100-unit affordable housing project financially viable.


title: 5-over-1

text: The style took root in New York and other dense cities in the American Northeast following the revisions in the 2000 IBC edition, and it exploded in popularity in the 2010s, following a 2009 revision to IBC, which allowed up to five stories of wood-framed construction.


title: 5-over-1

text: The first recorded example of 5-over-1 construction is an affordable housing apartment building in Los Angeles built in 1996. The wood-framed 5-over-1 style is popular due to its high density and relatively lower construction costs compared to steel and concrete. 5-over-1 buildings often feature secure-access interior hallways with residential units on both sides, which favors a U, E, C, or right-angle building shape. The exteriors of 5-over-1 buildings often contain flat windows, rainscreen cladding, and Hardie board cement fiber panels.


title: 5-over-1

text: These buildings are also sometimes called a Wrap or Texas Doughnut, which describes a multifamily building which is wrapped around a parking garage in the center. This style is common in areas with higher minimum parking requirements.


title: 5-over-1

text: The 5-over-1 style of buildings are often criticized for their high fire risk when under construction, as well as their blandness. Some cities and jurisdictions have considered additional regulations for multi-story wood-framed structures. After an under construction apartment complex burned to the ground in downtown Waltham, Massachusetts, the city council voted 14-0 to request that the state to reevaluate the building code for 5-over-1 buildings. The borough of Edgewater, New Jersey, introduced a resolution calling on the state of New Jersey to enact stricter fire safety regulations for wood-framed buildings following a large fire that occurred in the wood-framed Avalon at Edgewater apartments in 2015.


title: 5-over-1

text: The 5-over-1 style of apartment buildings are also often negatively associated with gentrification, due to the popularity of the building style in neighborhoods affected by development-induced displacement. However, the construction of new high-density housing such as 5-over-1-style apartments have been shown to have a positive effect on slowing rising housing costs and displacement.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm-Grozon, Marquis de Montcalm de Saint-Veran (28 February 1712 – 14 September 1759) was a French soldier best known as the commander of the forces in North America during the Seven Years' War (whose North American theatre is also referred to as the French and Indian War).


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Montcalm was born near Nîmes in France to a noble family, and entered military service early in life. He saw service in the War of the Polish Succession and the War of the Austrian Succession, where his distinguished service led to promotion to brigadier general. In 1756 King Louis XV sent him to New France to lead its defence against the British in the Seven Years' War. Montcalm met with notable successes in 1756, 1757 and 1758, but British mobilisation of large numbers of troops against New France led to military setbacks in 1758 and 1759 (when, in January, he was promoted to lieutenant general), culminating in Montcalm's death at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Montcalm's service in New France was marked by conflict between himself and the Governor General of the colony, Pierre de Rigaud, marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial. These men were the leaders of the war effort in New France during the Seven Years' War.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Montcalm is a controversial figure among military historians, some of whom have strongly criticized his decisions at Quebec. However, he has also been much memorialized, especially in France, Quebec and parts of New York and Lower Michigan.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Louis-Joseph was the son of Marie-Thérèse de Pierre and Louis-Daniel de Montcalm, of the House of Montcalm, a family of the 'Noblesse de Robe' of Nîmes, at the family residence, the Chateau de Candiac, near Nîmes in southern France. He joined the French Army in 1721 as an ensign in the Régiment d'Hainault. On the death of his father in 1735, he became the Marquis de Saint-Veran, inheriting the honours, rights, and debts of that position. His finances improved soon after by his marriage to Angelique Louise Talon du Boulay. Despite a marriage arranged for money and influence, they were a devoted couple. They made their home at Candiac and had a large number of children of whom five survived to adulthood.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: His father purchased a captaincy for him in 1729 and he served in the War of the Polish Succession, seeing action at the 1733 Siege of Kehl and the 1734 Siege of Philippsburg. When the War of the Austrian Succession broke out in 1740 his regiment was stationed in France, so Montcalm, seeking action, took a position as an aide-de-camp to Philippe Charles de La Fare. Montcalm and François Gaston de Lévis (who later served under him in New France) were both in the Siege of Prague. He was promoted to Colonel of the Régiment d'Auxerrois in 1743. He took part in Marshal de Maillebois' Italian campaigns, where he was awarded the Order of Saint Louis in 1744 and taken prisoner in the 1746 Battle of Piacenza after receiving five sabre wounds while rallying his men. He was released on parole after several months' imprisonment, and promoted to Brigadier for his actions during the 1746 campaign. After prisoner exchanges made possible his return to active service, he joined the Italian campaign again in 1747. He was wounded again by a musket ball in the Battle of Assietta, and assisted in raising the Siege of Ventimiglia in October. When Marshal Belle-Isle retired that winter, his army was left under the command of its brigadiers, including Montcalm. The war came to an end in 1748 with the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1749 he was awarded a rare opportunity to raise a new regiment in peacetime; the Regiment de Montcalm was a cavalry regiment that Montcalm occasionally inspected.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: When the Seven Years' War spread to New France, King Louis XV sent Brigadier General Montcalm to the colonies as Commander-in-Chief, with Colonel Chevalier de Levis now as his second-in-command and Capitaine Louis Antoine de Bougainville as his new aide-de-camp.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Upon Montcalm's arrival in Montreal, he was immediately apprised of the situation along the border with British North America. Concerned by the number of British troops amassing near the border, Montcalm left to visit Fort Carillon to inspect the defenses while the governor general, Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial, began to prepare troops at Fort Frontenac for a potential assault on Oswego, a British fort across Lake Ontario. Montcalm's assemblage of troops at Fort Carillon distracted the attention of the British, and upon receiving positive reports from scouts, Vaudreuil and Montcalm decided to make an approach and try to take the fort. When Montcalm returned to Fort Frontenac, he found a force of 3,500 men assembled, being regular French troops, Canadian militia, and Native Americans. On August 9, the forces crossed the lake and rapidly besieged the British fort. By the morning of August 13, the French had set up nine cannons and began to fire towards the fort while reinforcements surrounded the opposite side. The British commander was killed during the offensive, and the fort was quickly surrendered soon thereafter. 1,700 prisoners were taken, including 80 officers, as well as money, military correspondence, food provisions, guns, and boats, and the fort burnt and razed to the ground. Montcalm's first victory in North America came relatively quickly and easily, and signified to the British that the French now had a capable general heading their army. Despite the victory, Montcalm held reservations concerning the offensive strategy employed by Vaudreuil, and questioned the military value of the Canadian militias. This marked the beginning of the increasingly antagonistic relationship between Vaudreuil and Montcalm.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: The following year, Montcalm achieved his greatest military success to date with the taking of Fort William Henry. Vaudreuil drew up plans for Montcalm that ordered him to march south and take the British bases south of Lake Champlain, Fort William Henry and Fort Edward a few miles further south. From Fort Carillon, Montcalm and a force of 6,200 regulars and militia, along with 1,800 natives set upon Fort William Henry on 3 August 1757. The fort was besieged for three days before surrender. Under the terms of the surrender, the garrison was to be escorted back to Fort Edward, where they would be barred from serving against the French for 18 months, and all British prisoners were to be returned to the French, who also kept all the stores and ammunition. However, as the garrison left Fort William Henry, they were attacked by natives, and nearly 200 of the 2,000 prisoners were either taken or killed, breaching the terms of surrender. Montcalm decided not to advance on to Fort Edward despite the demoralization of the British forces and the proximity of the fort, claiming the road was too bad for his heavy guns and that the garrison would be reinforced before they arrived. This decision infuriated Vaudreuil, furthering the deterioration of their relationship.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: In July 1758, Vaudreuil sent Montcalm to block a British push near Fort Carillon, on Lake Champlain. The British force gathering under Major-General James Abercrombie was much larger than expected, with 6,000 British regulars and 9,000 provincial militiamen. On July 5, the British began to set upon the fort, but the killing of the British second-in-command held them up long enough for Canadian reinforcements to arrive and bring Montcalm's total force to over 3,600. Despite the relative insecurity of this particular fort and the overwhelming number of enemy troops, the French were able to hold the garrison due a series of costly errors by the British general Abercrombie. By not waiting to bring up his heavy guns to blast the weak wooden defenses and failing to capitalize on a major flaw in the French lines, which would have allowed the British troops to easily outflank the garrison, Abercrombie enabled the French to sustain steady musket fire and hold off the attack. The battle was a major success for the French and a major setback for the British, and greatly added to the reputation of Montcalm, who boasted of his victory and often exaggerated his claims in writings back to France while disparaging the efforts of the Canadian and native fighters. Montcalm also accused Vaudreuil of purposely sending his troops, and Montcalm specifically, into a slaughter based on the size of the respective forces, a claim quickly refuted by Vaudreuil, who subsequently requested that Montcalm be recalled to France and that the Chevalier de Lévis be appointed to succeed him.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: In the second half of 1758, the British began to take the upper hand in North America, due in part to the massive resources they organized against the French and in part to the lack of reinforcements and supplies from France to support its colony, which was already on the brink of starvation following a catastrophic harvest. Louis XV therefore ordered the colony to reduce its defensive perimeter to the valley of the Saint Lawrence River, evacuating all forts in Ohio along with those around Lake Ontario and Lake Champlain. The French Minister of War nonetheless expressed his full support to Montcalm, confident that despite the odds, he would find a way to frustrate the enemy's plans, as he had done at Fort Carillon. This news, along with the threat of impending attack by the British, crushed Montcalm's spirit, who had lost all hope of holding the city in case of a siege.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Wolfe's forces reached Quebec in late June, 1759, and taking position on the opposite shore, started bombarding the city on July 12, reducing the city to rubble over the course of two months. Montcalm, on many occasions, managed to repel attempted landings by the British forces, most notably at the Battle of Beauport, on 31 July 1759. After spending the month of August ravaging the countryside, the British would once again attempt a landing on September 13, this time at l'Anse au Foulons, catching the French off guard. Before Montcalm could react, Wolfe's forces had already reached the plains outside the city, and were ready for battle.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: In a decision largely considered to be Montcalm's greatest mistake, the general decided to attack the British with what forces he had rather than wait for the forces garrisoned along the shore to come and bolster his numbers. The marquis believed that if he allowed the British to fortify their position, he would not be able to defeat them, and the attack therefore could not wait. In the ensuing Battle of the Plains of Abraham, the French forces were defeated.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: While riding back towards the city, General Montcalm was hit in the back by musket shot. Assisted by three soldiers, he regained the city, where he was taken before a surgeon, who announced Montcalm would not live through the night. During the afternoon, the general drew on his last reserves of strength and signed his last official act as commander of the French army in Canada. In a letter addressed to General Wolfe, who unbeknownst to him had also fallen in battle, Montcalm attempted to surrender the city, despite the fact he did not hold the authority to do so. He died at around 5:00 am on 14 September 1759. At 8:00 am, he was buried in a shell hole under the choir of the Ursuline church. On October 11, 2001, the remains of Montcalm were removed from the Ursuline convent and placed into a newly built mausoleum in the cemetery of the Hôpital-Général de Québec.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Montcalm's service in New France was marked by conflict with the Governor General of the colony, Pierre de Rigaud, Marquis de Vaudreuil-Cavagnial. The sources of the conflict were twofold.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: Firstly, Montcalm and Vaudreuil represented distinct martial services. Montcalm was a soldier in the army ("troupes de terres"), while Vaudreuil was a marine in the navy ("compagnies franches de la marine"). That meant that the former reported to the Ministry of War, but the latter reported to the Naval Ministry. According to the historian Christian Crouch, "Separate ministries meant separate career networks, separate routes to power, and separate patrons... Jealously protective of their spheres of influence, the leaders of the war effort…were soon at odds." That led Montcalm to keep writing to the Minister of War, Comte d'Argenson, to complain about Vaudreuil's relative inexperience as a military strategist, among other things, in the hope of replacing him as chief strategist. Similarly, Vaudreuil would consistently write to the minister of the navy to complain about Montcalm's insubordination in the hope of having him replaced; Montcalm having been made subordinate to the former by the royal council in the hope of avoiding any disagreements over strategy, despite otherwise holding equivalent ranks. Thus, the first source of conflict between Montcalm and Vaudreuil was very much personal.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: However, the historian Guy Frégault, on the conflict between Montcalm and Vaudreuil, has said, "The conflict has been the subject of much debate. But the division that split the high command was more than a personal quarrel. It involved societies – and what it is that causes societies to arm themselves to endure." Thus, the second source of conflict between Montcalm and Vaudreuil was that they represented distinct societies and martial cultures. Montcalm represented the culture of the French metropolitan officer, and Vaudreuil represented that of the Canadian colonial officer. The culture of the French metropolitan officer led Montcalm and others like him to see the Seven Years' War in terms of a defence of their own and their kingdom's honour, regardless of what it meant for New France. Conversely, the culture of the Canadian colonial officer led Vaudreuil and others like him to interpret the war in terms of a defence of the territorial integrity of New France and thus its very existence.


