Name and insignia.

The order has a large number of local priories and associations around the world, but there also exist a number of organizations with similar-sounding names that are unrelated, including numerous fraudulent (self-styled) orders seeking to capitalize on the name.  In the ecclesiastical heraldry of the Catholic Church, the Order of Malta is one of only two orders (along with the Order of the Holy Sepulchre) whose insignia may be displayed in a clerical coat of arms. (Laypersons have no such restriction.) The shield is surrounded with a silver rosary for professed knights, or for others the ribbon of their rank. Some members may also display the Maltese cross behind their shield instead of the ribbon.  In order to protect its heritage against fraud, the order has legally registered 16 versions of its names and emblems in some 100 countries.

Early history.

Founding.

The birth of the order dates back to around 1048. Merchants from the ancient Marine Republic of Amalfi obtained from the Caliph of Egypt the authorisation to build a church, convent, and hospital in Jerusalem, to care for pilgrims of any religious faith or race. The Order of St. John of Jerusalem – the monastic community that ran the hospital for the pilgrims in the Holy Land – became independent under the guidance of its founder, the religious brother Gerard.  With the Papal bull "Pie postulatio voluntatis" dated 15 February 1113, Pope Paschal II approved the foundation of the Hospital and placed it under the aegis of the Holy See, granting it the right to freely elect its superiors without interference from other secular or religious authorities. By virtue of the Papal Bull, the hospital became an order exempt from the control of the local church. All the Knights were religious, bound by the three monastic vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.  The constitution of the Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem during the Crusades obliged the order to take on the military defence of the sick, the pilgrims, and the captured territories. The order thus added the task of defending the faith to that of its hospitaller mission.  As time went on, the order adopted the white, eight-pointed Cross that is still its symbol today. The eight points represent the eight "beatitudes" that Jesus pronounced in his Sermon on the Mount.

Cyprus.

When the last Christian stronghold in the Holy Land fell after the Siege of Acre in 1291, the order settled first in Cyprus.

Rhodes.

In 1310, led by Grand Master Fra' Foulques de Villaret, the knights regrouped on the island of Rhodes. From there, the defense of the Christian world required the organization of a naval force; so the Order built a powerful fleet and sailed the eastern Mediterranean, fighting battles for the sake of Christendom, including Crusades in Syria and Egypt.  In the early 14th century, the institutions of the Order and the knights who came to Rhodes from every corner of Europe were grouped according to the languages they spoke. The first seven such groups, or "Langues" (Tongues) – from Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Aragon (Navarre), England (with Scotland and Ireland), and Germany – became eight in 1492, when Castile and Portugal were separated from the "Langue" of Aragon. Each "Langue" included Priories or Grand Priories, Bailiwicks, and Commanderies.  The Order was governed by its Grand Master, the Prince of Rhodes, and its Council. From its beginning, independence from other nations granted by pontifical charter and the universally recognised right to maintain and deploy armed forces constituted grounds for the international sovereignty of the Order, which minted its own coins and maintained diplomatic relations with other states. The senior positions of the Order were given to representatives of different "Langues".  In 1523, after six months of siege and fierce combat against the fleet and army of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent, the Knights were forced to surrender, and left Rhodes with military honours.

Later history.

Summary.

