Biography.

Early life.

Dobzhansky was born on January 25, 1900 in Nemyriv, Russian Empire, currently Ukraine, an only child. His father, Grigory Dobzhansky, was a mathematics teacher, and his mother was Sophia Voinarsky. In 1910 the family moved to Kiev, Russian Empire. At high school, Dobzhansky collected butterflies and decided to become a biologist. In 1915, he met Victor Luchnik who convinced him to specialize in beetles instead. Dobzhansky attended the Kiev State University between 1917 and 1921, where he then studied until 1924 specializing in entomology. He then moved to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to study under Yuri Filipchenko, where a "Drosophila melanogaster" lab had been established.  On August 8, 1924, Dobzhansky married geneticist Natalia "Natasha" Sivertzeva who was working with I. I. Schmalhausen in Kiev, Ukraine. The Dobzhanskys had one daughter, Sophie, who later married the American archaeologist and anthropologist Michael D. Coe.  Before moving to the United States, Dobzhansky published 35 scientific works on entomology and genetics.

America.

Dobzhansky immigrated to the United States in 1927 on a scholarship from the International Education Board of the Rockefeller Foundation to work and study in the United States. Upon arriving in New York City on December 27, he joined the Drosophila Group at Columbia University working alongside Thomas Hunt Morgan and Alfred Sturtevant. Their work provided crucial information on Drosophila cytogenetics. Additionally, Dobzhansky and his team helped establish "Drosophila subobscura", within the genus "Drosophila", as a favorable model organism in evolutionary-biological studies ever since they published their influential works. Dobzhansky’s original mindset (after studying alongside Yuri Filipchenko), was that there were serious doubts on using data obtained from phenomena happening in local populations (microevolution) and phenomena happening on a global scale (macroevolution). Filipchenko also believed that there were only two types of inheritance: Mendelian inheritance of variation within species, and Non-Mendelian inheritance of variation in a macroevolutionary sense. Dobzhansky later stated that Filipchenko “bet on the wrong horse”.  He followed Morgan to the California Institute of Technology from 1930 to 1940. On the basis of his experiments, he articulated the idea that reproductive isolation can be caused by differences in presence of microbial symbionts between populations.  In 1937, he published one of the major works of the modern evolutionary synthesis, the synthesis of evolutionary biology with genetics, titled "Genetics and the Origin of Species", which amongst other things, defined evolution as "a change in the frequency of an allele within a gene pool". Dobzhansky's work was instrumental in spreading the idea that it is through mutations in genes that natural selection takes place. Also in 1937, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. During this time, he had a very public falling out with one of his "Drosophila" collaborators, Alfred Sturtevant, based primarily in professional competition.  In 1941, Dobzhansky was awarded the Daniel Giraud Elliot Medal from the National Academy of Sciences. In 1943, the University of Sao Paulo awarded him an honorary doctorate. He returned to Columbia University from 1940 to 1962. He was one of the signatories of the 1950 UNESCO statement "The Race Question". He then moved to the Rockefeller Institute (shortly to become Rockefeller University) until his retirement in 1971. In 1972 he was elected the first president of the BGA (Behavior Genetics Association), and was recognized by the society for his role in behavior genetics, and the founding of the society by the creation of the Dobzhansky Award (for a lifetime of outstanding scholarship in behavior genetics).  Dobzhansky’s work in the field of evolutionary genetics, with the help of Sewall Wright, integrated standards of the theoretical, natural historical, and experimental work.  Dobzhansky was elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS) in 1965. In 1970, he published "Genetics of the evolutionary process".  Dobzhansky was a renowned biologist having been the president of the Genetics Society of America in 1941, president of the American Society of Naturalists in 1950, president of the Society for the Study of Evolution in 1951, president of the American Society of Zoologists in 1963, a member of the Board of Directors of the American Eugenics Society in 1964, and president of the American Teilhard de Chardin Association in 1969.  Dobzhansky’s research and studies allowed him to travel the world and receive honorary degrees in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Italy, Japan, and Sweden.

"Genetics and the Origin of Species".

Theodosius Dobzhansky had three editions of his book "Genetics and the Origin of Species". Although his book was directed towards people with a background in biology, it was to be simply understood. In regards to the subjects of Genetics and Evolution, Dobzhansky’s book is widely recognized as one of the most important books ever written. With each revision of "Genetics and the Origin of Species", Dobzhansky added new material with respect to crucial, up to date topics, and removed material he deemed to be no longer crucial. His book sparked trends in genetic research and theory.  At the time, Dobzhansky first edition of "Genetics and the Origin of Species" (1937) tried to highlight the most recent discoveries in genetics and how they applied to the concept of evolution. The book starts by addressing the problem of evolution and how modern discoveries in genetics could help find a solution. The main topics covered in the book are on: the chromosomal basis of Mendelian Inheritance, how the effects from changes in chromosomes greater than gene mutations are common and acceptable, and how mutations form racial and specific differences. Dobzhansky explained how three levels could describe the processes of evolutionary population genetics: (1) the origin of raw materials by mutations of genes and chromosomes, (2) the changes in populations by changes in frequencies and combinations of mutations, (3) the fixation of changes by reproductive isolation. To support his writing and research, the bibliography was twenty-eight pages long with around six hundred sources.  In Dobzhansky’s second edition of "Genetics and the Origin of Species" (1941), four years had gone by and he was able to add more research and advancements made in genetics. Around half of the new research he found was added to the last two chapters in his book: Patterns of Evolution, and Species as Natural Units. In the second to last chapter, Patterns of Evolution, Dobzhansky explained how on the path to a new adaptation, a method could be used to where a species could go through a less adaptive stage. The last chapter, Species as Natural Units, Dobzhansky explained some of the contributions made in genetics to what was called “the new systematics.” Dobzhansky’s second edition of the book also had twice as many sources in the bibliography than the first edition.  In Dobzhansky’s third revision of "Genetics and the Origin of Species" (1951), he rewrote all ten chapters on: Isolating Mechanisms, Mutation in Populations, Organic Diversity, Heredity and Mutation, Race Formation, Selection, Adaptive Polymorphism, Hybrid Sterility, Species as Natural Units, and Patterns of Evolution. Dobzhansky decided to remove the chapter on Polyploidy in his third edition of the book. The new chapter on Adaptive Polymorphism highlighted Dobzhansky’s research focus since the second edition. Dobzhansky included precise, quantitative evidence on effective natural selection in laboratory and free populations.

Debate on race.

Theodosius Dobzhansky and Ashley Montagu debated the use and validity of the term "race" over a period of many years without reaching an agreement, and the debate has continued to the present day. Montagu argued that "race" was so laden with toxic associations that it was a word best eliminated from science completely, whereas Dobzhansky strongly disagreed. He argued that science should not give in to the misuses to which it had been subjected. The two men never reached an agreement, which led Dobzhansky to say in 1961, while commenting on Montagu's autobiography, "The chapter on 'Ethnic group and race' is, of course, deplorable, but let us say that it is good that in a democratic country any opinion, no matter how deplorable, can be published" (Farber 2015 p. 3). The concept of "race" has been important in many life science disciplines; the modern synthesis revolutionized the concept of race, moving it from a strictly morphological definition based on "racial types" in humans, to a definition focused on populations differing in gene frequencies. This was done in hopes that its foundation in population genetics would undermine the deeply ingrained social prejudices associated with "race".  Dobzhansky was confident that mixing races created no serious medical issues. Dobzhansky's experience with breeding fruit flies came into play when he made this conclusion. The only medical issue Dobzhansky found in this breeding was when certain crosses could lead to having infertile offspring. However, Dobzhansky noticed no such problems when humans from different populations reproduced. When anthropologists at the time were trying to compare the means of physical measurements of people from different races Dobzhansky argued that these means had no value because there was more variation between the individuals of each population than there was among the groups (Farber 2011 p. 63). However, Dobzhansky's work and beliefs on genetics and evolution created opposition with his views on race mixing. First, that race has to do with groups and not individuals and so in this instance it is not races that mix, it is individuals. Second, if races do not mix then they will become different species, so therefore they have to mix. All of the races that currently exist are products of past mixed races, so according to Dobzhansky there is no pure race. Third, when race had been discussed in the past it was all about comparing means of trait to which this made no sense to Dobzhansky (Farber 2011 p. 65-67).  His concern with the interface between humans and biology may have come from different factors. The main factor would be the race prejudice that contributed in Europe that triggered WWII. His concern also dealt with religion in human life which he speaks about in his book "The Biology of Ultimate Concern" in 1967. "The pervasiveness of genetic variation provides the biological foundation of human individuality". Dobzhansky talks about in great detail that "human nature has 2 dimensions: the biological, which mankind shares with the rest of life, and the cultural, which is exclusive to humans." Both of these are believed to have come from "biological evolution and cultural evolution".  Dobzhansky sought to put an end to the so-called science that purports one's genetic makeup determines their race and furthermore, their rank in society. Harrison E. Salisbury wrote in a New York Times article regarding his book "Heredity and the Future of Man" that Dobzhansky could not, alongside other scientists, agree upon what defines a race. Dobzhansky stated that a true bloodline for man could not be identified. He did not believe that a man's genetic makeup decided whether or not he would be a great man but rather that man "has the rare opportunity 'to direct his evolution'".

Final illness and the "Light of Evolution".

Dobzhansky's wife Natasha died of coronary thrombosis on February 22, 1969. Earlier (on June 1, 1968) Theodosius had been diagnosed with lymphocytic leukemia (a chronic form of leukemia), and had been given a few months to a few years to live. He retired in 1971, moving to the University of California, Davis where his student Francisco J. Ayala had been made assistant professor, and where he continued working as an emeritus professor. He published one of his most famous essays "Nothing in Biology Makes Sense Except in the Light of Evolution" at this time, influenced by the paleontologist and priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.  By 1975, his leukemia had become more severe, and on November 11 he traveled to San Jacinto, California for treatment and care. Working till his last day as a Professor of Genetics, Dobzhansky died (from heart failure) on December 18, 1975 in Davis, California. He was cremated, and his ashes were scattered in the Californian wilderness.

Religious beliefs.

