title: 3D television

text: 3D-ready TV sets are those that can operate in 3D mode (in addition to regular 2D mode) using one of several display technologies to recreate a stereoscopic image. These TV sets usually supported HDMI 1.4 and a minimum output refresh rate of 120 Hz; glasses may be sold separately.


title: 3D television

text: Philips was developing a 3D television set that would be available for the consumer market by about 2011 without the need for special glasses (autostereoscopy). However it was canceled because of the slow adoption of customers going from 2D to 3D.


title: 3D television

text: In August 2010, Toshiba announced plans to bring a range of autostereoscopic TVs to market by the end of the year.


title: 3D television

text: The Chinese manufacturer TCL Corporation has developed a LCD 3D TV called the TD-42F, which is currently available in China. This model uses a lenticular system and does not require any special glasses (autostereoscopy). It currently sells for approximately $20,000.


title: 3D television

text: Onida, LG, Samsung, Sony, and Philips intended to increase their 3D TV offering with plans to make 3D TV sales account for over 50% of their respective TV distribution offering in 2012. It was expected that the screens would use a mixture of technologies until there is standardization across the industry. Samsung offers the LED 7000, LCD 750, PDP 7000 TV sets and the Blu-ray 6900.


title: 3D television

text: Full 3D TV sets included Samsung Full HD 3D (1920×1080p, 60 Hz) and Panasonic Full HD 3D (1920×1080p, 60 Hz).


title: 3D television

text: A September 2011 Cnet review touted Toshiba's 55ZL2 as "the future of television". Because of the demanding nature of auto-stereoscopic 3D technology, the display features a 3840x2160 display; however, there was at the time no video content available at this resolution. That said, it utilizes a multi-core processor to provide excellent upscaling to the "4k2k" resolution. Using a directional lenticular lenslet filter, the display generates nine 3D views. This technology commonly creates dead spots, which Toshiba avoids by using an eye-tracking camera to adjust the image. The reviewers also note that the 3D resolution for a 1080p signal looks more like 720p and lacks parallax, which reduces immersion.


title: 3D television

text: The entertainment industry was expected to adopt a common and compatible standard for 3D in home electronics. To present faster frame rate in high definition to avoid judder (non-smooth, linear motion), enhancing 3-D film, televisions and broadcasting, other unresolved standards are the type of 3D glasses (passive or active), including bandwidth considerations, subtitles, recording format, and a Blu-ray standard. With improvements in digital technology, in the late 2000s, 3D movies became more practical to produce and display, putting competitive pressure behind the creation of 3D television standards. There are several techniques for Stereoscopic Video Coding, and stereoscopic distribution formatting including anaglyph, quincunx, and 2D plus Delta. Serial digital interface is used to carry 3D TV signals within TV stations.


title: 3D television

text: Content providers, such as Disney, DreamWorks, and other Hollywood studios, and technology developers, such as Philips, asked SMPTE for the development of a 3DTV standard in order to avoid a battle of formats and to guarantee consumers that they will be able to view the 3D content they purchase and to provide them with 3D home solutions for all pockets. In August 2008, SMPTE established the "3-D Home Display Formats Task Force" to define the parameters of a stereoscopic 3D mastering standard for content viewed on any fixed device in the home, no matter the delivery channel. It explored the standards that need to be set for 3D content distributed via broadcast, cable, satellite, packaged media, and the Internet to be played-out on televisions, computer screens and other tethered displays. After six months, the committee produced a report to define the issues and challenges, minimum standards, and evaluation criteria, which the Society said would serve as a working document for SMPTE 3D standards efforts to follow. A follow-on effort to draft a standard for 3D content formats was expected to take another 18 to 30 months.


title: 3D television

text: Production studios were developing an increasing number of 3D titles for the cinema and as many as a dozen companies were actively working on the core technology behind the product. Many had technologies available to demonstrate, but no clear road forward for a mainstream offering emerged.


title: 3D television

text: Under these circumstances, SMPTE's inaugural meeting was essentially a call for proposals for 3D television; more than 160 people from 80 companies signed up for this first meeting. Vendors that presented their respective technologies at the task force meeting included SENSIO Technologies, Philips, Dynamic Digital Depth (DDD), TDVision, and Real D, all of which had 3D distribution technologies.


title: 3D television

text: There were many active 3D projects in SMPTE for both TV and filmmakers in the late 2000s. The SMPTE 35PM40 Working Group decided (without influence from the SMPTE Board or any other external influence) that the good progress being made on 3D standards within other SMPTE groups (including the IMF Interoperable Master Format) meant that its "overview" project would be best published as an Engineering Report. However, by 2011, the SMPTE board had "abandoned all further work on 3D television".


title: 3D television

text: However, SMPTE was not the only 3D standards group. Other organizations such as the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), 3D@Home Consortium, ITU and the Entertainment Technology Center (ETC), at USC School of Cinematic Arts have created their own investigation groups and have already offered to collaborate to reach a common solution. The Digital TV Group (DTG), has committed to profiling a UK standard for 3DTV products and services. Other standard groups such as DVB, BDA, ARIB, ATSC, DVD Forum, IEC and others were involved in the process.


title: 3D television

text: MPEG has been researching multi-view, stereoscopic, and 2D plus depth 3D video coding since the mid-1990s; the first result of this research is the Multiview Video Coding extension for MPEG-4 AVC that is currently undergoing standardization. MVC has been chosen by the Blu-ray disc association for 3D distribution. The format offers backwards compatibility with 2D Blu-ray players.


title: 3D television

text: HDMI version 1.4, released in June 2009, defines a number of 3D transmission formats. The format "Frame Packing" (left and right image packed into one video frame with twice the normal bandwidth) is mandatory for HDMI 1.4 3D devices. All three resolutions (720p50, 720p60, and 1080p24) have to be supported by display devices, and at least one of those by playback devices. Other resolutions and formats are optional. While HDMI 1.4 devices will be capable of transmitting 3D pictures in full 1080p, HDMI 1.3 does not include such support. As an out-of-spec solution for the bitrate problem, a 3D image may be displayed at a lower resolution, like interlaced or at standard definition.


title: 3D television

text: DVB has established the DVB 3D-TV Specification. The following 3D-TV consumer configurations will be available to the public:


title: 3D television

text: For the two broadcast scenarios above, initial requirements are for Pay-TV broadcasters to deliver 3D-TV services over existing HD broadcasting infrastructures, and to use existing receivers (with firmware upgrade, as required) to deliver 3D content to 3D-TV sets, via an HDMI or equivalent connection, if needed. This is termed Frame Compatible. There are a range of Frame Compatible formats. They include the Side by Side (SbS) format, the Top and Bottom (TaB) format, and others.


title: 3D television

text: Cablevision launched a 3D version of its MSG channel on 24 March 2010, which was a limited service that was only available only to Cablevision subscribers on channel 1300. The channel was dedicated primarily to sports broadcasts, including MSG's 3D broadcast of a New York Rangers-New York Islanders game, limited coverage of the 2010 Masters Tournament, and (in cooperation with YES Network) a game between the New York Yankees and Seattle Mariners.


title: 3D television

text: The first Australian program broadcast in high-definition 3D was Fox Sports coverage of the soccer game Australia-New Zealand on 24 May 2010.


title: 3D television

text: Also in Australia, the Nine Network and Special Broadcasting Service brought the State of Origin (matches on 26 May, 16 June and 7 July 2010) (Nine) and FIFA World Cup (SBS) in 3D on Channel 40 respectively.


title: 3D television

text: In early 2010, Discovery Communications, Imax, and Sony announced plans to launch a 3D TV channel in the US with a planned launch in early 2011. At the same time, a Russian company Platform HD and its partners – General Satellite and Samsung Electronics – announced about their 3D television project, which would be the first similar project in Russia.


title: 3D television

text: In Brazil Rede TV! became the first Terrestrial television to transmit 3D signal freely for all 3D enabled audience on 21 May.


title: 3D television

text: Starting on 11 June 2010, ESPN launched a new channel, ESPN 3D, dedicated to 3D sports with up to 85 live events a year in 3D.


title: 3D television

text: On 1 January 2010, the world's first 3D channel, SKY 3D, started broadcasting nationwide in South Korea by Korea Digital Satellite Broadcasting. The channel's slogan is "World No.1 3D Channel". This 24/7 channel uses the Side by Side technology at a resolution of 1920x1080i. 3D contents include education, animation, sport, documentary and performances.


title: 3D television

text: A full 24-hour broadcast channel was announced at the 2010 Consumer Electronics show as a joint venture from IMAX, Sony, and the Discovery channel. The intent was to launch the channel in the United States by year end 2010. However, this did not materialize in time.


title: 3D television

text: DirecTV and Panasonic launched 2 broadcast channels and 1 Video on demand channel with 3D content in June 2010. DirecTV previewed a live demo of their 3D feed at the Consumer Electronics Show held 7–10 January 2010.


title: 3D television

text: In Europe, British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) launched a limited 3D TV broadcast service on 3 April 2010. Transmitting from the Astra 2A satellite at 28.2° east, Sky 3D broadcast a selection of live English Premier League football matches to over 1000 British pubs and clubs equipped with a Sky+HD Digibox and 3D Ready TVs, and preview programmes provided for free to top-tier Sky HD subscribers with 3D TV equipment. This was later expanded to include a selection of films, sports, and entertainment programming launched to Sky subscribers on 1 October 2010.


title: 3D television

text: Several other European pay-TV networks are also planning 3D TV channels and some have started test transmissions on other Astra satellites, including French pay-TV operator Canal+ which has announced its first 3D channel is to be launched in December 2010. Also the Spanish Canal+ has started the first broadcastings on 18 May 2010 and included 2010 FIFA World Cup matches in the new Canal+ 3D channel. Satellite operator SES started a free-to-air 3D demonstration channel on the Astra satellite at 23.5° east on 4 May 2010 for the opening of the 2010 ANGA Cable international trade fair using 3D programming supplied by 3D Ready TV manufacturer Samsung under an agreement between Astra and Samsung to co-promote 3D TV.