The headquarters of the Order of Saint John was located in Malta from 1530 until 1798. It was technically a vassal of the Kingdom of Sicily, holding Malta in exchange for a nominal fee, but declared independence in 1753.  It was expelled from Malta under the French occupation in 1798 and, from 1805 to 1812, many of its possessions in Protestant Europe were confiscated, resulting in the fragmentation of the order into a number of Protestant branches, since 1961 united under the umbrella of the Alliance of the Orders of Saint John of Jerusalem. The Congress of Vienna of 1815 confirmed the loss of Malta, but the Congress of Verona in 1822 guaranteed the continued existence of the Catholic order as a sovereign entity. The seat of the order was moved to Ferrara in 1826 and to Rome in 1834, the interior of Palazzo Malta being considered extraterritorial sovereign territory of the order. The grand priories of Lombardy-Venetia and of Sicily were restored from 1839 to 1841. The office of Grand Master was restored by Pope Leo XIII in 1879, after a vacancy of 75 years, confirming Giovanni Battista Ceschi a Santa Croce as the first Grand Master of the restored Order of Malta.  The Holy See was established as a subject of international law in the Lateran Treaty of 1929. In the following decades, the connection between the Holy See and the Order of Malta was seen as so close as to call into question the actual sovereignty of the order as a separate entity. This has prompted constitutional changes on the part of the Order, which were implemented in 1997. Since then, the Order has been widely recognized as a sovereign subject of international law in its own right.  It maintains diplomatic relations with 110 states, has permanent observer status at the United Nations, enters into treaties and issues its own passports, coins and postage stamps. Its two headquarters buildings in Rome enjoy extraterritoriality, similar to embassies, and it maintains embassies in other countries. The three principal officers are counted as citizens.  The Order has 13,500 Knights, Dames and auxiliary members. A few dozen of these are professed religious. Until the 1990s, the highest classes of membership, including officers, required proof of noble lineage. More recently, a path was created for Knights and Dames of the lowest class (of whom proof of aristocratic lineage is not required) to be specially elevated to the highest class, making them eligible for office in the order.  The order employs about 42,000 doctors, nurses, auxiliaries and paramedics assisted by 80,000 volunteers in more than 120 countries, assisting children, homeless, handicapped, elderly, and terminally ill people, refugees, and lepers around the world without distinction of ethnicity or religion. Through its worldwide relief corps, Malteser International, the order aids victims of natural disasters, epidemics and war. In several countries, including France, Germany and Ireland, local associations of the order are important providers of medical emergency services and training. Its annual budget is on the order of 1.5 billion euros, largely funded by European governments, the United Nations and the European Union, foundations and public donors.

Malta.

The order remained without a territory of its own until 1530, when Grand Master Fra' Philippe de Villiers de l'Isle Adam took possession of the island of Malta, granted to the order by Emperor Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor and his mother Queen Joanna of Castile as monarchs of Sicily, with the approval of Pope Clement VII, for which the order had to honour the conditions of the Tribute of the Maltese Falcon.

Protestant Reformation.

The Reformation which split Western Europe into Protestant and Catholic states affected the knights as well. In several countries, including England, Scotland and Sweden, the order was dissolved. In others, including the Netherlands and Germany, entire bailiwicks or commanderies (administrative divisions of the order) experienced religious conversions; these "Johanniter orders" survive in Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden and many other countries, including the United States and South Africa. It was established that the order should remain neutral in any war between Christian nations.

Colonies in the Caribbean.

From 1651 to 1665, the Order of Saint John ruled four islands in the Caribbean. On 21 May 1651 it acquired the islands of Saint Barthélemy, Saint Christopher, Saint Croix and Saint Martin. These were purchased from the French Compagnie des Îles de l'Amérique which had just been dissolved. In 1665, the four islands were sold to the French West India Company.

Great siege of Malta.

In 1565, the Knights, led by Grand Master Fra' Jean de Vallette (after whom the capital of Malta, Valletta, was named), defended the island for more than three months during the Great Siege by the Turks.

Battle of Lepanto.

The fleet of the order contributed to the ultimate destruction of the Ottoman naval power in the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, led by John of Austria, half brother of King Philip II of Spain.

French occupation of Malta.