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: The differences in interpretation led to differences in opinion about how the war should be waged. Montcalm was of the opinion that "colonial methods had had their day, and now war was established 'on a European footing, with planned campaigns, armies, artillery, sieges, battles...'" Waging the war that way would ensure the preservation and extension of French military honour, which was of particular importance to the king and his government after the loss of Fort Beauséjour at the outset of the war. Conversely, Vaudreuil was of the opinion that the war should be waged as based on established "colonial methods," which meant extending fortifications consistently repelling British incursions, "defending the soil of our frontiers foot by foot against the enemy," fighting defensively, raiding extensively, and (most importantly) securing and relying heavily on Native participation. Montcalm was particularly disparaging of the last method since he thought that it would diminish French honour. Some French metropolitan officers saw Native military methods as boundlessly cruel and scalping as particularly revolting. After his victory at Carillon, he even went as far as saying to a delegation of Native leaders, "You have come at a time when I have no more need of you. Have you only come to see dead bodies? Go behind the fort and you will find them. I do not need you to defeat the English."


title: Louis-Joseph de Montcalm

text: The conflict between Montcalm and Vaudreuil would be largely solved or at least rendered irrelevant when, in 1758, the former was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, thus outranking the latter, and acquiring a virtually free hand in the determination of military strategy.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Oluremi Tinubu (born 21 September 1960) is a Nigerian politician who served as the first lady of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and is currently a senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District at the Nigerian National Assembly. She is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) political party.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Oluremi Tinubu was born on 21 September 1960, she is the youngest of 12 children in her family, she hails from Ogun State.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Tinubu started her educational career at Our Lady of Apostles Secondary School Ijebu-Ode where she obtained her West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Exam (WASSCE) in 1979, and PGD from The Redeemed Christian bible college in 2010


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Tinubu received a B.S. in Education from the University of Ife, and a National Certificate of Education in Botany and Zoology from the Adeyemi College of Education.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: She became the first lady of Lagos State when her husband, Bola Tinubu, was elected as governor. As first lady, she established the New Era Foundation, dedicated to establishing centres for "all round development of young ones and promote public awareness on environmental health and community service."