Ernst Mayr stated: "On the other hand, famous evolutionists such as Dobzhansky were firm believers in a personal God." Dobzhansky himself spoke of God as creating through evolution, and considered himself a communicant of the Eastern Orthodox Church.  Although Dobzhansky came from a long line of Eastern Orthodox priests, later in life, he had his doubts on a conventional afterlife. He stated that if a Heaven did exist, it would not be a place where one could find all the answers about life in an instant. It would rather be a place where performing experiments would give rise to precise and explicit results.

Publications.

During his career, Dobzhansky published widely in books and peer reviewed scientific journals:

Theodosius Grygorovych Dobzhansky (; ; January 25, 1900 – December 18, 1975) was a prominent Russian-American geneticist and evolutionary biologist, and a central figure in the field of evolutionary biology for his work in shaping the modern synthesis. Dobzhansky was born in Ukraine, then part of the Russian Empire, and became an immigrant to the United States in 1927, aged 27.

Theodosius Dobzhansky (,, ), parfois retranscrit en français sous la graphie Théodore Dobjansky, né le 25 janvier 1900 et mort le, est un éminent biologiste, généticien et théoricien de l'évolution. Il fut l'un des principaux contributeurs et promoteurs de ce qui allait devenir la théorie synthétique de l'évolution, ainsi qu'un penseur à part entière qui a tenté tout au long ses recherches de comprendre le sens du monde et de la vie au regard de cette théorie.


Biography.

Carus, whose name before the accession may have been Marcus Numerius Carus, was born, according to differing accounts, either in Gaul, Illyricum or Africa. Modern scholarship inclines to the former view, placing his birth at Narbo (modern Narbonne) in Gaul though he was educated in Rome. Little can be said with certainty of his life and rule. Due to the decline of literature, the arts, and the want of any good historians of that age, what is known is almost invariably involved in contradiction and doubt. He was apparently a senator and filled various posts, both civil and military, before being appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard by the emperor Probus in 282.  Two traditions surround his accession to the throne in August or September of 282. According to some mostly Latin sources, he was proclaimed emperor by the soldiers after the murder of Probus by a mutiny at Sirmium. Greek sources however claim that he rose against Probus in Raetia in a usurpation and had him killed. The often unreliable Historia Augusta is aware of both traditions, although it prefers the former. He does not seem to have returned to Rome after his accession, contenting himself with an announcement to the Senate. This was a marked departure from the constitutionalism of his immediate predecessors, Tacitus and Probus, who at least outwardly respected the authority of the senate, and was the precursor to the even more despotic military autocracy of Diocletian.

Campaign against the Sassanids and death.

Bestowing the title of Caesar upon his sons Carinus and Numerian, he left Carinus in charge of the western portion of the empire to look after some disturbances in Gaul and took Numerian with him on an expedition against the Persians, which had been contemplated by Probus. Having inflicted a severe defeat on the Quadi and Sarmatians on the Danube, for which he was given the title "Germanicus Maximus", Carus proceeded through Thrace and Asia Minor, annexed Mesopotamia, pressed on to Seleucia and Ctesiphon, and marched his soldiers beyond the Tigris.  The Sassanid King Bahram II, limited by internal opposition and his troops occupied with a campaign in modern-day Afghanistan, could not effectively defend his territory. The Sasanians, faced with severe internal problems, could not mount an effective coordinated defense at the time; Carus and his army may have captured the Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon. The victories of Carus avenged all the previous defeats suffered by the Romans against the Sassanids, and he received the title of "Persicus Maximus". Rome's hopes of further conquest, however, were cut short by his death; Carus died in Sasanian territory, probably of unnatural causes, as he was reportedly struck by lightning.

Legacy.

Like the splendid conquests of Trajan, 160 years before, Carus' gains were immediately relinquished by his successor. His son Numerian, naturally of an unwarlike disposition, was forced by the army to retreat back over the Tigris. The report of the lightning strike was evidently widely accepted in the camp, and the superstitious awe of the troops inclined them to ascribe Carus' death to the wrath of the Gods. Rumors had been spread of dark oracles, affixing the limits of the Empire on the Tigris, and threatening destruction against the Roman who should presume beyond the river in arms. Persia was abandoned to her rightful possessors, and not till Diocletian, a decade later, was the Persian contest decided in Rome's favor, by that emperor's decisive victory.  In the sphere of civil affairs, Carus is remembered principally for the final suppression of the authority of the senate, which had been partially restored under Tacitus and Probus. He declined to accept their ratification of his election, informing them of the fact by a haughty and distant dispatch. He was the last emperor to have united a civil with a military education, in that age when the two were increasingly detached; Diocletian (Imp. 284-305), who succeeded Carus after the brief reign of the latter's sons, was to confirm and formalize the separation of professions, and the autocratic foundation of the imperial rule.  Though Carus was known throughout his life for his austere and virtuous manners, the suspicion of his complicity in Probus' death, along with his haughty conduct towards the senate, tarnished his reputation before his death, and Julian, as Gibbon observes, conspicuously places him among the tyrants of Rome, in his catalogue of "The Caesars".

Carus (Marcus Aurelius Carus; c. 222 – July or August 283) was Roman Emperor from 282 to 283, and was 60 at ascension. During his short reign, Carus fought the Germanic tribes and Sarmatians along the Danube frontier with success.

Carus ("Marcus Aurelius Carus"), né vers 230 et mort en, est empereur romain de 282 à sa mort, père de Carin et Numérien qui lui succèdent. L'établissement de sa biographie a été influencé par les informations données par l'Histoire Auguste, qui ont été reprises par les historiens pendant plusieurs siècles avant d'être réfutées. Son règne éphémère est marqué par trois faits : son origine narbonnaise, qui interrompt la série des empereurs illyriens ; sa campagne contre les Sassanides, adversaires de l'Empire romain, couronnée par la destruction de leur capitale ; sa mort soudaine, foudroyé après sa victoire.


History.

Discovery.

Ixion was discovered on 22 May 2001 by a team of American astronomers at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in Chile. The discovery formed part of the Deep Ecliptic Survey, a survey conducted by American astronomer Robert Millis to search for Kuiper belt objects located near the ecliptic plane using telescopes at the facilities of the National Optical Astronomy Observatory. On the night of 22 May 2001, American astronomers James Elliot and Lawrence Wasserman identified Ixion in digital images of the southern sky taken with the 4-meter Víctor M. Blanco Telescope at Cerro Tololo. Ixion was first noted by Elliot while compiling two images taken approximately two hours apart, which revealed Ixion's slow motion relative to the background stars. At the time of discovery, Ixion was located in the constellation of Scorpius.  The discoverers of Ixion noted that it appeared relatively bright for a distant object, implying that it might be rather large for a TNO. The discovery supported suggestions that there were undiscovered large trans-Neptunian objects comparable in size to Pluto. Since Ixion's discovery, numerous large trans-Neptunian objects, notably the dwarf planets Haumea,, and Makemake, have been discovered.  The discovery of Ixion was formally announced by the Minor Planet Center in a Minor Planet Electronic Circular on 1 July 2001. It was given the provisional designation, indicating that it was discovered in the second half of May 2001. Ixion was the 1,923rd object discovered in the latter half of May, as indicated by the last letter and numbers in its provisional designation.  At the time of discovery, Ixion was thought to be among the largest trans-Neptunian objects in the Solar System, as implied by its high intrinsic brightness. These characteristics of Ixion prompted follow-up observations in order to ascertain its orbit, which would in turn improve the certainty of later size estimates of Ixion. In August 2001, a team of astronomers used the European Southern Observatory's Astrovirtel virtual observatory to automatically scan through archival precovery photographs obtained from various observatories. The team had obtained nine precovery images of Ixion, with the earliest taken by the Siding Spring Observatory on 17 July 1982. These precovery images along with subsequent follow-up observations with the La Silla Observatory's 2.2-meter MPG/ESO telescope in 2001 extended Ixion's observation arc by over 18 years, sufficient for its orbit to be accurately determined. Hence, the Minor Planet Center later assigned the minor planet number 28978 to Ixion on 2 September 2001.

Name.

Ixion is named after the eponymous Greek mythological figure Ixion, in accordance with the International Astronomical Union's (IAU's) naming convention which requires plutinos (objects in a 3:2 orbital resonance with Neptune) to be named after mythological figures associated with the underworld. In Greek mythology, Ixion was the king of the legendary Lapiths of Thessaly and had married Dia, a daughter of Deioneus (or Eioneus), whom Ixion promised to give valuable bridal gifts. Ixion invited Deioneus to a banquet but instead pushed him into a pitfall of burning coals and wood, killing Deioneus. Although the lesser gods despised his actions, Zeus pitied Ixion and invited him to a banquet with other gods. Rather than being grateful, Ixion became lustful toward's Zeus's wife, Hera. Zeus found out about his intentions and created the cloud Nephele in the shape of Hera, and tricked Ixion into coupling with it, fathering the race of Centaurs. For his crimes, Ixion was expelled from Olympus, blasted with a thunderbolt, and bound to a burning solar wheel in the underworld for all eternity.  The name for Ixion was suggested by James Elliot, who was involved in its discovery by the Deep Ecliptic Survey team. The naming citation was published by the Minor Planet Center on 28 March 2002.

Physical characteristics.

Size and brightness.

Ixion has an optical absolute magnitude of 3.83 and is estimated to have a geometric albedo (reflectivity) of 0.14, corresponding to a diameter of. Compared to Pluto and its moon Charon, Ixion is approximately one-fourth the diameter of Pluto and half the diameter of Charon. Ixion is also the fourth-largest known plutino that has a well constrained diameter, preceding,, and Pluto. It is the intrinsically brightest object discovered by the Deep Ecliptic Survey and is among the twenty brightest trans-Neptunian objects known according to astronomer Michael Brown and the Minor Planet Center.  At the time of Ixion's discovery, it was the brightest known Kuiper belt object found. Hence, it was thought to be one of the largest Kuiper belt objects discovered due to its high intrinsic brightness. Under the assumption of a low albedo, it was presumed to have a diameter around, which would make it larger than the dwarf planet and comparable in size to Charon. Subsequent observations of Ixion with the La Silla Observatory's MPG/ESO telescope along with the European Southern Observatory's Astrovirtel in August 2001 concluded a similar size around, though under the former assumption of a low albedo.  In 2002, astronomers of the Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy measured Ixion's thermal emission at millimeter wavelengths with the IRAM 30m telescope and obtained an albedo of 0.09, corresponding to a diameter of, consistent with previous assumptions of Ixion's size and albedo. They later reevaluated their results in 2003 and realized that their detection of Ixion's thermal emission was spurious; follow-up observations with the IRAM telescope did not detect any thermal emission within the millimeter range at frequencies of 250 GHz, implying a high albedo and consequently a smaller size for Ixion. The lower limit for Ixion's albedo was constrained at 0.15, suggesting that Ixion's diameter did not exceed.  With space-based telescopes such as the Spitzer Space Telescope, astronomers were able to more accurately measure Ixion's thermal emissions, allowing for more accurate estimates of its albedo and size. Preliminary thermal measurements with Spitzer in 2005 yielded a much higher albedo constraint of 0.25–0.50, corresponding to a diameter range of. Further Spitzer thermal measurements at multiple wavelength ranges (bands) in 2007 yielded mean diameter estimates around and for a single-band and two-band solution for the data, respectively. From these results, the adopted mean diameter was (), just beyond Spitzer's 2005 diameter constraint albeit having a large margin of error. Ixion's diameter was later revised to, based on multi-band thermal observations by the Herschel Space Observatory along with Spitzer in 2013.