title: 3D television

text: By November 2010, there were eight 3D channels broadcasting to Europe from three Astra satellite positions, including demonstrations provided by Astra, pay-TV from BSkyB, Canal+ and others, and the Dutch Brava3D cultural channel, which provides a mix of classical music, opera and ballet free-to-air across Europe from Astra 23.5°E.


title: 3D television

text: In April 2011, HIGH TV (a 3D family entertainment channel) launched. Headquartered in NY with offices in Hong Kong and London, the channel broadcasts through eight satellites round the world, covering Europe, Asia, the Nordic region, Russia, South America, Africa, Middle East and North America.


title: 3D television

text: 3flow is a 3D channel that began broadcasting on Freebox in France on 1 April 2011. Made up entirely of native stereoscopic programming produced and owned by WildEarth and Sasashani (WildEarth's parent company). Initially the focus was mostly safari and has now widened to include underwater, extreme sports and other 3D content from around the world. WildEarth and Sasashani also distribute 3D series and shows through 3D Content Hub.


title: 3D television

text: On 1 January 2012, China's first 3D Test Channel launched on China Central Television and 5 other networks.


title: 3D television

text: On 1 February 2012: The Extreme Sports Channel – the home of Extreme Sports launched in Italy on Sky Italia marking its international début in high definition (HD).


title: 3D television

text: The channel's HD feed will be a simulcast of the standard definition feed launched in 1999, which now broadcasts to subscribers in 66 territories and in 12 languages across Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA). The inaugural launch on Italy's Sky platform sees the channel's entrance into the HD market and from there it will begin rolling out to operators across the EMEA region.


title: 3D television

text: In February 2012 Telecable de Tricom, a major Dominican cable TV provider, announced the launch of the first 3D TV programming package in Latin America. As of 3 July 2012, the only 3D channels available are 3flow and HIGH TV 3D.


title: 3D television

text: In July 2013 the BBC announced that it would be indefinitely suspending 3D programming due to a lack of uptake. Only half of the estimated 1.5 million households in the UK with a 3D-enabled television watched the 2012 summer's Olympics opening ceremony in 3D.


title: 3D television

text: In 2013, in the US, ESPN 3D was shut down due to lack of demand, followed by Xfinity 3D and all DirecTV 3D programming in 2014.


title: 3D television

text: Standard HD channels have also broadcast in 3D. BBC HD occasionally broadcast high-profile events in 3D including the Wimbledon men's & ladies' singles finals and the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics. However the BBC abandoned 3D broadcasting following the 2013 Wimbledon tennis championships.


title: 3D television

text: There have been several notable examples in television where 3D episodes have been produced, typically as one-hour specials or special events.


title: 3D television

text: The first-ever 3D broadcast in the UK was an episode of the weekly science magazine "The Real World", made by Television South and screened in the UK in February 1982. The program included excerpts of test footage shot by Philips in the Netherlands. Red/green 3D glasses were given away free with copies of the TV Times listings magazine, but the 3D sections of the programme were shown in monochrome. The experiment was repeated nationally in December 1982, with red/blue glasses allowing color 3D to be shown for the first time. The program was repeated the following weekend followed by a rare screening of the Western "Fort Ti" starring George Montgomery and Joan Vohs.


title: 3D television

text: In 1985 Portugal's national TV channel RTP 1 broadcast the movie "Creature from the Black Lagoon" in anaglyph format. Red/cyan 3D glasses were sold with magazines.


title: 3D television

text: In November 1993, the BBC announced a one-off week of 3D programming filmed using the pioneering Pulfrich 3D technique. 3D glasses were sold in shops around the UK, a percentage of the sales going to the Children In Need charity. The week's programming concluded with a screening of the 3D "Doctor Who" special "Dimensions In Time" as well as specially shot segments of Noel's House Party and the annual Children In Need charity appeal.


title: 3D television

text: 3D television episodes were a brief fad on U.S. television during the May 1997 sweeps. The sitcom "3rd Rock from the Sun" showed a two-part episode, "Nightmare On Dick Street", where several of the characters' dreams are shown in 3D. The episode cued its viewers to put on their 3D glasses (which used the Pulfrich effect) by including "3D on" and "3D off" icons in the corner of the screen as a way to alert them as to when the 3D sequences would start and finish. Customers were given free glasses courtesy of a joint venture between Little Caesars pizza and Barq's Root Beer. Also in May 1997, ABC had a special line-up of shows that showcased specific scenes in 3D. The shows included "Home Improvement", "Spin City", "The Drew Carey Show", "Ellen", "Family Matters", "Step by Step", "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch", and "America's Funniest Home Videos". Similar to "3rd Rock", an icon alerted viewers when to put on the 3D glasses. Customers were given free anaglyph glasses at Wendy's for the promotion. Nickelodeon had a special lineup of shows in 1997 that also showcased specific scenes in 3D promoted as Nogglevision; ChromaDepth was the technology of choice for Nickelodeon's 3D.


title: 3D television

text: Recent uses of 3D in television include the drama "Medium" and the comedy "Chuck" (Season 2, episode 12).


title: 3D television

text: Channel 4 in the UK ran a short season of 3D programming in November 2009 including Derren Brown and The Queen in 3D. Unlike previous British 3D TV experiments, the programmes were transmitted in ColorCode 3D.


title: 3D television

text: In May 2006 Portugal's national TV channel RTP 1 broadcast several shows in anaglyph format ("Real 3D") for a week. Red/cyan 3D glasses were sold exclusively by a hypermarket chain.


title: 3D television

text: On 31 January 2010, BSKYB became the first broadcaster in the world to show a live sports event in 3D when Sky Sports screened a football match between Manchester United and Arsenal to a public audience in several selected pubs.


title: 3D television

text: On 31 January 2010, the 52nd Grammy Awards featured a Michael Jackson Tribute Sequence in 3D, using anaglyph format.


title: 3D television

text: The very first stereoscopic indie live action comedy one-hour show called "Safety Geeks : SVI : 3D" specifically for 3DTV and 3D VOD was produced and released in March 2010 through Digital Dynamic Depth / Yabazam and their Yabazam website portal. "Safety Geeks:SVI" is the comic adventures of an elite force of safety experts, the P.O.S.H. (Professional Occupational Safety Hazard) team. Obsessed with making the world safer, the CSI-like team investigates accidents to find out what went wrong and who is to blame. It won the Los Angeles 3D film Festival in 2010 as best pilot or series in 3D.


title: 3D television

text: The Roland Garros tennis tournament in Paris, from 23 May to 6 June 2010, was filmed in 3D (center court only) and broadcast live via ADSL and fiber to Orange subscribers throughout France in a dedicated Orange TV channel.


title: 3D television

text: Fox Sports broadcasts the first program in 3D in Australia when the Socceroos played The New Zealand All Whites at the MCG on 24 May 2010.


title: 3D television

text: The Nine Network broadcast the first Free-to-air 3D telecast when the Queensland Maroons faced the New South Wales Blues at ANZ Stadium on 26 May 2010.


title: 3D television

text: The Inauguration of Philippine President Noynoy Aquino on 30 June 2010 was the first presidential inauguration to telecast in live 3D by GMA Network. However, the telecast was only available in select places.


title: 3D television

text: The 2010 Coke Zero 400 was broadcast in 3D on 3 July on NASCAR.com and DirecTV along with Comcast, TWC, and Bright House cable systems.


title: 3D television

text: Satellite delivered Bell TV in Canada began to offer a full-time pay-TV, 3D channel to its subscribers on 27 July 2010.


title: 3D television

text: The 2010 PGA Championship was broadcast in 3D for four hours on 13 August 2010, from 3–7 pm EDT. The broadcast was available on DirecTV, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, Bright House Networks, Cox Communications, and Cablevision.


title: 3D television

text: In September 2010, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's first 3D broadcast was a special about the Canadian monarch, Elizabeth II, and included 3-D film footage of the Queen's 1953 coronation as well as 3D video of her 2010 tour of Canada. This marks the first time the historical 3D images have been seen anywhere on television as well as the first broadcast of a Canadian produced 3D programme in Canada.


title: 3D television

text: FioS and the NFL partnered to broadcast 2 September 2010, pre-season game between the New England Patriots and the New York Giants in 3D. The game was only broadcast in 3D in the northeast.


title: 3D television

text: In May 2011, 3net released the first docu-reality TV series entitled "Bullproof" filmed in native 3D made by Digital Revolution Studios.


title: 3D television

text: The 2011 3D Creative Arts Awards "Your World in 3D" was the first award show filmed in native 3D and televised on 3net 3D channel broadcast on DirectTV. The production was filmed at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.


title: 3D television

text: On 16 July 2011 – The Parlotones (South African Rock Act) became the first band to broadcast a Live Rock Opera to Terrestrial CInema in 3D, a Live 3D feed to DIRECT TV in the US and Facebook pay per view. It was called "Dragonflies & Astronauts".


title: 3D television

text: Singapore based Tiny Island Productions is currently producing "Dream Defenders", which will be available in both autostereoscopic and stereoscopic 3D formats. 3net, which acquired the series, describes it as the first stereoscopic children's series and will air on 25 September 2011.


title: 3D television

text: In July 2011, the BBC announced that the grand final of "Strictly Come Dancing" in December 2011 will air in 3-D.


title: 3D television

text: In February 2012 Telecable de Tricom, a major Dominican cable TV provider, announced the launch of the first 3D TV programming package in Latin America. As of 10 August 2012 the only 3D channels available are Wildearth, 3 Flow 3D, and High TV 3D.


title: 3D television

text: The Xbox Live broadcasts of the 2012 Miss Universe and Miss USA beauty pageants were available in RealD 3D.


title: 3D television

text: In 2013, in Brazil, NET HD pay-per-view broadcasts of the thirteenth season of "Big Brother Brasil" were available in 3D.


title: 3D television

text: In July 2013, the BBC announced that they were putting 3D broadcasts on hold due to lack of audience interest, even from those who owned 3D TV displays.


title: 3D television

text: As one of their final 3D broadcasts, 23 November 2013, the BBC aired a special 3D episode of "Doctor Who" in celebration of that show's fiftieth anniversary. That episode, The Day of the Doctor, was filmed and produced in 3D, and broadcast in 2D and 3D in the UK, with simultaneous showings in 3D in cinemas around the world. It has since been made available on 3D Blu-ray.