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: When Tinubu was elected, it was challenged at the Legislative House Election Petition Tribunal - which later convened and upheld the election in 2012.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Tinubu was one of over 100 senators elected in the 8th assembly in 2015. Six of these were women. The others were Stella Oduah and Uche Ekwunife, who both represent Anambra, Fatimat Raji Rasaki, Rose Okoji Oko and Binta Garba. At the 2019 general elections, she retained her senatorial seat representing Lagos Central, making it her third tenure in office


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Senator Tinubu in 2016 requested adequate security from the Inspector General of Police as a result of an alleged threat of assault by colleague and fellow party member Dino Melaye during a senate closed-door session.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: She was listed alongside Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Tony Elumelu and other prominent people for the Eko Excellence Awards in 2019.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: In 2020, she called for the creation of state police as a way of tackling the rising spate of insecurity in the country.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: In March 2021, Senator Tinubu proposed a bill to reform the Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST) to make it a more viable entity. She also received the award for the most impactful female senator at The Guardian organized International Women's Day Summit 2021.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: She has won several awards and received several honors, the awards and honors she received are: National award of the Officer of the Order of the Niger [OON], Member, Board of Trustees of Kings’ University, Ode-Omu; Ghana Noble International Award for Leadership (2004), Gambian Diamond Award for Immense Contribution to the Emancipation of People from Poverty (2005)


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: She is married to former Governor and Senator of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu. She is a Christian. and is an ordained pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.


title: Oluremi Tinubu

text: Her ordination took place in 2018 at the Old Arena of RCCG, Lagos/Ibadan Expressway where the church held its 66th annual convention themed “Dominion”. She is also Grand Matron of the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials (COWLSO)


title: Jessica Boehrs

text: She started her singing career in 1996 in the band, JessVaness. Boehrs was a background singer by Caught in the Act and Tic Tac Toe. Between 2002 and 2007 she was the singer of the Eurodance project Novaspace which achieved international success with the songs "Time after time", "To France", "Guardian Angel" and "Beds are burning".


title: Jessica Boehrs

text: She appeared in "EuroTrip" (2004) as Mieke, the object of Scott Thomas's European vacation quest. Between December 2006 – 2007, Boehrs played Nina Waldgruber in the German television program "Schloss Einstein".


title: Jessica Boehrs

text: Boehrs lives in Munich and Potsdam, and married actor Marcus Grüsser in July 2010. The couple split up in March 2015. Her son was born in September 2015.


title: Ramo (TV series)

text: Ramo is a Turkish crime drama and action television series written by Yılmaz Şahin and directed by Yağız Alp Akaydın, starring Murat Yıldırım in the titular role. This show is about a feud between two families and a love story between Ramo (Yıldırım) and Si̇bel (Esra Bilgiç). It was filmed in Adana, Turkey and premiered on 14 January 2020.


title: Ramo (TV series)

text: Ramo is a young man who works in Adana, he is the leader of his neighbourhood Taskapi and its local gang known as the Pumpers. His family smuggles gasoline and oil, work under Cengiz (played by Kerem Atabeyoglu) who is the underground leader of Adana.


title: Ramo (TV series)

text: After seeing the mistreatment his family gets from Cengiz, Ramo decides to become the leader of Adana by killing Cengiz, for this, he executes a plan. As the first step, Ramo retains the drugs which are supposed to be delivered to the mafia leader in Istanbul. In this way, he aims to square Cengiz. However, before he does this his childhood friend Boz (played by Gorkem Sevindik) beats Nico (played by İlhan Şen) who is the son of Cengiz. As a test of loyalty; Cengiz asks Ramo to kill Boz.


title: Ramo (TV series)