Possible dwarf planet status.

The International Astronomical Union has not classified Ixion as a dwarf planet and has not yet officially accepted additional dwarf planets since Makemake and Haumea in 2008. Astronomer Gonzalo Tancredi considers Ixion as a likely candidate as it has a diameter greater than, the estimated minimum size for an object to achieve hydrostatic equilibrium, under the assumption of a predominantly icy composition. Ixion also displays a light curve amplitude less than 0.15 magnitudes, indicative of a likely spheroidal shape, hence why Tancredi considered Ixion as a likely dwarf planet. American astronomer Michael Brown considers Ixion to highly likely be a dwarf planet, placing it at the lower end of the "highly likely" range. However, in 2019, astronomer William Grundy and colleagues proposed that trans-Neptunian objects similar in size to Ixion, around in diameter, have not collapsed into solid bodies and are thus transitional between smaller, porous (and thus low-density) bodies and larger, denser, brighter and geologically differentiated planetary bodies such as dwarf planets. Ixion is situated within this size range, suggesting that it is at most only partially differentiated, with a porous internal structure. While Ixion's interior may have collapsed gravitationally, its surface remained uncompressed, implying that Ixion might not be in hydrostatic equilibrium and thus not a dwarf planet. However, this notion for Ixion cannot currently be tested: the object is not currently known to have any natural satellites, and thus Ixion's mass and density cannot currently be measured. Only two attempts with the Hubble Space Telescope have been made to find a satellite within an angular distance of 0.5 arcseconds from Ixion, and it has been suggested that there is a chance as high as 0.5% that a satellite may have been missed in these searches.

Spectra and surface.

In the visible spectrum, Ixion appears moderately red in color, similar to the large Kuiper belt object. Ixion's reflectance spectrum displays a red spectral slope that extends from wavelengths of 0.4 to 0.95 μm, in which it reflects more light at these wavelengths. Longward of 0.85 μm, Ixion's spectrum becomes flat and featureless, especially at near-infrared wavelengths. In the near-infrared, Ixion's reflectance spectrum appears neutral in color and lacks apparent absorption signatures of water ice at wavelengths of 1.5 and 2 μm. Although water ice appears to be absent in Ixion's near-infrared spectrum, Barkume and colleagues have reported a detection of weak absorption signatures of water ice in Ixion's near-infrared spectrum in 2007. Ixion's featureless near-infrared spectrum indicates that its surface is covered with a thick layer of dark organic compounds irradiated by solar radiation and cosmic rays.  The red color of Ixion's surface results from the irradiation of clathrates of water and organic compounds by solar radiation and cosmic rays, which produces dark, reddish heteropolymers called tholins that cover its surface. The production of tholins on Ixion's surface is responsible for Ixion's red, featureless spectrum as well as its relatively low surface albedo. The neutral color and absence of apparent signs of water ice in Ixion's near-infrared spectrum indicates that the layer of tholins covering its surface must be very thick, suggesting that Ixion has undergone long-term irradiation and has not experienced resurfacing by impact events that may otherwise expose water ice underneath, in contrast to the relatively fresh water ice-rich surface of the similarly-colored Kuiper belt object. While Ixion is generally known to have a red color (spectral index IR), photometric measurements of Ixion's visible and near-infrared colors with the Very Large Telescope (VLT) in 2006 and 2007 paradoxically obtained a more blue spectral index of BB. This discrepancy was concluded to be an indication of heterogeneities across its surface, which may also explain the conflicting detections of water ice on Ixion's surface in various studies. Spectroscopic observations of Ixion's visible spectrum with the VLT in 2003 have tentatively identified a weak absorption feature at 0.8 μm, which could possibly be attributed to surface materials aqueously altered by water. However, evidence for this suspected absorption feature remains inconclusive as it was detected near wavelengths where the signal-to-noise ratio in Ixion's spectrum is high and has not been confirmed by subsequent spectroscopic observations. A study of Ixion's spectrum conducted by Boehnhardt and colleagues in 2004 was unable identify any absorption feature at 0.8 μm, concluding that the discrepancy between the 2003 and 2004 spectroscopic results may be the result of Ixion's heterogenous surface. In that same study, their results from photometric and polarimetric observations suggest that Ixion's surface consists of a mixture of mostly dark material and a smaller proportion of brighter, icy material. Boehnhardt and colleagues suggested a mixing ratio of 6:1 for dark and bright material as a best-fit model for Ixion's geometric albedo of 0.08, although more recent measurements made by space-based telescopes after Boehnhardt's study have shown that Ixion has a higher geometric albedo of at least 0.14, thus corresponding to a greater proportion of bright material in Ixion's surface based on Boehnhardt's model. Based on combined visible and infrared spectroscopic results, they suggested that Ixion's surface consists of a mixture largely of amorphous carbon and tholins, with the following best-fit model of Ixion's surface composition: 65% amorphous carbon, 20% cometary ice tholins (ice tholin II), 13% nitrogen and methane-rich Titan tholins, and 2% water ice.  In 2005, astronomers Lorin and Rousselot observed Ixion with the VLT in attempt to search for evidence of cometary activity. They did not detect a coma around Ixion, placing an upper limit of for Ixion's dust production rate.

Orbit and rotation.

Ixion is classified as a plutino, or an object that has a 2:3 mean-motion orbital resonance with Neptune. That is, it completes two orbits around the Sun for every three orbits that Neptune takes. At the time of Ixion's discovery, it was initially thought to be in a 3:4 orbital resonance with Neptune, which would have made Ixion closer to the Sun. Ixion orbits the Sun at an average distance of, taking 251 years to complete a full orbit. This is characteristic of all plutinos, which have orbital periods around 250 years and semi-major axes around 39 AU.  Like Pluto, Ixion's orbit is elongated and inclined to the ecliptic. Ixion has an orbital eccentricity of 0.24 and an orbital inclination of 19.6 degrees, slightly greater than Pluto's inclination of 17 degrees. Over the course of its orbit, Ixion's distance from the Sun varies from 30.1 AU at perihelion (closest distance) to 39.8 AU at aphelion (farthest distance). Although Ixion's orbit is similar to that of Pluto, their orbits are oriented differently: Ixion's perihelion is below the ecliptic whereas Pluto's is above it (see right image)., Ixion is approximately 39 AU from the Sun and is currently moving closer, approaching aphelion by 2070. Simulations by the Deep Ecliptic Survey show that Ixion can acquire a perihelion distance ("q") as small as 27.5 AU over the next 10 million years.  The rotation period of Ixion is uncertain; various photometric measurements suggest that it displays very little variations in brightness, with a small light curve amplitude less than 0.15 magnitudes. Initial attempts to determine Ixion's rotation period were conducted by astronomer Ortiz and colleagues in 2001 but yielded inconclusive results. Although their short-term photometric data was insufficient for Ixion's rotation period to be determined based on its brightness variations, they were able to constrain Ixion's light curve amplitude below 0.15 magnitudes. Astronomers Sheppard and Jewitt obtained similarly inconclusive results in 2003 and provided an amplitude constraint less than 0.05 magnitudes, considerably less than Ortiz's amplitude constraint. In 2010, astronomers Rousselot and Petit observed Ixion with the European Southern Observatory's New Technology Telescope and determined Ixion's rotation period to be hours, with a light curve amplitude around 0.06 magnitudes. Galiazzo and colleagues obtained a shorter rotation period of hours in 2016, though they calculated that there is a 1.2% probability that their result may be erroneous.

Exploration.

In a study published by Ashley Gleaves and colleagues in 2012, Ixion was considered as a potential target for an orbiter mission that would be launched on an Atlas V 551 or Delta IV HLV rocket. For an orbiter mission to Ixion, the spacecraft have a launch date in November 2039 and use a gravity assist from Jupiter, taking 20 to 25 years to arrive. Gleaves concluded that Ixion and were the most feasible targets for the orbiter, as the trajectories required the least amount of maneuvers for orbital insertion around either. For a flyby mission to Ixion, planetary scientist Amanda Zangari calculated that a spacecraft could take just over 10 years to arrive at Ixion using a Jupiter gravity assist, based on a launch date of 2027 or 2032. Ixion would be approximately 31 to 35 AU from the Sun when the spacecraft arrives. Alternatively, a flyby mission with a later launch date of 2040 would also take just over 10 years, using a Jupiter gravity assist. By the time the spacecraft arrives in 2050, Ixion would be approximately 31 to 32 AU from the Sun. Other trajectories using gravity assists from Jupiter or Saturn have been also considered. A trajectory using gravity assists from Jupiter and Saturn could take under 22 years, based a launch date of 2035 or 2040, whereas a trajectory using one gravity assist from Saturn could take at least 19 years, based on a launch date of 2038 or 2040. Using these alternative trajectories for the spacecraft, Ixion would be approximately 30 AU from the Sun when the spacecraft arrives.

28978 Ixion, provisional designation, is a large trans-Neptunian object and a possible dwarf planet. It is located in the Kuiper belt, a region of icy objects orbiting beyond Neptune in the outer Solar System. Ixion is classified as a plutino, a dynamical class of objects in a 2:3 orbital resonance with Neptune. It was discovered in May 2001 by astronomers of the Deep Ecliptic Survey at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, and was announced in July 2001. The object is named after the Greek mythological figure Ixion, who was a king of the Lapiths.