title: 3D television

text: As early as 2013, 3D televisions were being seen as a fad. DirecTV had stopped broadcasting 3D programs in 2012, while ESPN stopped in 2013. In the UK, Sky moved its content to on-demand, and the BBC ended airing 3D shows in 2013 due to "lack of public appetite".


title: 3D television

text: Fewer and fewer 3D TVs were sold and soon TV manufacturers stopped making them. Vizio stopped production in 2014 and was followed by others. In January 2017, the last two major television manufacturers still producing 3D televisions, Sony and LG, announced they would stop all 3D support.


title: 3D television

text: The 2011 UEFA Champions League Final match between Manchester United and Barcelona was broadcast live in 3D format on a Ukrainian-produced EKTA screen in Gothenburg, Sweden. The screen made it to "The Guinness Book of World Records" as the world's biggest screen. The live 3D broadcast was provided by the company Viasat.


title: 3D television

text: Some viewers have complained of headaches, seizures and eyestrain after watching 3D films. There have been several warnings, especially for the elderly. Motion sickness, in addition to other health concerns, is more easily induced by 3D presentations.


title: 3D television

text: There are primarily two effects of 3D TV that are unnatural for the human vision: crosstalk between the eyes caused by imperfect image separation and the mismatch between convergence and accommodation caused by the difference between an object's perceived position in front of or behind the screen and the real origin of that light on the screen.


title: 3D television

text: It is believed that approximately 12% of people are unable to properly see 3D images, owing to a variety of medical conditions. According to another experiment, up to 30% of people have very weak stereoscopic vision preventing depth perception based on stereo disparity. This nullifies or greatly decreases immersion effects of digital stereo to them.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The second Arab siege of Constantinople in 717–718 was a combined land and sea offensive by the Muslim Arabs of the Umayyad Caliphate against the capital city of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople. The campaign marked the culmination of twenty years of attacks and progressive Arab occupation of the Byzantine borderlands, while Byzantine strength was sapped by prolonged internal turmoil. In 716, after years of preparations, the Arabs, led by Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik, invaded Byzantine Asia Minor. The Arabs initially hoped to exploit Byzantine civil strife and made common cause with the general Leo III the Isaurian, who had risen up against Emperor Theodosius III. Leo, however, tricked them and secured the Byzantine throne for himself.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: After wintering in the western coastlands of Asia Minor, the Arab army crossed into Thrace in early summer 717 and built siege lines to blockade the city, which was protected by the massive Theodosian Walls. The Arab fleet, which accompanied the land army and was meant to complete the city's blockade by sea, was neutralized soon after its arrival by the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire. This allowed Constantinople to be resupplied by sea, while the Arab army was crippled by famine and disease during the unusually hard winter that followed. In spring 718, two Arab fleets sent as reinforcements were destroyed by the Byzantines after their Christian crews defected, and an additional army sent overland through Asia Minor was ambushed and defeated. Coupled with attacks by the Bulgars on their rear, the Arabs were forced to lift the siege on 15 August 718. On its return journey, the Arab fleet was almost completely destroyed by natural disasters.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The siege's failure had wide-ranging repercussions. The rescue of Constantinople ensured the continued survival of Byzantium, while the Caliphate's strategic outlook was altered: although regular attacks on Byzantine territories continued, the goal of outright conquest was abandoned. Historians consider the siege to be one of history's most important battles, as its failure postponed the Muslim advance into Southeastern Europe for centuries.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Following the first Arab siege of Constantinople (674–678), the Arabs and Byzantines experienced a period of peace. After 680, the Umayyad Caliphate was in the throes of the Second Muslim Civil War and the consequent Byzantine ascendancy in the East enabled the emperors to extract huge amounts of tribute from the Umayyad government in Damascus. In 692, as the Umayyads emerged as victors from their civil war, Emperor Justinian II () resumed hostilities with the Caliphate. The result was a series of Arab victories that led to the loss of Byzantine control over Armenia and the Caucasian principalities, and a gradual encroachment upon Byzantine borderlands. Year by year, the Caliphate's generals, usually members of the Umayyad family, launched raids into Byzantine territory and captured fortresses and towns. After 712, the Byzantine defensive system began to show signs of collapse: Arab raids penetrated further and further into Asia Minor, border fortresses were repeatedly attacked and sacked, and references to Byzantine reaction in the sources become more and more scarce. In this, the Arabs were aided by the prolonged period of internal instability that followed the first deposition of Justinian II in 695, in which the Byzantine throne changed hands seven times in violent coups. In the words of the Byzantinist Warren Treadgold, "the Arab attacks would in any case have intensified after the end of their own civil war ... With far more men, land and wealth than Byzantium, the Arabs had begun to concentrate all their strength against it. Now they threatened to extinguish the empire entirely by capturing its capital."