text: Meanwhile, Ramo comes across his first love Sibel (Esra Bilgic) (who is the daughter of Cengiz) throughout this process. She finds herself in the middle of the war between her father and her lover.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The first cases of the COVID-19 pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 in North America were reported in the United States on 23 January 2020. Cases were reported in all North American countries after Saint Kitts and Nevis confirmed a case on 25 March, and in all North American territories after Bonaire confirmed a case on 16 April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 26 March 2020, the United States became the country in North America with the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 infections, at over 82,000 cases. On 11 April 2020, the United States became the country in North America with the highest official death toll for COVID-19, at over 20,000 deaths. As of 10 April 2022, there are about 97 million cases and about 1.4 million deaths in North America; about 88.9 million have recovered from COVID-19, meaning that nearly 11 out of 12 cases have recovered or that the recovery rate is nearly 92%.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 10 April 2022, the United States has had the highest number of cases in North America, at about 82 million cases, as well as the highest death toll, at over a million deaths. There have been nearly 75.7 million recoveries in the United States as of 10 April 2022, meaning that nearly 12 out of 13 cases in the country have recovered or that the recovery rate is about 92%. On 20 March 2022, the number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States exceeded a million.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 10 April 2022, Canada has reported nearly 3.6 million cases and about 38,000 deaths, while Mexico, which was overtaken in terms of the number of cases on 11 March 2022, the second anniversary of the day when the COVID-19 outbreak became a pandemic, by Japan, the second most affected country in East Asia, has reported about 5.7 million cases and about 320,000 deaths. The state in the United States with the highest number of cases and the highest death toll is California, at about 9.1 million cases and nearly 90,000 deaths as of 10 April 2022.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the Bahamas on 15 March 2020 with the announcement of the first case.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 24 May 2021, the Bahamas reported 11,499 total cases, 1,002 active cases, and 225 deaths. This comes out to 493 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: Barbados announced its first two confirmed cases on 17 March and declared a public health emergency on 26 March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 26 January 2021, Barbados reported 1,401 total cases, 649 active cases, and ten deaths. Between January and March the number of infections went up eight times.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Belize reported 11,366 total cases, 587 active cases, and 277 deaths. This comes out to 690 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The first two cases of the virus were confirmed on 26 March. On 26 April 2020, all patients recovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda on 18 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of the Cayman Islands on 12 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 17 December 2020, Mercer University pre-med student Skylar Mack, 18, from United States, and her boyfriend Vanjae Ramgeet, 24, of the Cayman Islands, were sentenced to four months in prison for her violating the island's mandatory two-week quarantine two days after arriving from the United States, and for his aiding and abetting her. The sentence was later reduced to two months.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The territory's first case was confirmed on 17 March. Schools have been closed and public gatherings banned as a precautionary measure. By 15 May, all cases had fully recovered. On 10 July, a 12th case was discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the British Overseas Territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands on 23 March 2020. On 12 May, the last two cases recovered. There are currently no active cases, because one person left the country. On 20 June, a new case was discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Turks and Caicos reported 1,011 total cases, 186 active cases, and six deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, the British Virgin Islands reported 114 total cases, 18 active cases, and one death.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 6 March, the first case in Costa Rica was confirmed, which was also the first such case in Central America.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Costa Rica reported 182,156 total cases, 39,805 active cases, and 2,384 deaths. This comes out to 466 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 11 March, the first cases in Cuba were confirmed. As of 12 May, new cases had fallen to less than 20 per day, and a program of mass testing was beginning.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: Infections went up fourfold in January and February 2021. Cuba's death toll of 324 is well under the world average per capita, but health authorities worry that it is increasing. The government says two of its four vaccines should begin final trials in late March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to Greenland – an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark – in March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 22 March, the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on the island of Dominica. It was a woman who recently came back from the UK.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 1 March, the first case in the Dominican Republic was confirmed, which was also the first case in the Caribbean.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, the Dominican Republic reported 186,383 total cases, 43,738 active cases, and 2,428 deaths. This comes out to 223 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 13 March 2020, Prime Minister Evelyn Wever-Croes announced the first two confirmed cases of coronavirus on the island.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As a result, the country restricted entry of all individuals coming from Europe via air and seaports – starting on 15 March and in effect until 31 March – with the exception of those who are Aruban citizens. They also suspended public and private school classes for the week of 16 March, as well as all large-scale public gatherings. On 29 May, all cases recovered. On 29 June, two more cases had been discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Aruba reported 6,228 total cases, 624 active cases, and 52 deaths. This comes out to 486 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The 2020 coronavirus pandemic was documented for the first time in Curaçao on 13 March 2020. The case was a 68-year-old man who was on vacation from the Netherlands. By 9 July, all cases recovered. On 15 July, a new case was discovered. On 6 August, all cases resolved.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Curaçao reported 4,488 total cases, 373 active cases, and 19 deaths. This comes out to 116 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 18 March there has been one confirmed case in Sint Maarten. Schools have been shut for a period of two weeks. By 15 June, all cases recovered. On 1 July, a new case was discovered, which resolved 3 July. On 15 July, a 79th case was discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, the Caribbean Netherlands reported 249 total cases, 65 active cases, and three deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 16 April 2020, Edison Rijna, Island Governor of Bonaire announced the first case of COVID-19 on the island.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The island was already closed to international travel. On 28 April 2020, all cases had recovered. On 14 July, two new cases had been discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 12 April, the first case was confirmed in Saba. Schools, bars and 'non-essential services' are all currently shut. On 12 May, all cases on Saba recovered. On 1 August, two new cases were discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 31 March 2020, the first two cases were confirmed, they were two young men from the Netherlands who arrived on 15 March and self isolated after arrival. On 5 May all cases recovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, El Salvador reported 49,539 total cases, 4,282 active cases, and 1,447 deaths. This comes out to 222 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: Two cases of the coronavirus were confirmed on 1 March in the French collectivity of Saint Martin, having travelled from France through Dutch Sint Maarten and French collectivity of Saint Barthélemy, where they infected their son who is a resident. They then returned to Sint Maarten and were detected at the airport and transferred to French Saint Martin hospital for isolation.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: According to the French Ministry of Health situation reports, as of 6 March, there have been two confirmed cases in Martinique, two in Saint Martin and one in Saint Barthélemy. As of 5 April, St. Pierre and Miquelon recorded its first verified case.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have spread to the French overseas department and region of Guadeloupe on 12 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Guadeloupe reported 8,776 total cases, 6,380 active cases, and 154 deaths. This comes out to 385 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas department and region of Martinique on 5 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Martinique reported 6,184 total cases, 6,043 active cases, and 43 deaths. This comes out to 115 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of Saint Barthélemy on 1 March 2020. The last positive case was on 31 March. On 21 April, the last case recovered. Between 18 and 24 July, a new case was imported.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of Saint Martin on 1 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the French overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon on 5 April 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, the British Virgin Islands reported 132 total cases, eight active cases, and one death.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Guatemala reported 145,986 total cases, 8,362 active cases, and 5,117 deaths. This comes out to 283 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Haiti reported 10,569 total cases, 1,443 active cases, and 238 deaths. This comes out to 21 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Honduras reported 129,805 total cases, 67,122 active cases, and 3,294 deaths. This comes out to 330 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: 28-year-old nursing student Keyla Patricia Martínez was arrested in La Esperanza, Intibucá Department and was murdered by choking while in police custody. Her death was originally called a suicide, but following protests it was reclassified as homicide.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The government announced a travel ban between China and Jamaica. All people entering Jamaica from China will be subject to immediate quarantine for at least 14 days, and anyone who was allowed to land and shows symptoms of the virus will be put in immediate isolation. In keeping with the new policy, 19 Chinese nationals who arrived at the Norman Manley International Airport on the evening of 31 January were denied entry, quarantined and put on a flight back to China on 1 February.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 10 March, the Ministry of Health and Wellness (MoHW) confirmed the first case in Jamaica, a female patient who arrived from the United Kingdom on 4 March. The health minister reported that she has been in isolation since 9 March after showing respiratory symptoms. Following the update, the travel ban imposed was expanded to include France, Germany, and Spain.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Jamaica reported 13,852 total cases, 1,967 active cases, and 317 deaths. This comes out to 107 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: Confirmed cases doubled in the first two months of 2021, and the death toll stood at 422 on 1 March. All beds dedicated to COVID-19 isolation were full as of 26 February. Jamaica will receive a vaccine donation from India of 50,000 vaccine doses on 4 March, 124,800 doses via COVAX later in March, and 1.8 million from the African Medical Supply Platform in April.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 28 February 2020, Mexico confirmed its first three cases. The country's first coronavirus-related death was reported on 18 March. Almost every state reported at least one case of infection. Mexico entered Phase 2 of 3, indicating community transmission, on 24 March. Mexico had 292 imported cases of infection, 70 cases linked to importation, and five cases that were unlinked to foreign contact.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: Mexico began vaccinating health workers in Mexico City and Coahuila on 24 December. Vaccinations were expanded to 879 hospitals in all 32 federal entities on 13 January 2021. As of this date Mexico reported 1,556,028 confirmed cases (13th highest in the world), 251,992 active cases, and 135,682 deaths. This is 1,046 deaths per one million inhabitants.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: An ongoing pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was shown to have spread to Nicaragua when the first case, a Nicaraguan citizen who had returned to the country from Panama, was confirmed on 18 March 2020.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Nicaragua reported 6,152 total cases, 1,760 active cases, and 167 deaths. This comes out to 25 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The Panamanian government has enhanced its sanitary control and screening measures at all ports of entry, to prevent the spread of the virus, isolating and testing potential cases.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 9 March, the health ministry (MINSA) announced Panama's first coronavirus case, a Panamanian woman in her 40s who had returned from Spain.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On the following day, the MINSA announced seven more COVID-19 cases and one coronavirus-related death.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Panama reported 288,408 total cases, 56,673 active cases, and 4,594 deaths. This comes out to 1,056 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 19 March the territory has had five confirmed cases. On 17 March governor Wanda Vázquez Garced announced a 24/7 lockdown, with people only allowed to leave their homes for food, gas or medicines.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Saint Pierre and Miquelon reported 34 total cases, three active cases, but no deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached Saint Lucia on 13 March 2020. On 22 April 2020, it was announced that all confirmed cases had recovered. On 28 April 2020, two new cases were discovered.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 11 October 2021, Saint Lucia reported 12,017 total cases, 837 active cases, and 224 deaths. Infections increased ten times between January and March.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: St. Vincent and Grenadines registered its first COVID-19 death in 2021 and by 1 March had eight deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 12 March, Trinidad and Tobago confirmed its first case of COVID-19. It was a 52-year-old man who had recently been to Switzerland. He was self-isolated before he began experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 13 January 2021, Trinidad and Tobago reported 7,305 total cases, 285 active cases, and 129 deaths. This comes out to 92 deaths per one million population.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 17 January 2020, the CDC announced that it would begin screening passengers arriving from Wuhan, China, for symptoms of the new virus, at the John F. Kennedy International Airport, the San Francisco International Airport and the Los Angeles International Airport, beginning Saturday, 18 January


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 20 January 2020, the United States confirmed its first case, of a 35-year-old man who had returned on 15 January to the state of Washington after visiting family in Wuhan, China. The man sought clinical assistance on 19 January.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 27 February 2020, the CDC reported a case in California which may be the first instance of community transmission in the US.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 29 February 2020, officials of Washington State confirmed the first reported death from COVID-19 in the US.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: By 11 March 2020, the U.S. had tested fewer than 10,000 people. By the end of the month, over 1,000,000 people had been tested. However, health experts stated that this level of testing was still inadequate.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 26 March 2020, the United States surpassed China and Italy as the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases, with a figure above 82,000. The U.S. federal government's health inspectors surveyed 323 hospitals in late March; reporting "severe shortages" of test supplies, "widespread shortages" of personal protective equipment (PPE), and other strained resources due to extended patient stays while awaiting test results.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 11 April 2020, the United States surpassed Italy as the country with the most confirmed COVID-19 deaths, with a total of over 20,000. The U.S. also became the first to record 2,000 deaths in a single day. Wyoming became the 50th state to be issued a disaster declaration.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: By 20 April 2020, the federal government stated it was conducting 150,000 tests per day, and claimed that this number would be enough to allow for schools and businesses to reopen. Health experts estimate that 500,000 to 1,000,000 tests per day would be needed to properly track the spread of the COVID-19, to avoid a new wave of infections.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 1 October 2020 it was announced first that Hope Hicks had tested positive, and a few hours later it was announced that both President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania had tested positive for COVID-19, who were all part of the broader White House COVID-19 outbreak. Both Trumps recovered from the disease.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 9 November 2020, the U.S. surpassed 10 million COVID-19 cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: On 11 December 2020, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized for the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. Following the issuing, it was estimated that 20,000,000 could be vaccinated over the course of a few weeks.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: As of 17 February 2021, the U.S. has recorded more than 27 million cases of COVID-19; 483,000 have died.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed to have reached the U.S. state of Ohio on 9 March 2020, when the state's first cases were reported. The first death from COVID-19 in Ohio was reported on 19 March. Subsequently, records supported by further testing showed that undetected cases had existed in Ohio since early January, with the first confirmed death on 17 March. By 23 April, Ohio had 656 confirmed deaths; by 1 May, there were 1002 confirmed deaths. Accurate data was difficult to obtain due to limited test availability. By 12 December, a total of 553,461 cases had been reported leading to 31,803 hospitalizations and 7,477 deaths.