(28978) Ixion est un objet de la ceinture de Kuiper découvert le par le programme Deep Ecliptic Survey (équipe constituée de Robert L. Millis, Marc W. Buie, Eugene Chiang, James Elliot, Susan D. Kern, David E. Trilling, R. Mark Wagner et Lawrence (Larry) H. Wasserman). Son diamètre a d'abord été estimé entre mais on l'estime maintenant à. Son rayon orbital moyen est de 39,49 ua. Ixion fait partie des plutinos, objets ayant une résonance orbitale (rapport 2:3) avec Neptune.


Etymology.

"Polygonatum" comes from the ancient Greek for "many knees", referring to the multiple jointed rhizome. One explanation for the derivation of the common name "Solomon's seal" is that the roots bear depressions which resemble royal seals. Another is that the cut roots resemble Hebrew characters.

Description.

The fruits are red or black berries.

Taxonomy.

Species.

, the World Checklist of Selected Plant Families accepts 74 species and hybrids:

Uses.

Gardening.

Several species are valued as ornamental plants, including:

Food.

Many species have long been used as food in China. Leaves, stems, and rhizomes are used raw or cooked and served as a side dish with meat and rice. The rhizomes of two local species are eaten with chicken's or pig's feet during festivals. The rhizomes are used to make tea or soaked in wine or liquor to flavor the beverages. They are also fried with sugar and honey to make sweet snacks. The starchy rhizomes can be dried, ground, and added to flour to supplement food staples. The rhizome of "P. sibiricum" is pulped, boiled, strained, and thickened with barley flour to make a sweet liquid seasoning agent called "tangxi". At times, people in China have relied on "P. megaphyllum" as a famine food.  The shoots of some "Polygonatum" can be boiled and used like asparagus. "P. cirrifolium" and "P. verticillatum" are used as leafy vegetables in India. The American species "P. biflorum" has a starchy root that was eaten like the potato and used as flour for bread.  "P. sibirica" is used for a tea called "dungulle" in Korea.

Traditional medicine.

The traditional use of "Polygonatum" in the treatment of diabetes was first observed in 1930 by Hedwig Langecker. After experiments, she concluded that it was effective in fighting nutritional hyperglycemia, though not that caused by adrenaline release, probably due to its glucokinin content.  "P. verticillatum" is used in Ayurveda as an aphrodisiac. It is also used to treat pain, fever, inflammation, allergy, and weakness.  An herbal remedy called "rhizoma polygonati" is a mix of "Polygonatum" species used in traditional Chinese medicine. It is supposed to strengthen various organs and enhance the "qi". Polygonatum is believed to be restorative to mental vitality, especially when the mind has been overworked, overstressed, or is in a state of exhaustion.

Polygonatum, also known as King Solomon's-seal or Solomon's seal, is a genus of flowering plants. In the APG III classification system, it is placed in the family Asparagaceae, subfamily Nolinoideae (formerly the family Ruscaceae). It has also been classified in the former family Convallariaceae and, like many lilioid monocots, was formerly classified in the lily family, Liliaceae. The genus is distributed throughout the temperate Northern Hemisphere. Most of the approximately 63 species occur in Asia, with 20 endemic to China.

Polygonatum est un genre de plantes herbacées monocotylédones. Il appartient à la famille des "Liliaceae" selon la classification classique. La phylogénie moléculaire le place dans la famille des "Ruscaceae" (APG II), puis dans les "Asparagaceae" (APG III). D'autres classifications l'ont placé dans la famille des "Convallariaceae".


General idea of messaging.

Messaging is a form of "loosely coupled" distributed communication, where in this context the term 'communication' can be understood as an exchange of messages between software components. Message-oriented technologies attempt to relax "tightly coupled" communication (such as TCP network sockets, CORBA or RMI) by the introduction of an intermediary component. This approach allows software components to communicate with each other indirectly. Benefits of this include message senders not needing to have precise knowledge of their receivers.  The advantages of messaging include the ability to integrate heterogeneous platforms, reduce system bottlenecks, increase scalability, and respond more quickly to change.

Version history.

JMS 2.0 is currently maintained under the Java Community Process as JSR 343.  JMS 3.0 is under early development as part of Jakarta EE.

Elements.

The following are JMS elements:

Models.

The JMS API supports two distinct models:

Point-to-point model.

Under the "point-to-point" messaging system, messages are routed to individual consumers who maintain queues of incoming messages. This messaging type is built on the concept of message queues, senders, and receivers. Each message is addressed to a specific queue, and the receiving clients extract messages from the queues established to hold their messages. While any number of producers can send messages to the queue, each message is guaranteed to be delivered, and consumed by one consumer. Queues retain all messages sent to them until the messages are consumed or until the messages expire. If no consumers are registered to consume the messages, the queue holds them until a consumer registers to consume them.

Publish-and-subscribe model.

The "publish-and-subscribe" model supports publishing messages to a particular message "topic". "Subscribers" may register interest in receiving messages "published" on a particular message topic. In this model, neither the publisher nor the subscriber knows about each other. A good analogy for this is an anonymous bulletin board.  JMS provides a way of separating the application from the transport layer of providing data. The same Java classes can be used to communicate with different JMS providers by using the Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI) information for the desired provider. The classes first use a "connection factory" to connect to the queue or topic, and then use populate and send or publish the messages. On the receiving side, the clients then receive or subscribe to the messages.

URI scheme.

RFC 6167 defines a codice_1 URI scheme for the Java Message Service.

Provider implementations.

To use JMS, one must have a JMS provider that can manage the sessions, queues and topics. Starting from Java EE version 1.4, a JMS provider has to be contained in "all" Java EE application servers. This can be implemented using the message inflow management of the Java EE Connector Architecture, which was first made available in that version.  The following is a list of common JMS providers:

The Java Message Service (JMS) API is a Java message-oriented middleware API for sending messages between two or more clients. It is an implementation to handle the producer–consumer problem. JMS is a part of the Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (Java EE), and was defined by a specification developed at Sun Microsystems, but which has since been guided by the Java Community Process. It is a messaging standard that allows application components based on Java EE to create, send, receive, and read messages. It allows the communication between different components of a distributed application to be loosely coupled, reliable, and asynchronous.

L'interface de programmation Java Message Service (JMS) permet d'envoyer et de recevoir des messages de manière asynchrone entre applications ou composants Java. JMS permet d'implémenter une architecture de type MOM (message oriented middleware). Un client peut également recevoir des messages de façon synchrone dans le mode de communication point à point.


Early life and first works.

Borromini was born at Bissone, near Lugano in the Ticino, which was at the time a bailiwick of the Swiss Confederacy. He was the son of a stonemason and began his career as a stonemason himself. He soon went to Milan to study and practice his craft. He moved to Rome in 1619 and started working for Carlo Maderno, his distant relative, at St. Peter's and then also at the Palazzo Barberini. When Maderno died in 1629, he and Pietro da Cortona continued to work on the palace under the direction of Bernini. Once he had become established in Rome, he changed his name from Castelli to Borromini, a name deriving from his mother's family and perhaps also out of regard for St Charles Borromeo.

Major works.

San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (San Carlino).

In 1634, Borromini received his first major independent commission to design the church, cloister and monastic buildings of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (also known as San Carlino). Situated on the Quirinal Hill in Rome, the complex was designed for the Spanish Trinitarians, a religious order. The monastic buildings and the cloister were completed first after which construction of the church took place during the period 1638-1641 and in 1646 it was dedicated to San Carlo Borromeo. The church is considered by many to be an exemplary masterpiece of Roman Baroque architecture. San Carlino is remarkably small given its significance to Baroque architecture; it has been noted that the whole building would fit into one of the dome piers of Saint Peter's. The site was not an easy one; it was a corner site and the space was limited. Borromini positioned the church on the corner of two intersecting roads. Although the idea for the serpentine facade must have been conceived fairly early on, probably in the mid-1630s, it was only constructed towards the end of Borromini's life and the upper part was not completed until after the architect's death.  Borromini devised the complex ground plan of the church from interlocking geometrical configurations, a typical Borromini device for constructing plans. The resulting effect is that the interior lower walls appear to weave in and out, partly alluding to a cross form, partly to a hexagonal form and partly to an oval form; geometrical figures that are all found explicitly in the dome above. The area of the pendentives marks the transition from the lower wall order to the oval opening of the dome. Illuminated by windows hidden from a viewer below, interlocking octagons, crosses and hexagons diminish in size as the dome rises to a lantern with the symbol of the Trinity.

Oratory of Saint Phillip Neri (Oratorio dei Filippini).

In the late sixteenth century, the Congregation of the Filippini (also known as the Oratorians) rebuilt the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella (known as the Chiesa Nuova -new church) in central Rome. In the 1620s, on a site adjacent to the church, the Fathers commissioned designs for their own residence and for an oratory (or "oratorio" in Italian) in which to hold their spiritual exercises. These exercises combined preaching and music in a form which became immensely popular and highly influential on the development of the musical oratorio.  The architect Paolo Maruscelli drew up plans for the site (which survive) and the sacristy was begun in 1629 and was in use by 1635. After a substantial benefaction in January 1637, however, Borromini was appointed as architect. By 1640, the oratory was in use, a taller and richer clock tower was accepted, and by 1643, the relocated library was complete. The striking brick curved facade adjacent to the church entrance has an unusual pediment and does not entirely correspond to the oratory room behind it. The white oratory interior has a ribbed vault and a complex wall arrangement of engaged pilasters along with freestanding columns supporting first level balconies. The altar wall was substantially reworked at a later date.  Borromini’s relations with the Oratorians were often fraught; there were heated arguments over the design and the selection of building materials. By 1650, the situation came to a head and in 1652 the Oratorians appointed another architect.  However, with the help of his Oratorian friend and provost Virgilio Spada, Borromini documented his own account of the building of the oratory and the residence and an illustrated version was published in Italian in 1725

Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza.