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The information available on the siege comes from sources composed in later dates, which are often mutually contradictory. The main Byzantine source is the extensive and detailed account of the "Chronicle" of Theophanes the Confessor (760–817) and secondarily the brief account in the "Breviarium" of Patriarch Nikephoros I of Constantinople (died 828), which shows small differences, mainly chronological, from Theophanes's version. For the events of the siege, both authors appear to have used a primary account composed during the reign of Leo III the Isaurian () which therefore contains a favourable depiction of the latter, while Theophanes apparently relies on an unknown biography of Leo (ignored by Nikephoros) for the events of 716. The 8th-century chronicler Theophilus of Edessa records the years leading up to the siege and the siege itself in some detail, paying particular attention to the diplomacy between Maslama and Leo III. The Arab sources, mainly the 11th-century and the more concise narrative in the "History of the Prophets and Kings" by al-Tabari (838–923), rely on primary accounts by early 9th-century Arab writers, but are more confused and contain several legendary elements. The Syriac language accounts are based on Agapius of Hierapolis (died 942), who likely drew from the same primary source as Theophanes, but are far briefer.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The Arab successes opened the way for a second assault on Constantinople, an undertaking already initiated under Caliph al-Walid I (). Following his death, his brother and successor Sulayman () took up the project with increased vigour, according to Arab accounts because of a prophecy that a Caliph bearing the name of a prophet would capture Constantinople; Sulayman (Solomon) was the only member of the Umayyad family to bear such a name. According to Syriac sources, the new Caliph swore "to not stop fighting against Constantinople before having exhausted the country of the Arabs or to have taken the city". The Umayyad forces began assembling at the plain of Dabiq north of Aleppo, under the direct supervision of the Caliph. As Sulayman was too sick to campaign himself, however, he entrusted command to his brother Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik. The operation against Constantinople came at a time when the Umayyad empire was undergoing a period of continuous expansion to the east and west. Muslim armies advanced into Transoxiana, India, and the Visigothic Kingdom of Hispania.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Arab preparations, especially the construction of a large fleet, did not go unnoticed by the worried Byzantines. Emperor Anastasios II () sent an embassy to Damascus under the patrician and urban prefect, Daniel of Sinope, ostensibly in order to plea for peace, but in reality to spy on the Arabs. Anastasios, in turn, began to prepare for the inevitable siege: the fortifications of Constantinople were repaired and equipped with ample artillery (catapults and other siege weapons), while food stores were brought into the city. In addition, those inhabitants who could not stockpile food for at least three years were evacuated. Anastasios strengthened his navy and in early 715 dispatched it against the Arab fleet that had come to Phoenix—usually identified with modern Finike in Lycia, it may also be modern Fenaket across Rhodes, or perhaps Phoenicia (modern Lebanon), famed for its cedar forests—to collect timber for their ships. At Rhodes, however, the Byzantine fleet, encouraged by the soldiers of the Opsician Theme, rebelled, killed their commander John the Deacon and sailed north to Adramyttium. There, they acclaimed a reluctant tax collector, Theodosius, as emperor. Anastasios crossed into Bithynia in the Opsician Theme to confront the rebellion, but the rebel fleet sailed on to Chrysopolis. From there, it launched attacks against Constantinople, until, in late summer, sympathizers within the capital opened its gates to them. Anastasios held out at Nicaea for several months, finally agreeing to resign and retire as a monk. The accession of Theodosios, who from the sources comes across as both unwilling and incapable, as a puppet emperor of the Opsicians provoked the reaction of the other themes, especially the Anatolics and the Armeniacs under their respective ('generals') Leo the Isaurian and Artabasdos.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: In these conditions of near-civil war, the Arabs began their carefully prepared advance. In September 715, the vanguard, under general Sulayman ibn Mu'ad, marched over Cilicia into Asia Minor, taking the strategic fortress of Loulon on its way. They wintered at Afik, an unidentified location near the western exit of the Cilician Gates. In early 716, Sulayman's army continued into central Asia Minor. The Umayyad fleet under Umar ibn Hubayra cruised along the Cilician coast, while Maslama ibn Abd al-Malik awaited developments with the main army in Syria.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The Arabs hoped that the disunity among the Byzantines would play to their advantage. Maslama had already established contact with Leo the Isaurian. French scholar Rodolphe Guilland theorized that Leo offered to become a vassal of the Caliphate, although the Byzantine general intended to use the Arabs for his own purposes. In turn, Maslama supported Leo hoping to maximize confusion and weaken the Empire, easing his own task of taking Constantinople.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Sulayman's first objective was the strategically important fortress of Amorium, which the Arabs intended to use as a base the following winter. Amorium had been left defenceless in the turmoil of the civil war and would have easily fallen, but the Arabs chose to bolster Leo's position as a counterweight to Theodosios. They offered the city terms of surrender if its inhabitants would acknowledge Leo as emperor. The fortress capitulated, but still did not open its gates to the Arabs. Leo came to the vicinity with a handful of soldiers and executed a series of ruses and negotiations to garrison 800 men in the town. The Arab army, thwarted in its objective and with supplies running low, withdrew. Leo escaped to Pisidia and, in summer, supported by Artabasdos, was proclaimed and crowned as Byzantine emperor, openly challenging Theodosios.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Leo's success at Amorium was fortunately timed, since Maslama with the main Arab army had in the meantime crossed the Taurus Mountains and was marching straight for the city. In addition, as the Arab general had not received news of Leo's double-dealing, he did not devastate the territories he marched through—the Armeniac and Anatolic themes, whose governors he still believed to be his allies. On meeting up with Sulayman's retreating army and learning what had transpired, Maslama changed direction: he attacked Akroinon and from there marched to the western coastlands to spend the winter. On his way, he sacked Sardis and Pergamon. The Arab fleet wintered in Cilicia. Leo, in the meantime, began his own march on Constantinople. He captured Nicomedia, where he found and captured, among other officials, Theodosios's son, and then marched to Chrysopolis. In spring 717, after short negotiations, he secured Theodosios's resignation and his recognition as emperor, entering the capital on 25 March. Theodosios and his son were allowed to retire to a monastery as monks, while Artabasdos was promoted to the position of and received the hand of Leo's daughter, Anna.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: From the outset, the Arabs prepared for a major assault on Constantinople. The late 8th-century Syriac "Zuqnin Chronicle" reports that the Arabs were "innumerable", while the 12th-century Syriac chronicler Michael the Syrian mentions a much-inflated 200,000 men and 5,000 ships. The 10th-century Arab writer al-Mas'udi mentions 120,000 troops, and the account of Theophanes the Confessor 1,800 ships. Supplies for several years were hoarded, and siege engines and incendiary materials (naphtha) were stockpiled. The supply train alone is said to have numbered 12,000 men, 6,000 camels and 6,000 donkeys, while according to the 13th-century historian Bar Hebraeus, the troops included 30,000 volunteers () for the Holy War (). The Byzantines' strength is entirely unknown, but Constantinople's defenders likely did not number over 15,000 men, given both the exhaustion of the Byzantine Empire's manpower and the limitations imposed by the need to maintain and feed such a force.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Whatever the true numbers, the attackers were considerably more numerous than the defenders; according to Treadgold, the Arab host may have outnumbered the entire Byzantine army. Little is known on the detailed composition of the Arab force, but it appears that it mostly consisted of, and was led by, Syrians and Jazirans of the elite ('People of Syria'), the main pillar of the Umayyad regime and veterans of the struggle against Byzantium. Alongside Maslama, Umar ibn Hubayra, Sulayman ibn Mu'ad, and Bakhtari ibn al-Hasan are mentioned as his lieutenants by Theophanes and Agapius of Hierapolis, while the later replaces Bakhtari with Abdallah al-Battal.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Although the siege consumed a large part of the Caliphate's manpower and resources, it was still capable of launching raids against the Byzantine frontier in eastern Asia Minor during the siege's duration: in 717, Caliph Sulayman's son Daud captured a fortress near Melitene and in 718 Amr ibn Qais raided the frontier. On the Byzantine side, the numbers are unknown. Aside from Anastasius II's preparations (which might have been neglected following his deposition), the Byzantines could count on the assistance of the Bulgar ruler Tervel, with whom Leo concluded a treaty that possibly included alliance against the Arabs.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: In early summer, Maslama ordered his fleet to join him and with his army crossed the Hellespont (Dardanelles) at Abydos into Thrace. The Arabs began their march on Cοnstantinople, thoroughly devastating the countryside, gathering supplies, and sacking the towns they encountered. In mid-July or mid-August, the Arab army reached Constantinople and isolated it completely on land by building a double siege wall of stone, one facing the city and one facing the Thracian countryside, with their camp positioned between them. According to Arab sources, at this point Leo offered to ransom the city by paying a gold coin for every inhabitant, but Maslama replied that there could not be peace with the vanquished, and that the Arab garrison of Constantinople had already been selected.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The Arab fleet under Sulayman (often confused with the Caliph himself in the medieval sources) arrived on 1 September, anchoring at first near the Hebdomon. Two days later, Sulayman led his fleet into the Bosphorus and the various squadrons began anchoring by the European and Asian suburbs of the city: one part sailed south of Chalcedon to the harbours of Eutropios and Anthemios to watch over the southern entrance of the Bosporus, while the rest of the fleet sailed into the strait, passed by Constantinople and began making landfall on the coasts between Galata and Kleidion, cutting the Byzantine capital's communication with the Black Sea. But as the Arab fleet's rearguard, twenty heavy ships with 2,000 marines, was passing the city, the southerly wind stopped and then reversed, drifting them towards the city walls, where a Byzantine squadron attacked them with Greek fire. Theophanes reported that some went down with all hands, while others, burning, sailed down to the Princes' Islands of Oxeia and Plateia. The victory encouraged the Byzantines and dejected the Arabs, who, according to Theophanes, had originally intended to sail to the sea walls during the night and try to scale them using the ships' steering paddles. The same night, Leo drew up the chain between the city and Galata, closing the entrance to the Golden Horn. The Arab fleet became reluctant to engage the Byzantines, and withdrew to the safe harbour of Sosthenion further north on the European shore of the Bosporus.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The Arab army was well-provisioned, with Arab accounts reporting high mounds of supplies piled up in their camp, and had even brought along wheat to sow and harvest the next year. The failure of the Arab navy to blockade the city, however, meant that the Byzantines too could ferry in provisions. In addition, the Arab army had already devastated the Thracian countryside during its march and could not rely on it for foraging. The Arab fleet and the second Arab army, which operated in the Asian suburbs of Constantinople, were able to bring in limited supplies to Maslama's army. As the siege drew into winter, negotiations opened between the two sides, extensively reported by Arab sources but ignored by Byzantine historians. According to the Arab accounts, Leo continued to play a double game with the Arabs. One version claims that he tricked Maslama into handing over most of his grain supplies, while another claims that the Arab general was persuaded to burn them altogether, so as to show the inhabitants of the city that they faced an imminent assault and induce them to surrender. The winter of 718 was extremely harsh; snow covered the ground for over three months. As the supplies in the Arab camp ran out, a terrible famine broke out: the soldiers ate their horses, camels, and other livestock, and the bark, leaves and roots of trees. They swept the snow of the fields they had sown to eat the green shoots, and reportedly resorted to cannibalism and eating the dung of each other and their animals. Consequently, the Arab army was ravaged by epidemics; with great exaggeration, the Lombard historian Paul the Deacon put the number of their dead of hunger and disease at 300,000.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The Arab situation looked set to improve in spring when the new Caliph, Umar II (), sent two fleets to the besiegers' aid: 400 ships from Egypt under a commander named Sufyan and 360 ships from Africa under Izid, all laden with supplies and arms. At the same time, a fresh army began marching through Asia Minor to assist in the siege. When the new fleets arrived in the Sea of Marmara, they kept their distance from the Byzantines and anchored on the Asian shore, the Egyptians in the Gulf of Nicomedia near modern Tuzla and the Africans south of Chalcedon (at Satyros, Bryas and Kartalimen). Most of the Arab fleets' crews were composed of Christian Egyptians, however, and they began deserting to the Byzantines upon their arrival. Notified by the Egyptians of the advent and disposition of the Arab reinforcements, Leo launched his fleet in an attack against the new Arab fleets. Crippled by the defection of their crews, and helpless against Greek fire, the Arab ships were destroyed or captured along with the weapons and supplies they carried. Constantinople was now safe from a seaborne attack. On land too the Byzantines were victorious: their troops managed to ambush the advancing Arab army under a commander named Mardasan and destroy it in the hills around Sophon, south of Nicomedia.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Constantinople could now be easily resupplied by sea and the city's fishermen went back to work, as the Arab fleet did not sail again. Still suffering from hunger and pestilence, the Arabs lost a major battle against the Bulgars, who killed, according to Theophanes, 22,000 men. The sources are divided on the details of the Bulgar participation in the siege: Theophanes and al-Tabari report that the Bulgars attacked the Arab encampment (likely because of their treaty with Leo), while according to the Syriac "Chronicle of 846", it was the Arabs who strayed into Bulgar territory, seeking provisions. Michael the Syrian on the other hand mentions that the Bulgars participated in the siege from the beginning, with attacks against the Arabs as they marched through Thrace towards Constantinople, and subsequently on their encampment. The siege had clearly failed, and Caliph Umar sent orders to Maslama to retreat. After thirteen months of siege, on 15 August 718, the Arabs departed. The date coincided with the feast of the Dormition of the Theotokos (Assumption of Mary), and it was to her that the Byzantines ascribed their victory. The retreating Arabs were not hindered or attacked on their return, but their fleet lost more ships in a storm in the Sea of Marmara, while other ships were set afire by ashes from the volcano of Santorini, and some of the survivors were captured by the Byzantines, so that Theophanes claims that only five vessels made it back to Syria. Arab sources claim that altogether 150,000 Muslims perished during the campaign, a figure which, according to the Byzantinist John Haldon, "while certainly inflated, is nevertheless indicative of the enormity of the disaster in medieval eyes".