title: COVID-19 pandemic in North America

text: The first confirmed case relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States was announced by the state of Washington on 21 January 2020. Washington made the first announcement of a death from the disease in the U.S. on 29 February and later announced that two deaths there on 26 February were also due to COVID-19. Until mid-March, Washington had the highest absolute number of confirmed cases and the highest number per capita of any state in the country, until it was surpassed by New York state on 10 April 2020. Many of the deceased were residents of a nursing home in Kirkland, an Eastside suburb of Seattle in King County.


title: Oba of Benin

text: The Oba of Benin is the traditional ruler and the custodian of the culture of the Edo people and all Edoid people. The then Kingdom of Benin (not to be confused with the modern-day and unrelated Republic of Benin, which was then known as Dahomey) has been and continues to be mostly populated by the Edo (also known as Benin ethnic group).


title: Oba of Benin

text: In 1897, a British military force, of approximately 1,200 men, under the command of Sir Harry Rawson, mounted the Benin punitive Expedition. The force dispatched in retaliation to the ambush of a British party, at Ugbine village near Gwato, on the 4th January 1897, by a group of Benin soldiers, acting without orders from the Oba; the ambush had led to the deaths of all but two of the British party. The British force captured the capital of the Kingdom of Benin, sacking and burning the city while forcing the Oba of Benin, Ovonramwen, into a six-month exile. The expeditionary force consisted of both indigenous soldiers and British officers based in colonial-era Nigeria. Numerous artworks (collectively known as the Benin Bronzes) looted from the city palace were sold off to defray the costs of the expedition. Ovonramwen died in 1914, his throne never having been restored to him. His son, grandson and now his great-grandson, however, all preserved their title and status as traditional rulers in modern-day Nigeria.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: In statistics, imputation is the process of replacing missing data with substituted values. When substituting for a data point, it is known as "unit imputation"; when substituting for a component of a data point, it is known as "item imputation". There are three main problems that missing data causes: missing data can introduce a substantial amount of bias, make the handling and analysis of the data more arduous, and create reductions in efficiency. Because missing data can create problems for analyzing data, imputation is seen as a way to avoid pitfalls involved with listwise deletion of cases that have missing values. That is to say, when one or more values are missing for a case, most statistical packages default to discarding any case that has a missing value, which may introduce bias or affect the representativeness of the results. Imputation preserves all cases by replacing missing data with an estimated value based on other available information. Once all missing values have been imputed, the data set can then be analysed using standard techniques for complete data. There have been many theories embraced by scientists to account for missing data but the majority of them introduce bias. A few of the well known attempts to deal with missing data include: hot deck and cold deck imputation; listwise and pairwise deletion; mean imputation; non-negative matrix factorization; regression imputation; last observation carried forward; stochastic imputation; and multiple imputation.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: By far, the most common means of dealing with missing data is listwise deletion (also known as complete case), which is when all cases with a missing value are deleted. If the data are missing completely at random, then listwise deletion does not add any bias, but it does decrease the power of the analysis by decreasing the effective sample size. For example, if 1000 cases are collected but 80 have missing values, the effective sample size after listwise deletion is 920. If the cases are not missing completely at random, then listwise deletion will introduce bias because the sub-sample of cases represented by the missing data are not representative of the original sample (and if the original sample was itself a representative sample of a population, the complete cases are not representative of that population either). While listwise deletion is unbiased when the missing data is missing completely at random, this is rarely the case in actuality.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Pairwise deletion (or "available case analysis") involves deleting a case when it is missing a variable required for a particular analysis, but including that case in analyses for which all required variables are present. When pairwise deletion is used, the total N for analysis will not be consistent across parameter estimations. Because of the incomplete N values at some points in time, while still maintaining complete case comparison for other parameters, pairwise deletion can introduce impossible mathematical situations such as correlations that are over 100%.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: The one advantage complete case deletion has over other methods is that it is straightforward and easy to implement. This is a large reason why complete case is the most popular method of handling missing data in spite of the many disadvantages it has.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: A once-common method of imputation was hot-deck imputation where a missing value was imputed from a randomly selected similar record. The term "hot deck" dates back to the storage of data on punched cards, and indicates that the information donors come from the same dataset as the recipients. The stack of cards was "hot" because it was currently being processed.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: One form of hot-deck imputation is called "last observation carried forward" (or LOCF for short), which involves sorting a dataset according to any of a number of variables, thus creating an ordered dataset. The technique then finds the first missing value and uses the cell value immediately prior to the data that are missing to impute the missing value. The process is repeated for the next cell with a missing value until all missing values have been imputed. In the common scenario in which the cases are repeated measurements of a variable for a person or other entity, this represents the belief that if a measurement is missing, the best guess is that it hasn't changed from the last time it was measured. This method is known to increase risk of increasing bias and potentially false conclusions. For this reason LOCF is not recommended for use.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Cold-deck imputation, by contrast, selects donors from another dataset. Due to advances in computer power, more sophisticated methods of imputation have generally superseded the original random and sorted hot deck imputation techniques. It is a method of replacing with response values of similar items in past surveys. It is available in surveys that measure time intervals.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Another imputation technique involves replacing any missing value with the mean of that variable for all other cases, which has the benefit of not changing the sample mean for that variable. However, mean imputation attenuates any correlations involving the variable(s) that are imputed. This is because, in cases with imputation, there is guaranteed to be no relationship between the imputed variable and any other measured variables. Thus, mean imputation has some attractive properties for univariate analysis but becomes problematic for multivariate analysis.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Mean imputation can be carried out within classes (i.e. categories such as gender), and can be expressed as formula_1 where formula_2 is the imputed value for record formula_3 and formula_4 is the sample mean of respondent data within some class formula_5. This is a special case of generalized regression imputation:


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Here the values formula_7 are estimated from regressing formula_8 on formula_9 in non-imputed data, formula_10 is a dummy variable for class membership, and data are split into respondent (formula_11) and missing (formula_12).


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Non-negative matrix factorization (NMF) can take missing data while minimizing its cost function, rather than treating these missing data as zeros that could introduce biases. This makes it a mathematically proven method for data imputation. NMF can ignore missing data in the cost function, and the impact from missing data can be as small as a second order effect.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Regression imputation has the opposite problem of mean imputation. A regression model is estimated to predict observed values of a variable based on other variables, and that model is then used to impute values in cases where the value of that variable is missing. In other words, available information for complete and incomplete cases is used to predict the value of a specific variable. Fitted values from the regression model are then used to impute the missing values. The problem is that the imputed data do not have an error term included in their estimation, thus the estimates fit perfectly along the regression line without any residual variance. This causes relationships to be over identified and suggest greater precision in the imputed values than is warranted. The regression model predicts the most likely value of missing data but does not supply uncertainty about that value.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Stochastic regression was a fairly successful attempt to correct the lack of an error term in regression imputation by adding the average regression variance to the regression imputations to introduce error. Stochastic regression shows much less bias than the above-mentioned techniques, but it still missed one thing – if data are imputed then intuitively one would think that more noise should be introduced to the problem than simple residual variance.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: In order to deal with the problem of increased noise due to imputation, Rubin (1987) developed a method for averaging the outcomes across multiple imputed data sets to account for this. All multiple imputation methods follow three steps.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Just as there are multiple methods of single imputation, there are multiple methods of multiple imputation as well. One advantage that multiple imputation has over the single imputation and complete case methods is that multiple imputation is flexible and can be used in a wide variety of scenarios. Multiple imputation can be used in cases where the data are missing completely at random, missing at random, and even when the data are missing not at random. A popular approach is multiple imputation by chained equations (MICE), also known as "fully conditional specification" and "sequential regression multiple imputation." MICE is designed for missing at random data, though there is simulation evidence to suggest that with a sufficient number of auxiliary variables it can also work on data that are missing not at random. However, MICE can suffer from performance problems when the number of observation is large and the data have complex features, such as nonlinearities and high dimensionality.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: More recent approaches to multiple imputation use machine learning techniques to improve its performance. MIDAS (Multiple Imputation with Denoising Autoencoders), for instance, uses denoising autoencoders, a type of unsupervised neural network, to learn fine-grained latent representations of the observed data. MIDAS has been shown to provide accuracy and efficiency advantages over traditional multiple imputation strategies.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: As alluded in the previous section, single imputation does not take into account the uncertainty in the imputations. After imputation, the data is treated as if they were the actual real values in single imputation. The negligence of uncertainty in the imputation can lead to overly precise results and errors in any conclusions drawn. By imputing multiple times, multiple imputation accounts for the uncertainty and range of values that the true value could have taken. As expected, the combination of both uncertainty estimation and deep learning for imputation is among the best strategies and has been used to model heterogeneous drug discovery data.