From 1640-1650, he worked on the design of the church of Sant'Ivo alla Sapienza and its courtyard, near University of Rome La Sapienza palace. It was initially the church of the Roman Archiginnasio. He had been initially recommended for the commission in 1632, by his then supervisor for the work at the Palazzo Barberini, Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The site, like many in cramped Rome, is challenged for external perspectives. It was built at the end of Giacomo della Porta's long courtyard. The dome and cochlear steeple are peculiar, and reflect the idiosyncratic architectural motifs that distinguish Borromini from contemporaries. Inside, the nave has an unusual centralized plan circled by alternating concave and convex-ending cornices, leading to a dome decorated with linear arrays of stars and putti. The geometry of the structure is a symmetric six-pointed star; from the center of the floor, the cornice looks like a two equilateral triangles forming a hexagon, but three of the points are clover-like, while the other three are concavely clipped. The innermost columns are points on a circle. The fusion of feverish and dynamic baroque excesses with a rationalistic geometry is an excellent match for a church in a papal institution of higher learning.

Sant'Agnese in Agone.

Borromini was one of several architects involved in the building of the church of Sant’Agnese in Agone in Rome. Not only were some of his design intentions changed by succeeding architects but the net result is a building which reflects, rather unhappily, a mix of different approaches.  The decision to rebuild of the church was taken in 1652 as part of Pope Innocent X’s project to enhance the Piazza Navona, the urban space onto which his family palace, the Palazzo Pamphili, faced. The first plans for a Greek Cross church were drawn up by Girolamo Rainaldi and his son Carlo Rainaldi, who relocated the main entrance from the Via di Santa Maria dell'Anima to the Piazza Navona. The foundations were laid and much of the lower level walls had been constructed when the Rainaldis were dismissed due to criticisms of the design and Borromini was appointed in their stead.  Borromini began a much more innovative approach to the facade which was expanded to include parts of the adjacent Palazzo Pamphili and gain space for his two bell towers. Construction of the façade proceeded up to the cornice level and the dome completed as far as the lantern. On the interior, he placed columns against the piers of the lower order which was mainly completed.  In 1656, Innocent X died and the project lost momentum. In 1657, Borromini resigned and Carlo Rainaldi was recalled who made a number of significant changes to Borromini's design. Further alterations were made by Bernini including the façade pediment. In 1668, Carlo Rainaldi returned as architect and Ciro Ferri received the commission to fresco the dome interior which it is highly unlikely that Borromini intended. Further large scale statuary and coloured marbling were also added; again, these are not part of Borromini's design repertoire which was orientated to white stucco architectural and symbolic motifs.

The Re Magi Chapel of the Propaganda Fide.

The College of the Propagation of the Faith or Propaganda Fide in Rome includes the Re Magi Chapel by Borromini, generally considered by architectural historians to be one of his most spatially unified architectural interiors.  The chapel replaced a small oval chapel designs by his rival Bernini and was a late work in Borromini's career; he was appointed as architect in 1648 but it was not until 1660 that construction of the chapel began and although the main body of work was completed by 1665, some of the decoration was finished after his death.  His façade to the Via di Propaganda Fide comprises seven bays articulated by giant pilasters. The central bay is a concave curve and accommodates the main entry into the college courtyard and complex, with the entrance to the chapel to the left and to the college to the right.

Other works.

Borromini's works include:

Death and epitaph.

In the summer of 1667, and following completion of the Falconieri chapel (the High Altar chapel) in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Borromini committed suicide in Rome, possibly as a result of nervous disorders and depression.  In his testament, Borromini wrote that he did not want any name on his burial and expressed the desire to be buried in the tomb of his kinsman Carlo Maderno in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini. In recent times, his name was added on the marble plaque below the tomb of Maderno and a commemorative plaque commissioned by the Swiss embassy in Rome was placed on a pillar of the church. This Latin inscription reads: The adjective "Ticinensis" used in the plaque is an anachronism, since the name, related to the Ticino river, was chosen only in 1803, when the modern Canton was created by Napoleon.

Francesco Borromini (, ), byname of Francesco Castelli (; 25 September 1599 – 2 August 1667), was an Italian architect born in the modern Swiss canton of Ticino who, with his contemporaries Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Pietro da Cortona, was a leading figure in the emergence of Roman Baroque architecture.

Francesco Borromini né Francesco Castelli (Bissone, 25 ou 27 septembre 1599 - Rome, 3 août 1667, est un architecte italien considéré comme une figure majeure de l'architecture baroque. Il fut le contemporain de Gian Lorenzo Bernini dont il devint le rival, et de Pierre de Cortone.


History.

Origin of Datsun.

Before the Datsun brand name came into being, an automobile named the DAT car was built in 1914, by the, in the Azabu-Hiroo District in Tokyo. The new car's name was an acronym of the surnames of the following company partners:  Incidentally, "datto" (how a native Japanese speaker would pronounce "dat") means to "dash off like a startled rabbit" (脱兎), which was considered a good name for the little car. The firm was renamed Kaishinsha Motorcar Co. in 1918, seven years after their establishment and again, in 1925, to DAT Motorcar Co. DAT Motors constructed trucks in addition to the DAT passenger cars. In fact, their output focused on trucks since there was almost no consumer market for passenger cars at the time. Beginning in 1918, the first DAT trucks were assembled for the military market. The low demand from the military market during the 1920s forced DAT to consider merging with other automotive industries. In 1926 the Tokyo-based DAT Motors merged with the Osaka-based also known as Jitsuyo Motors (established 1919, as a Kubota subsidiary) to become in Osaka until 1932. (Jitsuyo Jidosha began producing a three-wheeled vehicle with an enclosed cab called the Gorham in 1920, and the following year produced a four-wheeled version. From 1923 to 1925, the company produced light cars and trucks under the name of Lila.)  The DAT corporation had been selling full size cars to Japanese consumers under the DAT name since 1914. In 1930, the Japanese government created a ministerial ordinance that allowed cars with engines up to 500 cc to be driven without a license. DAT Automobile Manufacturing began development of a line of 495 cc cars to sell in this new market segment, calling the new small cars "Datson" – meaning "Son of DAT". The name was changed to "Datsun" two years later in 1933.  The first prototype Datson was completed in the summer of 1931. The production vehicle was called the Datson Type 10, and "approximately ten" of these cars were sold in 1931. They sold around 150 cars in 1932, now calling the model the Datsun Type 11. In 1933, government rules were revised to permit engines, and Datsun increased the displacement of their microcar engine to the maximum allowed. These larger displacement cars were called Type 12s.  By 1935, the company had established a true production line, following the example of Ford, and were producing a car closely resembling the Austin 7. There is evidence that six of these early Datsuns were exported to New Zealand in 1936, a market they then re-entered in May 1962. In 1937, Datsun's biggest pre-war year, 8593 were built, with some exported to Australia in knock-down form.  After Japan went to war with China in 1937, passenger car production was restricted, so by 1938, Datsun's Yokohama plant concentrated on building trucks for the Imperial Japanese Army.  When the Pacific War ended, Datsun would turn to providing trucks for the Occupation forces. This lasted until car production resumed in 1947. As before the war, Datsun closely patterned their cars on contemporary Austin products: postwar, the Devon and Somerset were selected. For Datsun's smaller cars (and trucks), such as the DB and DS series, they depended on designs based on the pre-war Austin Seven. The heavier trucks, meanwhile, were based on Chevrolet's 1937 design with an engine of Graham-Paige design. Nissan also built the 4W60 Patrol, based on the Willys Jeep, and the 4W70 Carrier, based on the Dodge M37. Not until January 1955 did Datsun offer a fully indigenous design.  That year, the Occupation returned production facilities to Japanese control, and Datsun introduced the 110 saloon and the 110-based 120 pickup.

Datsun in the American market.

The use of the "Datsun" name in the American market derives from the name Nissan used for its production cars. In fact, the cars produced by Nissan already used the Datsun brand name, a successful brand in Japan since 1932, long before World War II. Before the entry into the American market in 1958, Nissan did not produce cars under the Nissan brand name, but only trucks. Their in-house-designed cars were always branded as "Datsuns". Hence, for Nissan executives it would be only natural to use such a successful name when exporting models to the United States. Only in the 1960s did Datsun begin to brand some automobile models as "Nissans", like the Patrol and a small test batch of about 100 Cedric sedans, and then not again until the 1980s. The Japanese market Z-car (sold as the Fairlady Z) also had Nissan badging. In the United States, the Nissan branch was named ""Nissan Motor Corporation in U.S.A."", and chartered on September 28, 1960, in California, but the small cars the firm exported to America were still named Datsun.  Corporate choice favored Datsun, so as to distance the parent factory Nissan's association by Americans with Japanese military manufacture. In fact Nissan's involvement in Japan's military industries was substantial. The company's car production at the Yokohama plant shifted towards military needs just a few years after the first passenger cars rolled off the assembly line, on April 11, 1935. By 1939 Nissan's operations had moved to Manchuria, then under Japanese occupation, where its founder and President, Yoshisuke Ayukawa, established the Manchurian Motor Company to manufacture military trucks.  Ayukawa, a well-connected and aggressive risk taker, also made himself a principal partner of the Japanese Colonial Government of Manchukuo. Ultimately, Nissan Heavy Industries emerged near the end of the war as an important player in Japan's war machinery. After the war ended, Soviet Union seized all of Nissan's Manchuria assets, while the Occupation Forces made use of over half of the Yokohama plant. General MacArthur had Ayukawa imprisoned for 21 months as a war criminal. After release he was forbidden from returning to any corporate or public office until 1951. He was never allowed back into Nissan, which returned to passenger car manufacture in 1947 and to its original name of Nissan Motor Company Ltd. in 1949.  American service personnel in their teens or early twenties during the Second World War would be in prime car-buying age by 1960, if only to find an economical small second car for their growing family needs. Yutaka Katayama (Mr. "K"), former president of Nissan's American operations, would have had his personal wartime experiences in mind supporting the name Datsun. Katayama's visit to Nissan's Manchuria truck factory in 1939 made him realise the appalling conditions of the assembly lines, leading him to abandon the firm. In 1945, near the end of the war, Katayama was ordered to return to the Manchurian plant, however he rebuffed these calls and refused to return.  Katayama desired to build and sell passenger cars to people, not to the military; for him, the name ""Datsun"" had survived the war with its purity intact, not ""Nissan"". This obviously led Katayama to have problems with the corporate management. The discouragement felt by Katayama as regards his prospects at Nissan, led to his going on the verge of resigning, when Datsun's 1958 Australian Mobilgas victories vaulted him, as leader of the winning Datsun teams, to national prominence in a Japan bent on regaining international status.  The company's first product to be exported around the world was the 113, with a proprietary four-cylinder engine.  Datsun entered the American market in 1958, with sales in California. By 1959, the company had dealers across the U.S. and began selling the 310 (known as Bluebird domestically). From 1962 to 1969 the Nissan Patrol utility vehicle was sold in the United States (as a competitor to the Toyota Land Cruiser J40 series), making it the only Nissan-badged product sold in the US prior to that name's introduction worldwide decades later.  From 1960 on, exports and production continued to grow. A new plant was built at Oppama, south of Yokohama; it opened in 1962. The next year, Bluebird sales first topped 200,000, and exports touched 100,000. By 1964, Bluebird was being built at 10,000 cars a month.  For 1966, Datsun debuted the 1000, allowing owners of kei cars to move up to something bigger. That same year, Datsun won the East African Safari Rally and merged with Prince Motors, giving the company the Skyline model range, as well as a test track at Murayama.  The company introduced the Bluebird 510 in 1967. This was followed in 1968 with the iconic 240Z, which proved affordable sports cars could be built and sold profitably: it was soon the world's #1-selling sports car. It relied on an engine based on the Bluebird and used Bluebird suspension components. It would go on to two outright wins in the East African Rally.  Katayama was made Vice President of the Nissan North American subsidiary in 1960, and as long as he was involved in decision making, both as North American Vice President from 1960 to 1965, and then President of Nissan Motor Company U.S.A. from 1965 to 1975, the cars were sold as Datsuns. “What we need to do is improve our car’s efficiency gradually and creep up slowly before others notice. Then, before Detroit realizes it, we will have become an excellent car maker, and the customers will think so too. If we work hard to sell our own cars, we won’t be bothered by whatever the other manufacturers do. If all we do is worry about the other cars in the race, we will definitely lose.”