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The expedition's failure weakened the Umayyad state. As historian Bernard Lewis commented, "Its failure brought a grave moment for Umayyad power. The financial strain of equipping and maintaining the expedition caused an aggravation of the fiscal and financial oppression which had already aroused such dangerous opposition. The destruction of the fleet and army of Syria at the sea walls of Constantinople deprived the regime of the chief material basis of its power". The blow to the Caliphate's might was severe, and although the land army did not suffer losses in the same degree as the fleet, Umar is recorded as contemplating withdrawing from the recent conquests of Hispania and Transoxiana, as well as a complete evacuation of Cilicia and other Byzantine territories that the Arabs had seized over the previous years. Although his advisors dissuaded him from such drastic actions, most Arab garrisons were withdrawn from the Byzantine frontier districts they had occupied in the lead-up to the siege. In Cilicia, only Mopsuestia remained in Arab hands as a defensive bulwark to protect Antioch. The Byzantines even recovered some territory in western Armenia for a time. In 719, the Byzantine fleet raided the Syrian coast and burned down the port of Laodicea and, in 720 or 721, the Byzantines attacked and sacked Tinnis in Egypt. Leo also restored control over Sicily, where news of the Arab siege of Constantinople and expectations of the city's fall had prompted the local governor to declare an emperor of his own, Basil Onomagoulos. It was during this time, however, that effective Byzantine control over Sardinia and Corsica ceased.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Besides this, the Byzantines failed to exploit their success in launching attacks of their own against the Arabs. In 720, after a hiatus of two years, Arab raids against Byzantium resumed, although now they were no longer directed at conquest, but rather seeking booty. The Arab attacks would intensify again over the next two decades, until the major Byzantine victory at the Battle of Akroinon in 740. Coupled with military defeats on the other fronts of the overextended Caliphate, and the internal instability which culminated in the Abbasid Revolution, the age of Arab expansion came to an end.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The second Arab siege of Constantinople was far more dangerous for Byzantium than the first as, unlike the loose blockade of 674–678, the Arabs launched a direct, well-planned attack on the Byzantine capital, and tried to cut off the city completely from land and sea. The siege represented a final effort by the Caliphate to "cut off the head" of the Byzantine Empire, after which the remaining provinces, especially in Asia Minor, would be easy to capture. The reasons for the Arab failure were chiefly logistical, as they were operating too far from their Syrian bases, but the superiority of the Byzantine navy through the use of Greek fire, the strength of Constantinople's fortifications, and the skill of Leo III in deception and negotiations also played important roles.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The failure of the Arab siege led to a profound change in the nature of warfare between Byzantium and the Caliphate. The Muslim goal of conquest of Constantinople was effectively abandoned, and the frontier between the two empires stabilized along the line of the Taurus and Antitaurus Mountains, over which both sides continued to launch regular raids and counter-raids. In this incessant border warfare, frontier towns and fortresses changed hands frequently, but the general outline of the border remained unaltered for over two centuries, until the Byzantine conquests of the 10th century. The eastern fleets of the Caliphate entered a century-long decline; only the Ifriqiyan fleets maintained regular raids on Byzantine Sicily, until they too subsided after 752. Indeed, with the exception of the advance of the Abbasid army under Harun al-Rashid up to Chrysopolis in 782, no other Arab army would ever come within sight of the Byzantine capital again. Consequently, on the Muslim side the raids themselves eventually acquired an almost ritual character, and were valued mostly as a demonstration of the continuing and sponsored by the Caliph as a symbol of his role as the leader of the Muslim community.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: The outcome of the siege was of considerable macrohistorical importance. The Byzantine capital's survival preserved the Empire as a bulwark against Islamic expansion into Europe until the 15th century, when it fell to the Ottoman Turks. Along with the Battle of Tours in 732, the successful defence of Constantinople has been seen as instrumental in stopping Muslim expansion into Europe. Historian Ekkehard Eickhoff writes that "had a victorious Caliph made Constantinople already at the beginning of the Middle Ages into the political capital of Islam, as happened at the end of the Middle Ages by the Ottomans—the consequences for Christian Europe [...] would have been incalculable", as the Mediterranean would have become an Arab lake, and the Germanic successor states in Western Europe would have been cut off from the Mediterranean roots of their culture. Military historian Paul K. Davis summed up the siege's importance as follows: "By turning back the Moslem invasion, Europe remained in Christian hands, and no serious Moslem threat to Europe existed until the fifteenth century. This victory, coincident with the Frankish victory at Tours (732), limited Islam's western expansion to the southern Mediterranean world." Thus the historian John B. Bury called 718 "an ecumenical date", while the Greek historian Spyridon Lambros likened the siege to the Battle of Marathon and Leo III to Miltiades. Consequently, military historians often include the siege in lists of the "decisive battles" of world history.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Among Arabs, the 717–718 siege became the most famous of their expeditions against Byzantium. Several accounts survive, but most were composed at later dates and are semi-fictional and contradictory. In legend, the defeat was transformed into a victory: Maslama departed only after symbolically entering the Byzantine capital on his horse accompanied by thirty riders, where Leo received him with honour and led him to the Hagia Sophia. After Leo paid homage to Maslama and promised tribute, Maslama and his troops—30,000 out of the original 80,000 that set out for Constantinople—departed for Syria. The tales of the siege influenced similar episodes in Arabic epic literature. A siege of Constantinople is found in the tale of Omar bin al-Nu'uman and his sons in the "Thousand and One Nights", while both Maslama and the Caliph Sulayman appear in a tale of the "Hundred and One Nights" from the Maghreb. The commander of Maslama's bodyguard, Abdallah al-Battal, became a celebrated figure in Arab and Turkish poetry as "Battal Gazi" for his exploits in the Arab raids of the next decades. Similarly, the 10th-century epic "Delhemma", related to the cycle around Battal, gives a fictionalized version of the 717–718 siege.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Later Muslim and Byzantine tradition also ascribed the building of Constantinople's first mosque, near the city's , to Maslama. In reality, the mosque near the was probably erected in about 860, as a result of an Arab embassy in that year. Ottoman tradition also ascribed the building of the Arap Mosque (located outside Constantinople proper in Galata) to Maslama, although it erroneously dated this to around 686, probably confusing Maslama's attack with the first Arab siege in the 670s. The passing of the Arab army also left traces at Abydos, where "Maslama's Well" and a mosque attributed to him were still known in the 10th century.


title: Siege of Constantinople (717–718)

text: Eventually, following their repeated failures before Constantinople, and the continued resilience of the Byzantine state, the Muslims began to project the fall of Constantinople to the distant future. Thus the city's fall came to be regarded as one of the signs of the arrival of the end times in Islamic eschatology. The siege became a motif in Byzantine apocalyptic literature as well, with decisive final battles against the Arabs before the walls of Constantinople being featured in the early 8th-century Greek translation of the Syriac "Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius" and the "Apocalypse of Daniel", written either at about the time of the siege or a century later.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: The Grumman American AA-5 series is a family of American all-metal, four-seat, light aircraft used for touring and training. The line includes the original American Aviation AA-5 Traveler, the Grumman American AA-5 Traveler, AA-5A Cheetah, and AA-5B Tiger, the Gulfstream American AA-5A Cheetah and AA-5B Tiger, the American General AG-5B Tiger, and the Tiger Aircraft AG-5B Tiger.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: Following American Aviation's success with the AA-1 Yankee Clipper two-seat light aircraft in 1969, the company decided to produce a four-seat aircraft. They started with a new "clean-sheet" design that was designated the American Aviation AA-2 Patriot. The AA-2 design did not meet its performance goals during test-flying and only one was ever built.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: Still needing a four-seat aircraft to fill its product line, the company simply enlarged the external and cabin dimensions of the AA-1 Yankee to create the four-seater. This decision capitalized on the marketplace identification of the Yankee and its derivative the AA-1A Trainer and also resulted in 2/3 parts commonality between the designs, saving development time and production costs.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: The new four-place aircraft, named the American Aviation AA-5 Traveler, was powered by a Lycoming O-320-E2G engine of . It would carry four people at cruise speed and was certified under US FAR Part 23.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: Production of the Traveler had just started in 1971 when American Aviation was sold to Grumman and became the Grumman American division. Grumman continued production of the Traveler. 834 Travelers had been produced when production of this model ceased in 1975.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: A redesign of the AA-5 was undertaken in 1974, with the resulting 1975 model Traveler featuring an aerodynamic cleanup of the engine cowling and main landing gear fairings. The tail section remained unchanged. As a result of these changes the 1975 Traveler had a cruise speed of . The Traveler was superseded in production the following year by the further refined AA-5A Cheetah.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: Grumman's engineers felt that the AA-5 design had more speed potential than the original Traveler, even with its 1975 improvements, and so embarked on an aerodynamic cleanup and redesign. Changes were made to the engine cowling and baffling to reduce cooling drag, the exhaust system was redesigned, the main landing gear fairings were further improved, the ventral fin was eliminated, and the horizontal tail was enlarged to allow a larger center of gravity range. Fuel capacity was increased from the Traveler's 37 US gallons to 52 gallons, thus increasing its range.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: The new variant was named the AA-5A Cheetah and was introduced as a 1976 model in late 1975. In keeping with its namesake it was six knots (seven mph) faster than the Traveler with the same Lycoming O-320-E2G powerplant. Because the Cheetah looked very much like the Traveler externally, Grumman's marketing department created a "leaping cheetah" emblem to differentiate it from the earlier AA-5.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: Grumman sold its light aircraft division to Gulfstream Aerospace in 1978 and the division was renamed Gulfstream American. Gulfstream continued production of the AA-5A until 1979. A total of 900 Cheetahs were produced.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: The final variant of the AA-5 line was the AA-5B Tiger. The Tiger was designed by Grumman engineers and was first produced in late 1974 as the 1975 model.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: The Tiger was the outcome of the same redesign work on the AA-5 Traveler that resulted in the Cheetah and it was originally little more than the same aircraft with a Lycoming O-360-A4K engine, resulting in a cruise speed. Gross weight was increased from the AA-5/AA-5A's to on the Tiger. Externally the Tiger looked much like the AA-5 Traveler and AA-5A Cheetah so once again Grumman's marketing department came up with a distinctive decal package to differentiate the design – this time a "galloping tiger".