title: Imputation (statistics)

text: Additionally, while single imputation and complete case are easier to implement, multiple imputation is not very difficult to implement. There are a wide range of statistical packages in different statistical software that readily performs multiple imputation. For example, the MICE package allows users in R to perform multiple imputation using the MICE method. MIDAS can be implemented in R with the rMIDAS package and in Python with the MIDASpy package.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Flower Drum Song is a 1961 American musical film directed by Henry Koster, adapted from the 1958 Broadway musical "Flower Drum Song", written by the composer Richard Rodgers and the lyricist/librettist Oscar Hammerstein II, in turn based on the 1957 novel of the same name by the Chinese American author Chin Yang Lee. The film stars Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Miyoshi Umeki, Jack Soo, Benson Fong and Juanita Hall. It was nominated for five Academy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: "Flower Drum Song" became the first major Hollywood feature film to have a majority Asian-American cast in a contemporary Asian-American story. It would be the last film to do so for more than 30 years, until "The Joy Luck Club" (1993). In 2008, "Flower Drum Song" was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: A young woman named Mei Li emigrates from China to Chinatown, San Francisco as an illegal immigrant with her father. After landing, the Lis seek the address of Madam Fong, the mother of Sammy Fong, to whom Mei Li has been promised in an arranged marriage. While asking where to find Madam Fong, Mei Li performs a flower drum song to earn money ("A Hundred Million Miracles"). Sammy is the owner of a night club, the Celestial Gardens (inspired by the actual Forbidden City nightclub) and already is romantically involved with his leading showgirl Linda Low. The Lis arrive at the Celestial Gardens during a show ("Fan Tan Fannie").


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Sammy does his best to dissuade Mei Li from marrying him, introducing her to Madame Liang, the sister-in-law of Master Wang. Liang and Wang bemoan the gap between immigrants and their offspring ("The Other Generation") as Master Wang's younger son Wang San gives his own take on the gap to some younger children. Dissolving the marriage contract is harder than either imagined. Master Wang is persuaded by Madame Liang to allow Mei Li to fall in love naturally with Master Wang's eldest son Wang Ta, and the Lis move in with Master Wang. However, Wang Ta is dazzled by the charms of Linda, who flirts with him ("I Enjoy Being a Girl"). He asks her to go on a date, and she convinces him to give her his fraternity pin to symbolize they are "going steady" during the date.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: When Mei Li sees Wang Ta sneaking back in after the date, she mistakes his friendly greeting as a welcome to the household and starts to warm to America ("I Am Going to Like It Here"). Linda plans to use Wang Ta to force a commitment from Sammy Fong out of jealousy, but Sammy gets wind of her scheme when Linda attends a party to celebrate both Wang Ta's graduation from university and Madame Liang's graduation from citizenship classes. Madame Liang compares the citizens of the U.S. to a mix of different ingredients ("Chop Suey"). At the party, Linda has Frankie Wing, the club emcee, pose as her brother to grant permission for Linda to marry Wang Ta. Mei Li, hearing this, becomes discouraged, and Ta and his father argue over his marriage plans. Ta argues that he is old enough to make his own decisions, but the father says that he will be the one to let Ta know when he is old enough.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: At the New Year's Parade, Linda rides on a float and sings about Grant Avenue, Chinatown's "western street with eastern manners" ("Grant Avenue"). Sammy, in an effort to keep Linda from marrying Wang Ta, invites Wang Ta and his family to Celestial Gardens, where they see Frankie Wing recall girls he has known ("Gliding Through My Memoree") and Linda's nightclub act ("Fan Tan Fannie"). Wang Ta is shocked at her performance. He leaves, distraught, accompanied by the seamstress Helen Chao, his friend since childhood. Helen also grew up in the U.S. and deeply loves Wang Ta. Ta becomes drunk in his misery over Linda, and Helen ends up letting him stay for the night in her apartment, where she declares her unrequited love ("Love, Look Away").


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: In the morning, Mei Li comes to deliver a burned coat for Helen to mend and becomes distressed when she discovers Wang Ta's clothing in Helen's kitchen. When Wang Ta wakes up (seconds after Mei Li leaves), he still does not notice Helen's affections, even as she pleads for him to stay, and he leaves quickly. He goes to speak with Mei Li, now realizing that she is a better match for him than Linda Low ("You Are Beautiful"), only to have Mei Li reject him, saying that she once loved him, but not anymore.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: She and her father leave Master Wang's house and pursue the marriage contract between Mei Li and Sammy Fong. Sammy has proposed to Linda, who daydreams about wedded life ("Sunday"). Unfortunately, now that Mei Li is pursuing Sammy again, he and Linda will be unable to marry as the contract with Mei Li is binding. Sammy enumerates his many faults ("Don't Marry Me") in a last-ditch attempt to convince Mei Li to break the contract. Before the wedding, Wang Ta goes to see Mei Li, and they both realize that they are deeply in love with one another. They agree to try to come up with a way to get Mei Li out of her marriage contract.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The day of the wedding, before she is to sip from a goblet (which would seal her marriage to Sammy), Mei Li declares that, because she entered the United States illegally, the marriage contract is null and void (which she learned from a TV Western she watched on the late show the previous night). Wang Ta can marry Mei Li, and Sammy decides to marry Linda, resulting in a double wedding.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Although the score of "Flower Drum Song" did not produce many hit tunes, the song "I Enjoy Being a Girl" has been recorded by such performers as Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Pat Suzuki, and Phranc, and it has been used in other movies and shows.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Compared with the Broadway musical on which it is based, the film rearranged the order of the songs. According to David Henry Hwang, the song "Like a God" was dropped from the film because studio executives were worried it could "offend audiences in the American South". Alfred Newman, the film's music supervisor and score conductor, wrote a letter to producer Ross Hunter protesting the excision of music arrangers from the credits during post-production; Hunter agreed to reinsert a credit for Ken Darby, the associate music supervisor.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The 1961 soundtrack album from the film was critically praised; "Variety" lauded Newman's "rousing orchestration". Shortly after its release by Decca Records, both the monaural and stereo versions of the soundtrack charted on the list of bestselling records, according to "Billboard"s Top LP's list. For the film soundtrack album, the performers were credited by role, not name, since "several of the performers in the movie don't do their own singing." The singing voice of the character Linda Low (portrayed by Nancy Kwan) was dubbed by B.J. Baker, a white studio singer who had worked with Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, The Righteous Brothers, and Sam Cooke.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The torch song "Love, Look Away" sung by Helen Chao (portrayed by Reiko Sato) was dubbed in by the American opera singer Marilyn Horne, who was offered the job by Alfred Newman after Horne's triumphant début with the San Francisco Opera in "Wozzeck". Horne and Newman were friends through her extensive background singing on film soundtracks. In addition, Dr. Han Li (portrayed by Kam Tong) is dubbed by John Dodson.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The film soundtrack was reissued on CD by Decca Broadway on September 24, 2002, which added a bonus track of "Love, Look Away" (2:27), recorded by Rosemary Clooney around 1958.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: After the novel was released and became a bestseller, options were offered to author C.Y. Lee to produce a movie or stage adaptation. Lee was torn between the movie offer, which was more lucrative at $50,000, but would force him to give up all rights, or the stage offer from Joseph Fields, which only gave him $3,000 but only relinquished stage rights. After getting drunk the night of the decision, Lee could not remember the offer he chose, but his agent congratulated him on making the right choice the next morning. It turns out Lee had chosen the offer from Fields, who initially wanted to produce a play and eventually a movie, but after Fields mentioned the novel to Rodgers and Hammerstein, they signed on to write the musical.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The 1961 film production of "Flower Drum Song" was produced by Universal Studios, a break for Rodgers and Hammerstein, who had previously had their films produced by Twentieth Century Fox. The screenplay was written by Joseph Fields, who had previously collaborated with Hammerstein on the libretto for the musical, but had not previously written a major musical film; likewise, the director Henry Koster and producer Ross Hunter were working on their first musical film.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: San Francisco watercolorist Dong Kingman painted the opening title sequence, which traces the journey of Mei Li from Hong Kong. Hermes Pan provided the choreography.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Principal photography began on March 20, 1961; the film was largely shot at Stage 12 of the Universal Studios Lot, on a set built to reproduce Chinatown, including the opening scenes at Saint Mary's Square (complete with a replica of the stainless steel statute of Sun Yat-Sen sculpted by Beniamino Bufano), at a cost of $310,000.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The film was the first to feature a cast almost entirely consisting of Asian Americans (one of the few speaking white parts being that of a mugger), including dancers, though three of the singers used for dubbing were not Asian. At the time, the practice of yellowface was more common than Asian actors playing Asian roles (see Examples of yellowface).