Datsun in Europe.

In 1935, the very first Datsun-badged vehicle was shipped to Britain by car magnate Sir Herbert Austin. The vehicle, a Type 14, was never meant for the road or production, but was a part of a patent dispute as Austin saw a number of similarities to the car with the Austin 7 Ruby. Nissan began exporting Datsun-badged cars to the United Kingdom in 1968, at which time foreign cars were a rarity, with only a small percentage of cars being imported – some of the most popular examples at the time including the Renault 16 from France and Volkswagen Beetle from West Germany. The first European market that Nissan had entered was Finland, where sales began in 1962. Within a few years, it was importing cars to most of Western Europe.  Datsun was particularly successful on the British market. It sold just over 6,000 cars there as late as 1971, but its sales surged to more than 30,000 the following year and continued to climb over the next few years, with well-priced products including the Cherry 100A and Sunny 120Y proving particularly popular, at a time when the British motor industry was plagued by strikes and British Leyland in particular was gaining a reputation for building cars which had major issues with build quality and reliability. During the 1970s and early 1980s, Nissan frequently enjoyed the largest market share in Britain of any foreign carmaker.  By the early 1980s, the Nissan badge was gradually appearing on Datsun-badged cars, and eventually the Datsun branding was phased out, the final new car with a Datsun badge being the Micra supermini, launched in Britain from June 1983. By the end of 1984, the Datsun branding had completely disappeared in Britain, although it lingered elsewhere until 1986.

Rebranding.

In Japan, there appears to have been what probably constituted a long-held 'official' company bias against use of the name "Datsun". At the time, Kawamata was a veteran of Nissan, in the last year of his presidency, a powerful figure whose experience in the firm exceeded two decades. His rise to its leadership position occurred in 1957 in part because of his handling of the critical Nissan workers' strike that began May 25, 1953, and ran for 100 days. During his tenure as President, Kawamata stated that he "regretted that his company did not imprint its corporate name on cars, the way Toyota does. 'Looking back, we wish we had started using Nissan on all of our cars,' he says. 'But Datsun was a pet name for the cars when we started exporting.'"  Ultimately, the decision was made to stop using the brand name "Datsun" worldwide, in order to strengthen the company name "Nissan".  "The decision to change the name Datsun to Nissan in the U.S. was announced in the autumn (September/October) of 1981. The rationale was that the name change would help the pursuit of a global strategy. A single name worldwide would increase the possibility that advertising campaigns, brochures, and promotional materials could be used across countries and simplify product design and manufacturing. Further, potential buyers would be exposed to the name and product when traveling to other countries. Industry observers, however, speculated that the most important motivation was that a name change would help Nissan market stocks and bonds in the U.S. They also presumed substantial ego involvement, since the absence of the Nissan name in the U.S. surely rankled Nissan executives who had seen Toyota and Honda become household words."  Ultimately, the name change campaign lasted for a three-year period from 1982 to 1984 – Datsun badged vehicles had been progressively fitted with small "Nissan" and "Datsun by Nissan" badges from the late 1970s onward until the Nissan name was given prominence in 1983 – although in some export markets, vehicles continued to wear both the Datsun and Nissan badges until 1986. In the United Kingdom for example, the Nissan name initially was used as a prefix to the model name, with Datsun still being used as the manufacturer's name (e.g. Datsun-Nissan Micra) from 1982 until 1984. The name change had cost Nissan a figure in the region of US$500 million. Operational costs included the changing of signs at 1,100 Datsun dealerships, and amounted to US$30 million. Another US$200 million were spent during the 1982 to 1986 advertising campaigns, where the ""Datsun, We Are Driven!"" campaign (which was adopted in late 1977 in the wake of the 1973 oil crisis and subsequent 1979 energy crisis) yielded to ""The Name is Nissan"" campaign (the latter campaign was used for some years beyond 1985). Another US$50 million was spent on Datsun advertisements that were paid for but stopped or never used. Five years after the name change program was over, "Datsun" still remained more familiar than "Nissan".

Datsun truck.

In 2001, Nissan marketed its D22 pick-up model in Japan with the name "Datsun". This time however, the use of the brand name was wholly restricted to this one specific model name. Production of this model was between May 2001 and October 2002.

Re-launch.

On 20 March 2012, it was announced that Nissan would revive the Datsun marque as a low-cost car brand for use in Indonesia, Nepal, South Africa, India, and Russia, and on 15 July 2013, nearly three decades after it was phased out, the name was formally resurrected. Nissan said the brand's reputation for value and reliability would help it gain market share in emerging markets.  The Datsun brand was re-launched in New Delhi, India, with the Datsun Go, which went on sale in India in early 2014. Datsun models are sold in Indonesia, Russia, India, Nepal and South Africa since 2014. The brand entered Kazakhstan in 2015, and Belarus and Lebanon in 2016.  The Datsun Go is being built at the Renault-Nissan plant in Chennai, India. It is also produced in Russia and Indonesia. The Go is based on the same Nissan V platform as the Nissan Micra. The Go+, a minivan, was added to the range in September 2013.  In February 2014, the Redi-Go concept car was presented.  The Redi-Go crossover became available in India mid-2015.  In April 2014, the first model for the Russian market, the Datsun on-Do based on Lada Granta, was launched.  In November 2019, it was announced that Datsun would stop its production in Indonesia in 2020.

The Datsun (, ) is an automobile brand owned by Nissan. Datsun's original production run began in 1931. From 1958 to 1986, only vehicles exported by Nissan were identified as Datsun. By 1986, Nissan had phased out the Datsun name, but re-launched it in June 2013 as the brand for low-cost vehicles manufactured for emerging markets. Nissan would phase out the Datsun brand for the second time starting from 2020.

Datsun est un constructeur automobile japonais. Lancée en 1913 par Masujiro Hashimoto principalement, Datsun a été racheté en 1933 par Nissan et abandonné en 1983 pour cause d’objectif d'unification commerciale. La marque était réputée pour avoir fabriqué des modèles moyenne gamme et quelques sportives à travers les modèles 240Z, 260Z et 280Z. Celles-ci pouvaient rivaliser avec leurs concurrentes Porsche et MG Motor pour la moitié de leurs prix. La marque fut relancée le par Carlos Ghosn, la rabaissant en bas de gamme. Son objectif était de faire un équivalent de Dacia pour la branche Nissan de l'alliance (tandis que Nissan représente le généraliste et Infiniti le premium luxe).


Early history.

Founding.

Cadillac was formed from the remnants of the Henry Ford Company. After a dispute between Henry Ford and his investors, Ford left the company along with several of his key partners in March 1902. Ford's financial backers William Murphy and Lemuel Bowen called in engineer Henry M. Leland of Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing Company to appraise the plant and equipment in preparation for liquidating the company's assets. Instead, Leland persuaded the pair to continue manufacturing automobiles using Leland's proven single-cylinder engine. A new company called the Cadillac Automobile Company was established on 22 August 1902, re-purposing the Henry Ford Company factory at Cass Street and Amsterdam Avenue. It was named after French explorer Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, who had founded Detroit in 1701.

First automobiles.

Cadillac's first automobiles, the Runabout and Tonneau, were completed in October 1902. They were two-seat horseless carriages powered by a single-cylinder engine. They were practically identical to the 1903 Ford Model A. Many sources say the first car rolled out of the factory on 17 October; in the book "Henry Leland—Master of Precision", the date is 20 October; another reliable source shows car number three to have been built on 16 October. Cadillac displayed the new vehicles at the New York Auto Show in January 1903, where the vehicles impressed the crowds enough to gather over 2,000 firm orders. Cadillac's biggest selling point was precision manufacturing, and therefore, reliability; a Cadillac was simply a better-made vehicle than its competitors.

Notable events: 1906–1912.

The Cadillac Automobile Company merged with Leland & Faulconer Manufacturing, forming The Cadillac Motor Company in 1905. From its earliest years, Cadillac aimed for precision engineering and stylish luxury finishes, causing its cars to be ranked amongst the finest in the United States. Cadillac was the first volume manufacturer of a fully enclosed car, in 1906. Cadillac participated in the 1908 interchangeability test in the United Kingdom, and was awarded the Dewar Trophy for the most important advancement of the year in the automobile industry.  In 1909, Cadillac was purchased by the General Motors (GM) conglomerate. Cadillac became General Motors' prestige division, devoted to the production of large luxury vehicles. The Cadillac line was also GM's default marque for "commercial chassis" institutional vehicles, such as limousines, ambulances, hearses and funeral home flower cars, the last three of which were custom-built by aftermarket manufacturers. It became positioned at the top of GM's vehicle hierarchy, above Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland, and later, Chevrolet.  In 1912, Cadillac was the first automobile manufacturer to incorporate an electrical system enabling starting, ignition, and lighting.