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: While the earlier AA-1s and AA-5s did not change much from year to year the AA-5B Tiger underwent almost continual improvement. As with the AA-5A, the AA-5B was continued in production by Gulfstream when they purchased Grumman's American division. Gulfstream ceased production of all piston-engined aircraft in 1979 and the highly successful Tiger design went out of production after 1323 aircraft had been delivered.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: For eleven years the design was not produced and then in the late 1980s a new company was formed to produce the Tiger. American General Aviation Corporation carried out further design improvements including introducing a new split nose cowling (engine cover) that could be removed without removing the propeller, a new instrument panel, improved exterior lighting, a new fuel quantity indication system, a 28 volt electrical system replacing the older 14 volt system, a new-style throttle quadrant, and improvements to the heat and ventilation systems. Aerodynamic improvements raised the optimal altitude cruise speed from true airspeed to TAS. The redesigned aircraft was put into production under an amended type certificate as the American General AG-5B Tiger. The new company had considered producing AA-1s and AA-5A Cheetahs, but those plans were never fulfilled before it closed its doors in 1993. American General produced Tigers for model years 1990–93 and delivered 181 aircraft in that time.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: The design has a strong following among pilots and aircraft owners and so, in 1999, a new company was formed to put the Tiger back into production. Tiger Aircraft started production of the AG-5B Tiger in 2001 at their plant in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Tiger Aircraft did not produce any other models of the AA-1 or AA-5 family, although they owned the type certificates for the complete line of aircraft. Between 2001 and 2006 Tiger Aircraft produced 51 AG-5Bs. By the middle of 2006 Tiger Aircraft was experiencing financial problems and production of AG-5Bs had been halted and production workers laid off. Tiger Aircraft filed for bankruptcy in January 2007.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: On August 2, 2007, the Federal Bankruptcy Court approved the sale of Tiger Aircraft assets to True Flight Holdings LLC. True Flight has indicated its intention to produce parts and also return the AG-5B Tiger to production as soon as possible at a planned facility on a lot at the Valdosta, Georgia, Airport, but as of 2021 had not produced any complete aircraft.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: All models of the AA-5 have four seats under a sliding canopy, which can be partly opened in flight for ventilation. Entry for all four occupants is from the wing root over the canopy sill. Compared to competitive aircraft of the same era the AA-5s are noted for their light and pleasant handling characteristics as well as high cruising speed for the installed power.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: As derivatives of the original AA-1 Yankee, the AA-5 series share the same unique bonded aluminum wing and honeycomb fuselage that eliminates the need for rivets without sacrificing strength. The main landing gear is fibreglass with a spring-steel nose gear tube. There is no nosewheel steering as the nosewheel is free-castering through 180 degrees. Steering is by main wheel differential braking operated by using one's toes to push the tops of the rudder pedals. The wings have dihedral to improve lateral stability.


title: Grumman American AA-5

text: In 2019, Garmin received a Supplemental Type Certificate for a full G3X Touch glass cockpit installation for the aircraft.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Fort Stewart is a United States Army post in the U.S. state of Georgia. It lies primarily in Liberty and Bryan counties, but also extends into smaller portions of Evans, Long and Tattnall counties. The population was 11,205 at the 2000 census. The nearby city of Hinesville, along with Ft. Stewart and the rest of Liberty and Long Counties, comprise the Hinesville metropolitan area. Many of Fort Stewart's residents are members of the 3rd Infantry Division.


title: Fort Stewart

text: The Fort Stewart Military Reservation includes approximately . This includes land that was formerly the town of Clyde, Georgia.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Much of the base is counted as a census-designated place for statistical purposes with a residential population at the 2020 census of 8,821.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Fort Stewart is named for Daniel Stewart (Brigadier General), a Revolutionary War hero and political leader from Liberty County, Georgia. It is the largest Army installation east of the Mississippi River, covering , which include parts of Liberty, Long, Bryan, Evans and Tattnall Counties. The reservation is about across from east to west, and from north to south. During World War II, the camp had billeting space for 2,705 officers, and 37,267 enlisted men. It is close to the East Coast, and two deep water ports: Savannah, Georgia (42 mi), and Charleston, South Carolina (142 mi). Tank, field artillery, helicopter gunnery, and small arms ranges operate simultaneously throughout the year with little time lost to bad weather.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In June 1940, Congress authorized funding for the purchase of property in coastal Georgia for the purpose of building an anti-aircraft artillery training center. It was to be located just outside Hinesville, Georgia, some southwest of Savannah.


title: Fort Stewart

text: On 1 July 1940 the first 5,000 acres (20 km) were bought and subsequent purchases followed. Eventually the reservation would include over 280,000 acres (1100 km) and stretch over five counties. The large expanse of property was required for the firing ranges and impact areas which an anti-aircraft artillery training center would need for live-fire training.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In November 1940, the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Center was officially designated as Camp Stewart, in honor of General Daniel Stewart, a native of Liberty County, who had fought with Francis Marion during the American Revolution, and who became one of the county’s military heroes. An announcement of the new post’s name was made in January 1941.


title: Fort Stewart

text: During the early months, training was done on wooden mock-ups, since real anti-aircraft guns were in short supply. Live-firing exercises were conducted on the beaches of St. Augustine and Amelia Island, Florida, since the necessary ranges and impact areas had not been completed at Camp Stewart. This live-fire training over the ocean continued until September 1941, while at Camp Stewart practice firing and searchlight training progressed.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In fall of 1941, the Carolina Maneuvers were held, and all the anti-aircraft units from Camp Stewart participated. As these maneuvers drew to a close, a feeling of restless anticipation pervaded the ranks of the National Guard soldiers who were looking toward their impending release from active duty, after completion of their year of training. However, the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7 ended these dreams. Now the U.S. was in the war, and Camp Stewart set about accomplishing the mission it was intended for.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Savannah's First Bryan Baptist Church had a special service for soldiers from the Savannah Air Base and Camp Stewart December 21, 1941. Reverend Terrill wrote a letter to Asa H. Gordon, director of the Colored SSSS, extending the invitation to the soldiers. Church members took at least one soldier home from the service for Sunday dinner. Reverend Terrill, at the special service for soldiers, preached on "The Negro's Place in National Defence." Thelma Lee Stevens gave the welcome address. Scout Westley W. Law was master of ceremonies (source: page 71, Dr. Charles J. Elmore, "First Bryan 1788–2001 The Oldest Continuous Black Baptist Church in America.")


title: Fort Stewart

text: The National Guard units departed and new units came in for training. Facilities were expanded and improved. Anti-aircraft artillery training was upgraded and soon a detachment of Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP’s) arrived at the air facility on post, Liberty Field, to fly planes to tow targets for the live-fire exercises. Eventually radio-controlled airplane targets came into use as a more effective and safer means of live-fire practice.


title: Fort Stewart

text: As the war progressed, Camp Stewart’s training programs continued expanding to keep pace with the needs placed upon it. Units were shipped out promptly upon completion of their training, and new units received in their place. The camp provided well-trained soldiers for duty in the European, the Mediterranean, the North African, and the Pacific Theaters.


title: Fort Stewart

text: By late 1943, Camp Stewart assumed a new responsibility as one of many holding areas designated in this country for German and Italian prisoners of war (POWs), who had fallen into Allied hands during fighting in North Africa. These men were held in two separate POW facilities on post, and they were used as a labor force for base operations, construction projects, and for area farming.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Beside its initial purposes as an anti-aircraft artillery training center, Camp Stewart also served as a Cooks' and Bakers' School, and as a staging area for a number of Army postal units. By spring 1944, the camp was bulging at its seams as more than 55,000 soldiers occupied the facility during the build-up for the D-Day invasion. However, almost overnight, the post was virtually empty as these units shipped out for England. With the D-Day invasion and Allied control of the air over Europe, the need for anti-aircraft units diminished, and in response the anti-aircraft training at Camp Stewart was phased out. By Jan. 1945 only the POW camp was still functioning.


title: Fort Stewart

text: With the end of the war, Camp Stewart came to life briefly as a separation center for redeployed soldiers, but on 30 September 1945, the post was inactivated. Only two officers, 10 enlisted men, and 50 civilian employees maintained the facilities, and the Georgia National Guard only did training during summer months.


title: Fort Stewart

text: With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in June 1950, the U.S. once again found itself with the need to update training and to prepare new soldiers to meet the crisis in Korea. Camp Stewart was reopened on 9 August 1950, its facilities repaired, and National Guard troops brought in for training. On 28 December 1950, Camp Stewart was redesignated as the 3rd Army Anti-Aircraft Artillery Training Center. Intensive training of soldiers destined for service in Korea began. Since control of the air in Korea wasn’t seriously challenged by the Communist forces, in late 1953 Camp Stewart’s role changed from solely anti-aircraft training to include armor and tank firing as well.


title: Fort Stewart

text: When the Korean War eventually cooled down, it was recognized that the U.S. would be required to maintain a ready and able military force to deal with any potential threat to itself and its allies. Camp Stewart would have a role to play in that mission. The decision was made that the post would no longer be viewed as a temporary installation. On 21 March 1956, it was redesignated as Fort Stewart. Its role would continue to evolve in response to specific needs and world events.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In 1959, Fort Stewart was redesignated as an Armor and Artillery Firing Center, since its old anti-aircraft ranges and impact areas were better suited for this purpose in the new age of missiles. By 1961, there was a feeling that Fort Stewart may have served its usefulness, and there was movement afoot to deactivate the post again. However, the age of missiles brought with it new threats and a new mission for Fort Stewart.


title: Fort Stewart

text: As a result of the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, the 1st Armored Division was ordered to Fort Stewart for staging, and in the short span of two weeks the population of the fort rose from 3,500 personnel to over 30,000.


title: Fort Stewart

text: The country prepared for the worst, but in the end a compromise was reached, and the crisis passed. Shortly after, word was received at Fort Stewart that a VIP would be visiting the post and that the post conference room wasn’t worthy of a person of this stature. Thus, preparations were rapidly made to convert this conference room into a more suitable one. The command group at Fort Stewart quickly discerned that this VIP would be none other than Commander in Chief, President John F. Kennedy. He arrived at Hunter Field on 26 Nov. 1962 and flew to Donovan Parade Field at Fort Stewart, where he reviewed the entire 1st Armored Division. From there he was taken to the new conference room where he was briefed on armed forces readiness to respond to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and then he visited troops in nearby training areas.


title: Fort Stewart

text: After the Cuban Missile Crisis had passed, the Cold War situation kept Fort Stewart in an active training role. During the late 1960s, another developing situation would bring about yet another change in Fort Stewart’s mission. With tensions growing in the divided country of Vietnam, the U.S. found itself becoming increasingly involved in that conflict.


title: Fort Stewart

text: The Vietnamese terrain and the type of war being fought there demanded an increased aviation capability through the use of helicopters and light, fixed-wing aircraft. This brought about a need for more aviators. In response to this need, an element of the U.S. Army Aviation School at Fort Rucker, Alabama, was transferred to Fort Stewart in 1966. Helicopter pilot training and helicopter gunnery courses became Fort Stewart’s new mission. In an ironic twist, now instead of training soldiers to shoot down aircraft, Fort Stewart was training soldiers to fly them.


title: Fort Stewart

text: When the U.S. Air Force closed its base at Hunter Field in Savannah in 1967, the Army promptly assumed control and in conjunction with the flight training being conducted at Fort Stewart, the U.S. Army Flight Training Center came into being. The helicopter pilot training was rapidly accelerated and pilots were trained and soon sent to duty all over the world, with a large percentage seeing active duty in Vietnam.