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Starring in the movie were Nancy Kwan, James Shigeta, Benson Fong, James Hong, Reiko Sato, Victor Sen Yung, and the original Broadway cast members Jack Soo, Miyoshi Umeki, and Juanita Hall (an African American actress who had previously played Pacific Islander Bloody Mary in the Broadway and film productions of Rodgers and Hammerstein's "South Pacific").


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: For an episode of the contemporary TV show "Wagon Train", white actor Arnold Stang was cast in yellowface wearing rubber eyelids. For this casting decision, the reason given was that "all of Hollywood's Oriental actors were busy making "Flower Drum Song"".


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Anna May Wong had been scheduled to play the part of Madam Liang, but she died in February 1961, before production began. Kwan was cast in the role of Linda Low when she met Ross Hunter, the producer of "Flower Drum Song", at a party after he saw her film debut in the 1960 film adaptation of "The World of Suzie Wong". Kwan's hiring was announced in February 1961.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Among changes for the film, the song "Like a God" was changed from a song into a presentation of beat poetry. The film (and earlier stage version) is lighter-hearted than the novel upon which it is based. For example, while Helen is simply left alone and broken-hearted in the musical and film versions, Ta's rejection of her prompts her to commit suicide in the novel. In the novel, Mei Li does not arrive in Chinatown illegally, nor does she have an arranged marriage with Sammy Fong (the character was created for the musical and film).


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Although set in San Francisco, only a few scenes were actually filmed on location, including a scene with Kwan and Shigeta on Twin Peaks. However, neither Kwan nor Shigeta actually filmed at this location. Doubles stood in for them for the long shots of the car arriving and leaving Twin Peaks. The close-ups of Kwan and Shigeta in the car were process shots filmed at Universal Studios in Hollywood with the view from Twin Peaks projected on a screen behind them.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: "Flower Drum Song" premiered in New York City at Radio City Music Hall on November 9, 1961. The initial plan was to have the premiere on November 17 in San Francisco, at the Golden Gate Theatre, to benefit local hospitals, including the San Francisco Chinese Hospital. The Golden Gate Theatre premiere would be followed by a three-day Flower Drum Festival in Chinatown. A private screening was held for President John F. Kennedy and his family at the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis Port on November 24. The film was widely released near Christmas.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: It has been asserted the film was the only Hollywood adaptation of a Rodgers and Hammerstein musical to lose money. The production rights were reported as costing $1 million and the budget was $4 million, while gross revenues have been reported as $10.7 million. Since half of gross revenues are actually returned as "rentals" to the studio, and since movies at the time needed to make back at least twice their production and advertising budgets to be profitable, the movie's $5 million rental return was a loss for the studio.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Reviewing for "The New York Times" after the premiere, Bosley Crowther called the film neither "subtle or fragile ... It is gaudy and gaggy and quite melodic." "Life" called it "gay, tuneful and well worth the admission". However, "Variety" thought that "much of the fundamental charm, grace and novelty of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Flower Drum Song" has been overwhelmed by the sheer opulence and glamour [of the film]".


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: David H. Lewis in 2006 called it "a bizarre pastiche of limping mediocracy". He comments that since the 1958 version of the musical was only rarely revived for decades after its initial run, the film "would in future years come to stand for the stage musical it so crassly misrepresented" and would serve as the version that academics and latter-day theatre critics would judge when they analyzed the musical. James Deaville countered that Koster and Hunter "wanted to make the musical more relevant and accessible ... [by] intensify[ing] the generational conflict ... [and] required spelling out much that the musical left to the audience's imagination."


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Some Asian-Americans have found the film offensive in later years due to common stereotypes and what was seen as miscasting Japanese American actors Shigeta and Umeki in Chinese American roles. David Henry Hwang, who revised the musical for a 2001 revival, "had a secret soft spot for the movie version. 'It was kind of a guilty pleasure ... and one of the only big Hollywood films where you could see a lot of really good Asian actors onscreen, singing and dancing and cracking jokes.'" Writer Joanna Lee praised the film's portrayal of Asian Americans as "prominent and legitimate American citizens".


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: The film was first issued on VHS in 1986, then reissued in 1991 followed by a LaserDisc version in 1992 by MCA Home Video. The LaserDisc and VHS versions of the film were cropped to a 1.33:1 ratio using pan and scan with the exception of the "I Enjoy Being a Girl" sequence. After the VHS and LaserDisc versions went out of print, the film was unavailable on home media for many years, while most of the other video versions of Rodgers and Hammerstein movies were released on DVD by other studios.


title: Flower Drum Song (film)

text: Universal Studios Home Entertainment (in association with the estates of Rodgers and Hammerstein) finally released a DVD version on November 7, 2006, with extra features on the making and casting of the movie. It includes interviews with David Henry Hwang, Pat Suzuki, and Nancy Kwan, and pictures from the 1958 and 2002 Broadway rehearsals and practice sessions, as well as pictures of Rodgers, Hammerstein, and Fields. On May 24, 2022 the film was released on high definition Blu Ray disc.


title: Tube man

text: A tube man, also known as a skydancer, air dancer, inflatable man and originally called the Tall Boy, is an inflatable stick figure comprising sections of fabric tubing attached to a fan. As the fan blows air through it, the tubing moves in a dynamic dancing or flailing motion. Tube men are typically used to advertise retail business premises to passing motorists.


title: Tube man

text: Peter Minshall, an artist from Trinidad and Tobago, came up with the concept, and it was developed by a team that included Israeli artist Doron Gazit and Arieh Dranger, for the 1996 Summer Olympics. Minshall originally called his invention the "Tall Boy". Gazit eventually patented the concept of an inflatable, dancing human-shaped balloon, and licensed the patent to various companies that manufacture and sell the devices.


title: Tube man

text: A notable reference in pop culture comes from Al Harrington, a recurring character on the sitcom "Family Guy", who is owner, president, and CEO of "Al Harrington's Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm-Flailing Tubeman Emporium and Warehouse".


title: Brigid's cross

text: Brigid's cross or Brigit's cross (Irish: "Cros Bríde", "Crosóg Bríde" or "Bogha Bríde") is a small variant of the Christian cross often woven from straw or rushes. It appears in many different shapes, but the most popular designs feature a woven diamond or lozenge in the centre. The cross is named for Brigid of Kildare, who is said to have woven a cross to aid in a pagan chieftain's deathbed conversion.