Becoming the "Standard of the World" and the Great Depression: 1915–1941.

In 1915, Cadillac introduced a 90-degree flathead V8 engine with at 2400 rpm and of torque, allowing its cars to attain. This was faster than most roads could accommodate at this time. Cadillac pioneered the dual-plane V8 crankshaft in 1918. In 1928 Cadillac introduced the first clashless Synchro-Mesh manual transmission, utilizing constant mesh gears. In 1930 Cadillac implemented the first V16 engine, with a 45-degree overhead valve,, and, one of the most powerful and quietest engines in the United States. The development and introduction of the V8, V16 and V12 helped to make Cadillac the "Standard of the World". A later model of the V8 engine, with overhead valves, set the standard for the entire American automotive industry in 1949. In July 1917, the United States Army needed a dependable staff car and chose the Cadillac Type 55 Touring Model after exhaustive tests on the Mexican border. 2,350 of the cars were supplied for use in France by officers of the American Expeditionary Force in World War I.  General Motors of Canada had built Cadillacs from 1923 until 1936 and LaSalles from 1927 until 1935.  Pre-World War II Cadillacs were well-built, powerful, mass-produced luxury cars aimed at an upper-class market. In the 1930s, Cadillac added cars with V12 and V16 engines to their range, many of which were fitted with custom coach-built bodies.  In the 1920s and 1930s Cadillac and Buick vehicles were popular with longer-distance passenger service operators e.g. the Nairn Transport Company in the Middle East (Baghdad-Damascus) and Newmans Coach Lines in New Zealand.  In 1926, Cadillac recruited automobile stylist Harley Earl in a one-time consulting capacity, but his employment lasted considerably longer: by 1928, Earl was the head of the new Art and Color division and he would ultimately work for GM until he retired, over 30 years later. The first car he designed was the LaSalle, a new, smaller "companion marque" car, named after another French explorer and founder of Detroit, René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle. That marque remained in production until 1940.  Cadillac introduced designer-styled bodywork (as opposed to auto-engineered) in 1927. It installed shatter-resistant glass in 1926. Cadillac also introduced the "turret top", the first all-steel roof on a passenger car. Previously, car roofs had been made out of fabric-covered wood.  The Great Depression sapped the auto industry generally, with the luxury market declining more steeply; between 1928 and 1933, Cadillac sales declined by 84% to 6,736 vehicles. Exacerbating sales performance for the Cadillac brand was a policy, reflective of the times, which discouraged sales to African Americans. Nick Dreystadt, mechanic and national head of Cadillac service, urged a committee—set up to decide whether the Cadillac brand would live on—to revoke that policy. After the policy was eliminated, brand sales increased by 70% in 1934, and Dreystadt was promoted to lead the entire Cadillac Division.  By 1940, Cadillac sales had risen tenfold compared to 1934. In 1936, Dreystadt released the Series 60 as Cadillac's entry into the mid-priced vehicle market. It was replaced by the Series 61 in 1939, but a popular model that was derived from it, the Sixty Special, continued through 1993. Another factor helped boost Cadillac growth over the next few years: a revolution in assembly line technology. In 1934, Henry F. Phillips introduced the Phillips screw and screwdriver to the market. He entered into talks with General Motors and convinced the Cadillac group his new screws would speed assembly times and therefore increase profits. Cadillac was the first automaker to use the Phillips technology, in 1937, which was widely adopted in 1940. For the first time in many years all cars built by the company shared the same basic engine and drivetrain in 1941.  1941 also saw introduction of optional Hydra-Matic, the first mass-produced fully automatic transmission, offered the previous year on the Oldsmobile.

After World War II and The Great Depression: 1945–1959.

Postwar Cadillac vehicles innovated many of the styling features that came to be synonymous with the late 1940s and 1950s American automobile. Incorporating many of the ideas of then General Motors styling chief Harley J. Earl, these included tailfins, wraparound windshields, and extensive use of chrome. Tailfins were first added in 1948 and reached their pinnacle in 1959. From 1960 to 1964 they decreased each year until they disappeared in the 1965 model year (remaining vestigialy only on the limited production 1965 Series 75 chassis, a carry-over from 1964). Cadillac's other distinctive styling attribute was its front-bumper. What had started out after the war as a pair of artillery shell-shaped bumper guards moved higher on the front-end design as the 1950s wore on. Becoming known as Dagmar bumpers for their similarity to the buxom 1950s television personality, they were toned down in 1958 and gone the next year.  1956 saw the introduction of the pillarless four-door hardtop sedan, marketed as the "Sedan de Ville"; a year later the feature appeared in all standard Cadillacs. The fledgling automotive magazine "Motor Trend" awarded its first "Motor Trend Car of the Year" to Cadillac in 1949 for its innovative overhead valve V8 engine. While the company initially snubbed the honor, it now proudly references its "Car of the Year" wins in publicity material. On 25 November 1949, Cadillac produced its one-millionth car, a 1950 Coupe de Ville. It also set a new sales mark of 100,000 cars, matched in 1950 and 1951. 1949 also saw the introduction with Buick of the first mass-produced hardtop coupe, a closed-body style without a "B" pillar. Marketed as the Coupe de Ville, it would become one of Cadillac's most popular models for many years.  In 1951, Cadillac began production of the M41 Walker Bulldog army tank, which saw service in the Korean and Vietnam wars.  In 1953, the "Autronic Eye" was introduced. This feature would automatically dim high-beam headlamps for the safety of oncoming motorists. In 1957, Cadillac attempted to move further upmarket, creating the hand-built Series 70 Eldorado Brougham. It featured self-levelling suspension, "memory seat" function, and an all-transistor signal-seeking car radio that was produced by GM's Delco Radio and which was available as standard equipment for the 1957 Eldorado Brougham models. While the car showed Cadillac's technological prowess, it sold only 904 units.

Pinnacles in Luxury & Dimension: 1960–1976.

The dual-reservoir brake master cylinder, with separate front and rear hydraulic systems, was introduced in 1962, six years ahead of the Federal requirement. The first fully automatic heater-air conditioning system also appeared, as did the three-speed Turbo-Hydramatic automatic transmission; it would become the GM standard model for several decades. From the late 1960s, Cadillac offered a fiber-optic warning system to alert the driver to failed light bulbs. The use of extensive bright-work on the exterior and interior also decreased each year after 1959. By the 1966 model year, even the rear bumpers ceased to be all chrome—large portions were painted, including the headlight bezels.  In 1966, Cadillac had its best annual sales yet, over 192,000 units (142,190 of them de Villes), an increase of more than 60%. This was exceeded in 1968, when Cadillac topped 200,000 units for the first time. 1967 and 1968 saw the introduction of a host of federally mandated safety features, including energy-absorbing steering columns and wheels, soft interior and instrument panel knobs and surfaces, front shoulder belts, and side marker lights.  The front-wheel-drive Eldorado was launched in 1967, setting a new standard for a personal luxury car. Its simple, elegant design was a far cry from the tailfin and chrome excesses of the 1950s. Cadillac's success grew against rivals Lincoln and Imperial, which had division sales topping all of Chrysler for the first time in 1970. The new engine that debuted in the 1968 model year, designed for an ultimate capacity potential of, was increased to for the 1970 Eldorado. It was adopted across the model range beginning in 1975. Driver and front passenger airbags ("Air Cushion Restraint System") began to be offered on some Cadillac, as well as other Buick and Oldsmobile luxury models, in 1974, however this option was unpopular as was discontinued after the 1976 model year. The pillarless Coupe deVille ended with the 1973 model, while the Sedan deVille remained pillarless through 1976.  The 1970s saw new extremes in vehicle luxury and dimension. The 1972 Fleetwood was some longer in wheelbase and overall, compared to the 1960 Series 75 Fleetwood; the entry-level 1972 Calais was longer than the equivalent 1960 Series 62, on the same wheelbase. Models gained a smoother ride while vehicle weight, standard equipment, and engine displacement were all increased. Cadillac experienced record sales in 1973 and again in the late 1970s. In May 1975, the Seville was introduced as a competitor to the growing import luxury car market and was marketed as "international size".

Downsizings & New Technology-Assisted Luxury Features: 1977–1988.