title: Fort Stewart

text: The Army established the first dedicated attack helicopter training school at Hunter in July 1967. The Attack Helicopter Training Department (AHTD) trained Army, Marine and a few foreign officers (principally Spanish Navy) in the AH-1G Cobra attack helicopter.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Hunter Army Airfield, covers about and is also the home of the U.S. Coast Guard Station, Savannah – the largest helicopter unit in the Coast Guard. It provides Savannah and the Southeast United States with round-the-clock search-and-rescue coverage of its coastal areas.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In 1969 President Nixon planned to reduce American involvement in Vietnam by training the Vietnamese military to take over the war. In conjunction with this, helicopter flight training for Vietnamese pilots began at the Training Center in 1970 and continued until 1972.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Gradually America’s involvement in Vietnam dwindled and by mid-1972 the flight training aspect of Fort Stewart’s mission was terminated, and both Hunter Field and Fort Stewart reverted to garrison status. The following year Hunter Field was closed entirely and Fort Stewart sat idle, with the exception of the National Guard training which continued to be conducted at the installation.


title: Fort Stewart

text: On 1 July 1974, the soon-to-be reactivated 1st Battalion, 75th Infantry Regiment (Ranger), parachuted into Fort Stewart. The Battalion was formally reactivated the following month. It was the first Army Ranger battalion activated since the Second World War. Hunter Army Airfield was reopened to support the training and activities of the Rangers.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In October 1974, Headquarters, 24th Infantry Division was activated at Fort Stewart. This historic unit, which had seen active and arduous service in the Pacific during WW II and in the Korean War, and served as an element of NATO forces defending western Europe, had been inactive since 1970. The "Victory" Division, as it was known, was going to make Fort Stewart its home. It was perhaps fitting that the "V" shaped layout of the main post itself represented the "V" for the Victory Division. The 24th Infantry Division would make Fort Stewart uniquely its own.


title: Fort Stewart

text: With the reactivation of the 24th Infantry Division, the post entered a new phase in its history. Facilities were upgraded, and new permanent structures replaced many of the old World War II-era wooden buildings from the days of Camp Stewart. On 1 October 1980, the 24th Infantry Division was designated a mechanized infantry division, and assigned as the heavy division of the XVIII Airborne Corps, the core element of the newly organized Rapid Deployment Force. This designation was the fruition of that potential first realized by those who served at the post during the Cuban Missile Crisis.


title: Fort Stewart

text: The 24th Infantry Division began intensive training over the expanse of piney woods and lowlands of the post, and conducted live-fire exercises on many of the old Camp Stewart anti-aircraft ranges. Additional deployment training and exercises took Division units from Georgia's woodlands to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, as well as to other areas of the world such as Egypt and Turkey. The Division was regularly seen in REFORGER exercises in Germany and BRIGHT STAR in Egypt. Its training was continuous. The mission of the Rapid Deployment Force was to be prepared to deploy to practically any point on the globe at a moment’s notice, to deal with whatever threat might be discerned.


title: Fort Stewart

text: In August 1990, Iraq invaded and overran neighboring Kuwait, and threatened to do the same to Saudi Arabia. The Port of Savannah worked around the clock to load and ship the Division’s heavy equipment, while aircraft shuttles from Hunter Field flew the Division’s personnel to Saudi Arabia. Within a month, the entire Division had been reassembled in Saudi Arabia to face the possible invasion of that country by Iraqi forces. Fort Stewart saw a growing influx of National Guard and Reserve units who were being mobilized to support the operations in Saudi Arabia and to assume the tasks at the post which had formerly been accomplished by 24th Infantry Division personnel. In many ways, Fort Stewart appeared to be almost a ghost town, as never before had the entire Division been deployed from the post at one time. Within eight months, the crisis at the Persian Gulf had concluded, and the 24th Infantry Division triumphantly returned to its home in coastal Georgia.


title: Fort Stewart

text: The post-Cold War drawdown of forces in Europe resulted in many storied units coming home to the US. On 25 April 1996, "ownership" of Fort Stewart passed as the 24th Infantry Division was inactivated and the 3rd Infantry Division was reactivated. Thus began a new chapter in the history of Fort Stewart.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Fort Stewart also was a leading mobilization station for Army units preparing for tours in Operation Iraqi Freedom as well as two-week National Guard annual training.


title: Fort Stewart

text: Students at the secondary level attend public schools operated by county school districts. Liberty County School District operates the public schools in Liberty County.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Graffiti is the third studio album by American singer Chris Brown. It was released on December 8, 2009, by Jive Records. The album serves as a follow-up to his previous album "Exclusive" (2007). Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2009, with several record producers, including Polow da Don, Swizz Beatz, the Runners and Brian Kennedy, among others.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Primarily an R&B outing blended with pop and hip hop, "Graffiti" incorporates elements of goth rock, synthpop and Eurodisco, with its production showing a heavy usage of synthesizers. Its lyrical content has been described as two-sided, with its themes varying from remorseful regret, desire, affection and a playboy lifestyle.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: The album debuted at number seven on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 102,000 copies in its first week. In 2019 the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). The album became his third consecutive top-ten debut in the United States following "Exclusive" in 2007, while producing two singles that has achieved moderate chart success. The album was considered to be a critical and commercial failure compared to the singer's previous works, with many speculating that the reason was Brown's scandal of domestic violence happened the same year of the album's release.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Despite receiving generally negative reviews from most music critics, "Graffiti" was nominated for two Grammy Awards; including one for the Best Contemporary R&B Album and the other for the Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals for this track, "Take My Time" featuring Tank.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: In 2008, Chris Brown commenced work on his third studio album and confirmed the title, "Graffiti", at the 2008 American Music Awards. In 2008 he said that with this album he wanted to experiment with a different musical direction inspired by singers Prince and Michael Jackson. He stated, "I wanted to change it up and really be different. Like my style nowadays, I don't try to be typical urban. I want to be like how Prince, Michael and Stevie Wonder were. They can cross over to any genre of music". Brown, with this album, started to take full control of his art, entirely managing the artistic direction, and writing every song of the album (with the exception of the song "I'll Go", written and produced by Brian Kennedy and James Fauntleroy).


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Brown said that his decision to entirely direct and write his albums and songs came from the fact that he wanted to give "my own perspective of the music I wanted to make" and by his wanting to "verbalize whatever I was going through". Following the domestic violence scandal involving the singer and Rihanna on February 8, 2009, Brown decided to express his emotional state caused by that happening on a big part of the album.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Recording for the album primarily took place in Orlando and on September 5, 2009, via Twitter, Brown announced that he had completed the album, and also revealed that the album would be released outside of the US on December 7 and in the US on December 8. Speaking to MTV, Swizz Beatz revealed, "he's got something to prove," and that for the album Brown "has worked on 60–70 songs."


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: The album's musical style is made by mixtures of R&B, synth pop, rock and Euro-disco. Critics noted that with the album's sound Brown aimed to expand his music beyond the genres of his previous works. Greg Kot of "Chicago Tribune" said that Brown "borrows from the cross-genre experiments of Kanye West, Saul Williams, and Lil Wayne." According to Mikael Wood of "Los Angeles Times", the album is made of an "upbeat" part, that "can be considered the sonic sequel to "Forever"", mixed with power ballads, observed to express his remorse and feelings following the Rihanna incident.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Lead single and album's opener "I Can Transform Ya", lyrically is about introducing someone to a luxurious life, has a robotic synth rock groove, characterized by a heavy use of synthesizers and guitar riffs. "Pass Out" featuring Eva Simons, a Eurodisco song, samples the "Call on me" on Steve Winwood's "Valerie", which was also used in Eric Prydz worldwide dance hit, "Call on Me". The song has been compared to Lady Gaga's works. "Sing Like Me" and "Take My Time" recall Brown's earlier R&B works in a more sexually oriented way. "Fallin' Down is a goth rock and synthpop song, that features lyrics about Brown falling in depression. The uptempo electro-hop "Wait", with The Game and R&B singer Trey Songz, features "bouncy sirens", and according to Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" is closest to capturing the "frenetic energy" of Brown's early singles. The song has been described as a sexual braggadocio record. According to Dan Gennoe of "Yahoo! Music UK", "I.Y.A" is a tribute to 80's music, and the song has been compared to Blake Lewis' "Heartbreak on Vinyl".


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: "So Cold" has been described as a "piano-laden apology" as "Famous Girl" has been called a "heavy hearted dance track." The previous track as well as "Crawl" feature an apologetic Brown, pining at points. The previous has been described to bear a sonic resemblance to Madonna's "Drowned World/Substitute for Love." The latter, "Famous Girl", features new wave influences and a bouncy, light melodic line. The song references songs such as Drake's "Best I Ever Had", Keri Hilson's "Knock You Down", Keyshia Cole's "Heaven Sent", Beyoncé's "Halo", and Jazmine Sullivan's "Bust Your Windows", as well as Rihanna's "Disturbia" and his "Forever", as Brown laments on writing the first song and tells Rihanna that he "should've known that you would break my heart / should've known that you would leave me lonely". "Take My Time" is an R&B slow jam that features American singer Tank, and has slow drums, and heavy female breathing, prompting innuendo. Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" said that "Lucky Me", lyrically about downs of life in the limelight, has a melody reminiscent of Michael Jackson's "Man in the Mirror". The song is an acoustic R&B and pop record that features minor influences of African music. "Girlfriend" is a synth rock song featuring Lupe Fiasco. The album's standard edition ends with the track "I'll Go", a soft rock track where the singer "tells the story of a lost love" and his determination to do anything for his loved one, including leaving her if that could make her happier.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: The week of the album's release, Brown took to his Twitter page to express his extreme displeasure with stores that are not visibly stocking the album, including a Walmart in Wallingford, Connecticut, stating: "The[y] didnt even have my album in the back… not on shelves, saw for myself, im tired of this shit. major stores [are] blackballing my cd. [They are] not stockin the shelves and lying to costumers. what the fuck do i gotta do. im not biting my tongue about shit else… the industry can kiss my ass. WTF… yeah i said it and i aint retracting shit... we talked to the managers and the[y] didnt even know anything. wow!!! but they had Alicia Keys album ready for release for this tuesday comin … the manager told me that when there are new releases its mandatory to put em on the shelves.. BUT NO SIGN OF #GRAFFITI. BS. no disprespect to alicia at all, just givin an example to whos album is loaded and ready to go next week".