title: Brigid's cross

text: Brigid's cross is typically woven on 1 February, her feast day, as well as the festival of Imbolc in pre-Christian Ireland. Hanging Brigid's cross from the rafters of one's house was believed to bring the blessing and protection of the saint for the remainder of the year. The practice of crafting Brigid's crosses declined in the 20th century, however, in part due to house renovations that made hanging them difficult.


title: Brigid's cross

text: In addition to the shamrock and Celtic harp, Brigid's cross is a national symbol of Ireland. From 1962 to 1995, it was incorporated into the Raidió Teilifís Éireann logo. A collection of Brigid's crosses collected by the Irish Folklore Commission is on display at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life.


title: Brigid's cross

text: Brigid's crosses broadly refer to a type of Christian crosses woven out of straw or rushes. They are defined by building material more than appearance, and the exact shape of a Brigid's cross varies greatly. The National Museum of Ireland has identified seven basic categories of cross: diamond, which is subdivided into single or multiple; "swastika" type, with four or three arms; wheel type; interlaced type; traditional Latin crosses made from straw or rush; bare wooden crosses in the Latin or Greek style which are bound with straw; and a final "miscellaneous" category.


title: Brigid's cross

text: The most popular of these is the diamond or lozenge cross, the dominant variant throughout Munster and Connacht. Two sticks are crossed over one another to provide a wooden framework for this cross, and at its centre, straw is woven into the shape of a diamond. Sometimes, additional woven diamonds are added to the four arms of the cross. Some historians have compared the lozenge shape at the centre of the diamond cross to that of the Mexican god's eye or the Eurasian "magic square".


title: Brigid's cross

text: Another popular variant is the "swastika" cross. Rather than being set parallel to one another like a traditional cross, the arms of the swastika cross are set at right angles from a lozenge or diamond at the centre. These offset angles evoke the image of a wheel in motion and may have originally represented the sun, or "the great wheel in the sky". In certain regions of Ulster, this wheel spinning in a circle imagery is evoked with a three-armed woven cross. This three-armed variant has been compared to the triskelion, a popular motif in Celtic imagery. In rare cases, Brigid's cross may be set fully inside a circle; this is known as a "wheel cross" or "St. Brigid's Bow".


title: Brigid's cross

text: Unlike other Brigid's crosses, which were typically made of straw, the interlaced cross is often made of rushes. Unlike other forms of the cross which contain a woven shape in the centre, the interlaced cross consists only of rush or straw strands woven into a Christian cross shape. While straw is the more popular weaving material for most variants of Brigid's cross, the interlaced cross is more frequently made from rushes. An even simpler variant is the bare cross, which consists either of two bound plaits of straw or of two planks of wood bound together in the centre by straw. Occasionally, no straw is used at all: the Sheaf-Cross, located in eastern County Galway and County Roscommon, involves two small sheathes of unthreshed corn are bound together by a split thatching branch.


title: Brigid's cross

text: Brigid's cross is named for Brigid of Kildare, the only female patron saint of Ireland, who was born in Leinster. Unlike her contemporary, Saint Patrick, Brigid left no historical record, and most information about her life and work derives from a hagiography written by the monk Cogitosus some 200 years after her birth. The prevailing Christian folklore surrounding Brigid's cross involves the deathbed conversion of an Irish pagan chieftain, in some stories her father. While telling the pagan about the Crucifixion of Jesus, Brigid collected rushes from the ground and wove them into a cross, after which the chieftain requested a Christian baptism. In another story, Brigid was given a poisoned drink by a woman of ill intent, and she wove the cross to neutralise the toxins.


title: Brigid's cross

text: Many of the folk attributes ascribed to Brigid of Kildare bear similarities to the pagan grain goddess Brigid, and it is likely that the legends and rituals attributed to the goddess were later mapped onto the saint. In pre-Christian Ireland, 1 February, later Brigid of Kildare's feast day, was the date of the Imbolc festival, a holiday associated with agrarianism and the beginning of spring. It is therefore possible that diamonds and lozenges were Celtic symbols associated with Imbolc, and that Christian missionaries added arms to evoke the shape of a cross, reappropriating these symbols with a Christian meaning and attributing them to the saint.


title: Brigid's cross

text: One of the customs associated with Brigid of Kildare's feast day was to hang Brigid's crosses in the rafters or over entryways of buildings, thus invoking the saint's blessing and protection for the remainder of the year. Families would gather rushes on 31 January, the eve of Brigid's feast day. After an evening feast, the head of household would supervise the rest of the family as they wove crosses from the collected material. These crosses were left out overnight to receive Brigid's blessing, and on 1 February, crosses would be mounted in the main dwelling place, outhouses, and stables. While the direction in which the crosses were hung remains unknown, that the centre shape is frequently described as a lozenge rather than a square suggests that Brigid's cross is properly displayed in a saltire style rather than that of the Latin cross. Crosses were either taken down annually and replaced, or they accumulated between feasts. If they were discarded, they were burned or buried, with the latter preferred due to Brigid's associations with agriculture.


title: Brigid's cross

text: The weaving of Brigid's crosses was popular throughout Ireland, particularly in the north and midland, but its popularity dwindled during the 20th century. Some families attributed the decline of Brigid's crosses to house renovations that inhibited the ability to hang them appropriately. Outside of Ireland, Brigid's crosses are also customarily hung in Glastonbury, England, in accordance with a local legend that says Brigid of Kildare visited the town in 488 CE. Families may also send woven crosses to their friends and relatives who live abroad, or they will carry a cross with them when they leave Ireland. The weaving of crosses was not restricted to Brigid's feast day: friends would often gift crosses to incur blessings and strengthen their bond, while newlywed couples would often receive "womb crosses" to hang above their door, as Brigid was also a patron of fertility.


title: Brigid's cross

text: Although they take place at different points of the season, the weaving of Brigid's cross is associated with other rituals in which the last sheaf of that year's harvest is woven into intricate shape. In County Armagh, for instance, the harvest season involves the weaving of Harvest Knots and Harvest Stars, the former of which involves a lozenge shape similar to that of Brigid's cross. These "last sheaf" celebrations are collectively known as the "Cailleach".


title: Brigid's cross

text: Shortly after the Irish Free State gained its independence in 1922, Brigid's cross became one of several nationalist symbols, alongside such other motifs as the shamrock and Celtic harp, used by Irish artists in order to create a national cultural identity separate from that of Britain. In the 1950s, Brigid's cross was incorporated into the logo of the Irish Department of Health, and as of 2009, the cross remained a part of the logo of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland, who frequently incorporate Brigid into their imagery for her associations with midwifery.


title: Brigid's cross

text: Brigid's cross was selected as the first station identification marker for Raidió Teilifís Éireann (RTÉ) in 1962, with Alice Curtayne writing that the cross was selected to evoke "the image of quiet, serene places in the springtime of our history, of rush-bordered rivers in a serene arcadian landscape". The RTÉ logo underwent nine redesigns between 1962 and 1987, with the cross taking varying levels of prominence compared to the station name. It was removed from the RTÉ logo in 1995 in favour of "a clean striking piece of modern design", a decision which Carol Coulter of "The Irish Times" opined, "Saint Brigid's cross has lost its place as a symbol of our national identity, well at least as far as our national broadcasting station is concerned."


title: Brigid's cross

text: In 1942, the Irish Folklore Commission created a questionnaire regarding the Feast of Saint Brigid, during which they collected several hundred Brigid's crosses. In 2022, the Commission selected a sample of 21 of these crosses to be displayed at the National Museum of Ireland – Country Life in Castlebar. The display coincided with an announcement from the Irish government that 1 February would be declared a national holiday.


title: Aram (region)

text: Aram (; ) was a historical region mentioned in early cuneiforms and in the Bible. The area of Aram did not develop into a bigger empire, it consisted of a number of small states in present-day Syria and northern Palestine. Some of these states are mentioned in the Old Testament, Damascus being the most outstanding one, which came to encompass most of Syria. Furthermore, Aram-Damascus is commonly referred to as simply Aram in the Old Testament.