In 1977, Cadillac's D-bodies experienced the same "downsizing" as the rest of GM's "B" and "C" bodied cars. In 1977 GM significantly down-sized their full sized cars. The DeVille and Fleetwood Brougham rode on the same 121.5" wheelbase and were powered by the 425 cubic inch (7.0L) V8. This engine was basically a de-bored version of the 472/500 (7.9 L/8.2 L) V8 of previous years. 1977 was Cadillac's 75th anniversary, and saw the introduction of the downsized DeVille coupes and sedans. The new Fleetwood Brougham, which had lost its exclusive longer wheelbase, was now virtually similar to the lesser Sedan de Ville. Other than the name, there were only subtle exterior differences between a Fleetwood Brougham and Sedan de Ville. The interior of the Fleetwood was more plush and offered more features as standard. These new cars featured a higher roofline, resulting in a vehicle that was more than nine inches shorter, four inches narrower, and half a ton lighter than the previous year, but with a larger trunk and more headroom and legroom. These were also the first DeVilles to be marketed without fender skirts over the rear wheels. The 500 in V8 (which produced 190 horsepower) was replaced for 1977 by a 180-horsepower 425 in V8 variant of similar design. The reduction in size and weight was implemented to improve fuel economy and emissions as a result of the United States Federal Government passage of Corporate Average Fuel Economy regulations.  For 1977, the lineup included the two-door Coupe de Ville ($9,654) and four-door Sedan de Ville ($9,864). The $650 d'Elegance package, an interior dress-up option carried over from the previous generation of DeVilles, continued for both models. 3-sided, wrap-around tail lamps were a 1977 feature only (although they would re-appear in 1987). Coupe de Ville's popular "Cabriolet" option, priced at $348, included a rear-half padded vinyl roof covering and opera lamps. An optional electronic fuel-injected version of the standard 7.0-liter powerplant, adding, was available for an additional $647. Sales figures were 138,750 Coupe de Villes and 95,421 Sedan de Villes for an all-time sales record of 234,171 DeVilles sold.  With these downsizings, fuel economy and handling improved. In 1979, Cadillac's flagship Eldorado coupe would downsize. The 1980s saw a downsizing of many models including the DeVille, Fleetwood, Eldorado, and Seville. 1980 saw a dramatic redesign for the Seville featuring a bustle-back rear-end styling theme and a move to a front-wheel-drive chassis which it shared with the Eldorado. In 1982, the Cimarron was introduced as the brand's first compact car. The Cimarron's market failure is one in a series of events throughout the 1980s and 1990s which caused Cadillac's share of the US market to decline from 3.8% in 1979 to 2.2% in 1997; it is routinely cited as the nadir of GM's product planning:  For the 1981 model year, the long-running "Standard of the World" slogan was changed to "An American Standard of the World". For the 1982 model year, the slogan was changed to "Best of All... It's A Cadillac", which was used until 1986.  Because of a delay in production of the new front-drive DeVilles (which were now going to be 1985 models), 1984 was a re-run for the rear-wheel-drive Coupe de Ville ($17,140) and its four-door companion, the popular Sedan de Ville ($17,625). It would also be the last time DeVille used the "V" emblem below the Cadillac crest, as 1985 models and on would use the crest and wreath emblem—formerly a Fleetwood exclusive. Minor changes included new body-color side moldings and a revised exhaust system with a revamped catalytic converter. The diesel V8 was now available at no additional charge. While the optional d'Elegance package remained at $1,150, the Cabriolet option for Coupe de Ville went up to $420. For 1984, sales figures show a total four-door production of 107,920 units, and an additional 50,840 two-door units (figures include de Ville and Fleetwood models). The new front-drive 1985 Coupe de Ville and Sedan de Ville arrived in Cadillac showrooms during the Spring of 1984, about six months earlier than most new-car introductions, so both the 1984 rear-drive and 1985 front-drive models were selling and being produced (due to separate assembly plants) at the same time for nearly half a year.  1985 saw the new front-wheel-drive DeVille and Fleetwood models released after quality delays prevented a planned 1984 model year introduction. 1986 saw new downsized Eldorado and Seville models. In 1987, the all-new Pininfarina-bodied Allante roadster came to market featuring the HT-4100 V8 engine. The Sixty Special returned in 1987 as the top owner-driven Cadillac in the front-wheel-drive GM C-body lineup, with a planned production run of just 2,000 cars. The 1987 and 1988 Sixty Specials were unique, custom-crafted automobiles, which featured a five-inch (127 mm) longer wheelbase over the DeVille/Fleetwood on which they were based. Similarly equipped to the standard-size Fleetwood d'Elegance—the model on which it was based—the Sixty Special also included an anti-lock braking system (a $925 Fleetwood option) and a stainless-steel exhaust system not available on other Cadillacs. In 1987, the Sixty Special carried a base price of $34,850—more than $8,700 over the price of the Fleetwood d'Elegance. Also, 1987 brought the closure of Detroit Assembly on Clark Street in Detroit, where Cadillacs had been made since 1921.  The 1980s also saw the introduction of new, technology-assisted luxury features. Among these was the return of the memory seat option, not available since the 1958 Eldorado Brougham. 1981 brought standard digital heating and air conditioning controls to all models. In 1982, the High Technology engine was introduced. It was originally scheduled for a 1983 release, later delayed to 1985, with its intended applications being the downsized front-wheel drive models Cadillac would introduce that year. 1983 saw the introduction of the Delco/Bose stereo system option, an US$895 cassette stereo system available only on the Eldorado and Seville. This Bose system would eventually become available on the DeVille and Fleetwood models on their 1985 FWD editions. The Trip Computer, available for Eldorado in 1979 and Seville in 1978 and 1979, was replaced in 1981 with the availability of digital instrumentation with some Trip Computer functions being replaced by the new digital heating and air conditioning control panel. Digital instrumentation would become available for the new FWD DeVille and Fleetwood series in 1985.

New Introductions: 1989–1999.

In 1991, Cadillac introduced the Northstar engine, which were a family of high-performance 90° V engines produced by General Motors from 1991 to 2010. Regarded as GM's most technically complex engine, the original double overhead cam, four valve per cylinder, aluminum block/aluminum head V8 design was developed by Oldsmobile's R&D, but is most associated with Cadillac's Northstar series. The related Northstar System was Cadillac's trademarked name for a package of performance features introduced in mid-1992 that coupled variable valve timing, road sensing suspension, variable power steering, and four-wheel disc brakes to the Division's high-output and high-torque Northstar engines.  For 1992, the Seville was redesigned to better compete with luxury performance sedans from Europe and had adopted some styling cues from the 1988 Cadillac Voyage concept car. It also made "Car and Driver" magazine's Ten Best list that year. A year later, the Brougham was discontinued and replaced by the all-new rear-wheel drive 1993 Fleetwood. The previous front-wheel drive Fleetwood was renamed Sixty Special for 1993. That same year, the Coupe deVille was discontinued due to the declining popularity of full-size coupes.  For 1994, the DeVille was redesigned to share the K-body platform with the Seville. The body was redesigned, although the wheelbase remained 113.8 inches—rather than the 111 inches used on the Seville. Production moved to Hamtramck, Michigan. Also for 1994, all DeVille models included a standard SRS driver-side front airbag, as well as fully digital instrumentation with integrated message center, which provided important vehicle information and status, current speed, outside temperature, and more, with controls mounted to the left of the instrument cluster. Also standard was a dual-zone front HVAC system, with controls located to the right of the instrument cluster, and remote controls on the front passenger door panel. A SRS passenger's-side front airbag became standard equipment after a restyling in 1996, which also brought revised exterior styling and new audio systems with TheftLock coded anti-theft technology. In 1995, the High Technology engine that had been used in Cadillacs since 1982 was discontinued.  For 1997, the Catera mid-size sedan was introduced as Cadillac's new entry level model. The Catera was a rebadged variant of the Opel Omega B and was manufactured by Opel in Rüsselsheim, Germany. The DeVille was also redesigned that year. The late 1990s saw Cadillac field its first ever entry in the growing SUV segment. The Escalade, introduced in 1999, was marketed to compete with the Lincoln Navigator and luxury SUVs from various import brands.

The Art and Science era: 2000–present.

In 2000, Cadillac introduced a new design philosophy for the 21st century called "Art and Science", which it states "incorporates sharp, sheer forms and crisp edges—a form vocabulary that expresses bold, high-technology design and invokes the technology used to design it." This new design language spread from the original CTS and to the Cadillac XLR roadster. Cadillac's model lineup mostly included rear- and all-wheel-drive sedans, roadsters, crossovers and SUVs. The only exceptions were the front-wheel drive compact executive Cadillac BLS (which was not sold in North America) and the Cadillac DTS, neither of which is still in production. The Cadillac BLS was developed by Saab in Trollhättan, Sweden. The BLS was a rebadged variant of the Saab 9-3 and was ofered in both sedan and station wagon configurations. In 2005, the Cadillac STS was introduced as the successor to the Cadillac Seville. which beginning in 1988 was available as an upscale performance-oriented "STS" (for "Seville Touring Sedan") version, and comfort-oriented "SLS" (for Seville Luxury Sedan). The following year, STS received Cadillac's then-new Northstar System, including the aluminium DOHC "L37" Northstar V8 engine.  The STS was Cadillac's highest-priced sedan, falling in size between the mid-size CTS and full-size DTS. In 2006, the DeVille nameplate was replaced by Cadillac DTS, an abbreviation dating back to 1986, when a "DeVille Touring Sedan" package was first available. The new name brought the DeVille into line with Cadillac's Art & Science-era nomenclature, which saw the Seville renamed to STS and the Catera replacement called the CTS. The last DeVille rolled off the Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly line on June 23, 2005.  The new second-generation CTS-V performance sedan was introduced in 2009 as a direct competitor to the BMW M5. Powered by a supercharged OHV 6.2 L LSA V8 engine, an automatic version of the CTS-V lapped the Nürburgring in 7:59.32, at the time a record for production sedans. The last DTS rolled off the assembly line at 11:51 a.m. on May 27, 2011. It was replaced by the Cadillac XTS which debuted in 2012 as a 2013 model. The Cadillac ATS compact sedan also debuted in 2012 as a 2013 model and a coupe version of the ATS was added two years later.  In 2016, the Cadillac CT6 was introduced and was the brand's first full-size rear-wheel drive sedan since the discontinuation of the Fleetwood in 1996. In early 2017, Cadillac launched Book By Cadillac, a vehicle subscription service which was initially available in New York City. In November 2017, it was announced that Book by Cadillac would be expanding to Dallas and Los Angeles.  The Cadillac XT6, a new seven-seat luxury mid-size crossover SUV, was introduced on January 12, 2019 at the North American International Auto Show. It went on sale in the third quarter of 2019 as a 2020 model. Other additions to the Cadillac lineup for the 2020 model year include the CT5 mid-size luxury sedan, replacing the CTS, and the CT4 compact sedan which replaces the ATS. Performance "V" versions of the CT4 and CT5 were also added for 2020.

Models.

Current

Assembly plants.

Additionally, Russian company Avtotor assembles the Cadillac Escalade under license in Kaliningrad.

Awards.

Cadillac has won the "Motor Trend" Car of the Year award five times:

Motorsport.

Before the outbreak of World War II, Cadillac (like most manufacturers) participated in various types of motorsport. Many Allard automobiles used Cadillac engines.  In the 1950s, Cadillac (like all American manufacturers at the time) participated in the NASCAR Grand National Series. The brand disappeared from the series by the 1960s.  Cadillac powered the Cadillac Northstar LMP a Le Mans Prototype in the early years of the American Le Mans Series from 2000 to 2002. When the prototype proved unsuccessful, Cadillac withdrew from the series. Cadillac's most successful venture into motorsport in recent years has been its use of the CTS-V in the SCCA World Challenge Grand Touring class. Cadillac returned to prototype racing in 2017 with the Cadillac DPi-V.R in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with considerable success.

The Cadillac Motor Car Division is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors Company (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed in 34 additional markets worldwide. Cadillac automobiles are at the top of the luxury field within the United States. In 2019, Cadillac sold 390,458 vehicles worldwide, a record for the brand.

Cadillac () est un constructeur automobile américain basé à Détroit (Michigan) division du groupe General Motors. Son nom rend hommage au fondateur français de la ville, le Gascon Antoine de Lamothe-Cadillac. William Crapo Durant achète la marque en 1909 et l'intègre dans General Motors afin d'en faire sa division de voitures de luxe.