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: The album was released internationally on December 7, 2009, and in the US on December 8, 2009. It was released on all major formats and, in addition to the standard edition, an extended deluxe edition was also released, containing an additional six songs. The international edition differs slightly from the US edition, with one extra song ("Girlfriend") appearing on the standard edition and another ("Chase Our Love") appearing on the deluxe extended edition with the inclusion of track ("Movie") omitted. The European deluxe edition was issued as a single-CD, while US and Japanese deluxe editions are two-disc sets. The album cover displays Brown with robotic hands, wearing black clothing and sunglasses, holding a guitar over his shoulder, and spray-painting the album title, which is written in a font similar to that of "Purple Rain" by Prince and the Revolution. To promote the album, Brown embarked on the "Fan Appreciation Tour" on October 27, 2009, in New Jersey. The tour took place in the US. The tour ended on December 15, 2009, in New York and a portion of the proceeds from the tour went to charity to help the victims of domestic violence as well as people with developmental disabilities.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: "I Can Transform Ya" was released as the album's lead single on September 29, 2009. The song received mostly positive reviews, noting the song's club feel and catchiness. "I Can Transform Ya"'s reached the top ten of New Zealand, whilst achieving chart success in Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The song's dance-heavy accompanying music video features choreography with hooded ninjas, and makes puns on the Transformers series. "Crawl" and "Sing Like Me" were released on iTunes on November 24, 2009, the first as the album's second single, and the latter as a promotional single. The previous received positive to mixed reviews, reaching the top twenty in Japan and New Zealand. Its accompanying music video features Brown and American R&B singer Cassie as his love interest, as he yearns for their relationship on a winter night in a city and in a desert scene. The song "Pass Out" was planned to be the third single for the album, but was not released. Other singles "Burning Up" and "Not My Fault" (which was produced and features vocals by Pharrell Williams) were also planned for the album, but not included.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: "I Love U" serves as the 5th bonus track to the deluxe version of the album and features vocals from Ester Dean.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: "Brown Skin Girl" serves as the 6th and final bonus track to the deluxe version of the album and features vocals from Jamaican dancehall artist Sean Paul and duo Rock City. It is a Jamaican dancehall track inspired by Sean Paul, produced by Rock City and sees Chris Brown adopt a Caribbean accent for the track.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: "Graffiti" received negative reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 39, based on 12 reviews, which indicates "generally unfavorable reviews". It is the lowest-rated album of 2009 on Metacritic.


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: Steve Jones of "USA Today" gave the album two-and-a-half out of four stars and commented that Brown "succeeds in expanding his sonic horizons with rock and Euro-dance influenced rhythms that are sure to ignite dance floors and innervate his electrifying performances". "Billboard"s Gail Mitchell complimented its music as "a forward-moving fusion of R&B, pop, rock and Euro-dance". Thomas Golianpoulous of "Spin" said Brown sounded "remorseful", ending the review by saying "The album's most striking moment is 'Fallin' Down.' Over an ominous guitar riff, the 20-year-old sings, 'It's getting heavy / I think I'm getting ready to break down.' It's the most honest moment of his short career. The kid sure needs a vacation." Despite writing that it has filler tracks, Dan Gennoe of "Yahoo! Music" gave the album a seven out of 10 rating and called it the "highest point of his career". "Chicago Tribune" writer Greg Kot noted an "inconsistent and sometimes contradictory tone" in Brown's lyrics, but commented that the album has "several top-notch pieces of innocuous dance music". Leah Greenblatt of "Entertainment Weekly" complimented its "zero-gravity pleasures", writing that "at its best moments, it still floats". Sarah Rodman of "The Boston Globe" commended the music and production, but criticized Brown's songwriting. Joey Guerra of the "Houston Chronicle" said the album might have worked, but much of it "never takes flight, instead recycling the usual slick touches and arrangements." BBC Online's Jude Rogers noted "slinky RnB body-poppers and cheesy, breathy ballads" and commented that "plodding melodies draw attention to Brown's unpleasantly macho style".


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: "Rolling Stone" writer Jody Rosen expressed a mixed response towards its "punchy dance-pop songs full of club-ready beats and Casanova gestures", calling it "a bland, occasionally obnoxious, pro forma R&B album". "Slant Magazine"s Eric Henderson commented that "the only compelling thing about the incoherent "Graffiti" is the material (both external and internal) that makes it even less palatable than a simply below-average collection of paint-by-numbers R&B beats." Michaelangelo Matos of "The A.V. Club" gave the album an F rating and stated "The production is clean and often lively, and Brown sings well enough. The problem is what he's singing". AllMusic editor Andy Kellman also dismissed the album's songwriting and called Brown "exceptionally insufferable" on most of the songs. "Chicago Sun-Times" writer Jim DeRogatis gave the album one out of four stars and described it as "thoroughly mediocre". Pete Paphides of "The Times" panned its ballads, called them a "slopfest of mawkish penitence". Jon Caramanica of "The New York Times" questioned the lyrics' substance and called "Graffiti" "a curiously electro-moon double faced album that largely thumbs its nose at close reading".


title: Graffiti (Chris Brown album)

text: The album debuted at number seven on the US "Billboard" 200, selling 102,000 copies in its first week. "Graffiti" was the week's second highest debut, only behind "". To date, the album has sold 341,000 copies in the United States. The sales were disappointing compared to his previous two albums, but was still certified Gold by the RIAA less than ten years later, on August 23, 2019.


title: Jayadratha

text: Jayadratha () is the king of the Sindhu kingdom featured in the Mahabharata. He was married to Dushala, the only sister of the hundred Kaurava brothers. The son of the king Vriddhakshatra, he is killed by Arjuna. He has a son named Suratha.


title: Jayadratha

text: The word "Jayadratha" is derived from two Sanskrit words, "jayat" meaning 'victorious' and "ratha" meaning 'law or dharma'. Thus the word "Jayadratha" means, 'victorious because of dharma’. His other names are


title: Jayadratha

text: One day, during the time the Pandavas were in exile, the Pandavas went hunting to gather food. They left Draupadi alone at the ashram and requested Sage Trunabindu and Dhaumya to watch over her. On that day, Jayadratha saw Draupadi and sent his minister Kotikasya to inquire as to who she was. Kotikasya went over to her and after learning about her identity, informed Jayadratha that she was Draupadi, the wife of the Pandavas. Jayadratha in spite of learning her identity went to Draupadi and proposed to marry her. Initially welcoming him as the Pandavas' brother-in-law, Draupadi vehemently refused his proposal. Infuriated, Jayadratha abducted Draupadi and started moving towards his kingdom. The Pandavas returned to their ashrama to find Draupadi missing and learned about the event that had unfolded by the account of Draupadi's friend Dhatreyika, who had witnessed Jayadratha forcefully carrying Draupadi away. Yudhishthira then ordered his younger brothers to rescue Draupadi. They rushed in their chariots towards Jayadratha and his host with great fury and started to slay all of his soldiers. When Jayadratha, the King of Sindhu, saw that his warriors were slain, he became anxious, and in confusion, leaving Draupadi there, fled for his life. Yudhishthira returned with Draupadi while commanding his brothers to pursue Jayadratha but not kill him. On learning that the enemy was a full two miles ahead of them, Arjuna uses a divine weapon to kill Jayadratha's horses. Bhima seized Jayadratha by his hair, slammed him on the ground with violence, and started to kick him on his head until Arjuna reminds him of Yudhishthira's words. Suppressing his wrath, Bhima shaves the hair of the prince's head, leaving five tufts in as many places. Thrusting him in a chariot in chains, they returned to their other brothers and asked Draupadi for Jayadratha's fate. Draupadi, thinking of her sister-in-law, suggests that he was already treated like a slave and so should be released as an act of mercy. So bowing down to the merciful Yudhishthira, Jayadratha returned to his capital.


title: Jayadratha

text: After his humiliation at the hands of Pandavas, Jayadratha gave control of his kingdom to his wife and did severe penance towards Lord Shiva. Pleased with his austerities, Shiva appears before him and grants him a boon. Jayadratha asks for the ability to defeat all five Pandavas. However, Shiva told him that this was impossible. Still, Jayadratha implores him for any help in avenging himself. Reluctantly, Shiva grants him the boon that while he won't be able to defeat the Pandavas, for one day, he will be able to check their advance. Saying these words, Shiva warns Jayadratha that even this boon couldn't hold Arjuna. Satisfied, Jayadratha returns to his kingdom. Two years later, Jayadratha fights on the side of his brother-in-law in the Kurukshetra War.


title: Jayadratha

text: At noon on the 1st day, he defeats King Drupada after a long duel. On the 11th day, he is defeated by Abhimanyu in a sword fight and is forced to flee. On the 13th day, when the chakravyuha is launched by Dronacharya, Arjuna's son Abhimanyu manages to enter the formation; he intends for the Pandava forces to follow after him and smash the formation from the inside. However, Jayadratha moves to close the gap, and Shiva's boon triggers as he is able to hold all of the Pandava brothers and their allies at bay. As part of the Kaurava strategy, Arjuna and Krishna are busy battling Susharma and the Trigata Army elsewhere. With no aid, Abhimanyu is trapped and brutally killed by the Kaurava warriors.


title: Jayadratha

text: Abhimanyu's death is a gigantic blow to the Pandavas. In particular, Draupadi, Yudhishthira, and Bhima feel very guilty for not killing Jayadratha when they did have the chance. Arjuna blames Jayadratha to be the cause for Abhimanyu's death and vows to kill him the very next day before sunset, vowing that if he fails he would immolate himself. This sets the stage for the epic 14th day of battle.


title: Jayadratha

text: Dronacharya arranged a combination of 3 vyuhas in order to protect Jayadratha from Arjuna: The Shakata vyuha (the cart formation), the Suchimukha Vyuha (the needle formation), and finally the Padma Vyuha (the lotus formation).