Their Mediterranean stronghold of Malta was captured by the French First Republic under Napoleon in 1798 during his expedition to Egypt, following the French Revolution and the subsequent French Revolutionary Wars. Napoleon demanded from Grand Master Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim that his ships be allowed to enter the port and to take on water and supplies. The Grand Master replied that only two foreign ships could be allowed to enter the port at a time. Bonaparte, aware that such a procedure would take a very long time and would leave his forces vulnerable to Admiral Nelson, immediately ordered a cannon fusillade against Malta. The French soldiers disembarked in Malta at seven points on the morning of 11 June and attacked. After several hours of fierce fighting, the Maltese in the west were forced to surrender.  Napoleon opened negotiations with the fortress capital of Valletta. Faced with vastly superior French forces and the loss of western Malta, the Grand Master negotiated a surrender to the invasion. Hompesch left Malta for Trieste on 18 June. He resigned as Grand Master on 6 July 1799.  The knights were dispersed, though the order continued to exist in a diminished form and negotiated with European governments for a return to power. The Russian Emperor, Paul I, gave the largest number of knights shelter in Saint Petersburg, an action which gave rise to the Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller and the Order's recognition among the Russian Imperial Orders. The refugee knights in Saint Petersburg proceeded to elect Tsar Paul as their Grand Master – a rival to Grand Master von Hompesch until the latter's abdication left Paul as the sole Grand Master. Grand Master Paul I created, in addition to the Roman Catholic Grand Priory, a "Russian Grand Priory" of no fewer than 118 Commanderies, dwarfing the rest of the Order and open to all Christians. Paul's election as Grand Master was, however, never ratified under Roman Catholic canon law, and he was the "de facto" rather than "de jure" Grand Master of the Order.  By the early 19th century, the order had been severely weakened by the loss of its priories throughout Europe. Only 10% of the order's income came from traditional sources in Europe, with the remaining 90% being generated by the Russian Grand Priory until 1810. This was partly reflected in the government of the Order being under Lieutenants, rather than Grand Masters, in the period 1805 to 1879, when Pope Leo XIII restored a Grand Master to the order. This signaled the renewal of the order's fortunes as a humanitarian and religious organization.  On 19 September 1806, the Swedish government offered the sovereignty of the island of Gotland to the Order. The offer was rejected since it would have meant the Order renouncing their claim to Malta.

Exile.

The French forces occupying Malta expelled the knights from their country.  The Treaty of Amiens (1802) obliged the United Kingdom to evacuate Malta which was to be restored to a recreated Order of St. John, whose sovereignty was to be guaranteed by all of the major European powers, to be determined at the final peace. However, this was not to be because objections to the treaty quickly grew in the UK.  Bonaparte's rejection of a British offer involving a ten-year lease of Malta prompted the reactivation of the British blockade of the French coast; Britain declared war on France on 18 May.  The 1802 treaty was never implemented. The UK gave its official reasons for resuming hostilities as France's imperialist policies in the West Indies, Italy, and Switzerland.

Rome.

After having temporarily resided in Messina, Catania, and Ferrara, in 1834 the precursor of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta settled definitively in Rome, where it owns, with extraterritorial status, the Magistral Palace in Via Condotti 68 and the Magistral Villa on the Aventine Hill.  The original hospitaller mission became the main activity of the order, growing ever stronger during the 20th century, most especially because of the contribution of the activities carried out by the Grand Priories and National Associations in many countries around the world. Large-scale hospitaller and charitable activities were carried out during World Wars I and II under Grand Master Fra' Ludovico Chigi Albani della Rovere (1931–1951). Under the Grand Masters Fra' Angelo de Mojana di Cologna (1962–88) and Fra' Andrew Bertie (1988–2008), the projects expanded.

Relations with the Republic of Malta.

Two bilateral treaties were concluded with the Republic of Malta. The first treaty is dated 21 June 1991 and is now no longer in force. The second treaty was signed on 5 December 1998 and ratified on 1 November 2001.  This agreement grants the Order the use with limited extraterritoriality of the upper portion of Fort St. Angelo in the city of Birgu. Its stated purpose is "to give the Order the opportunity to be better enabled to carry out its humanitarian activities as Knights Hospitallers from Saint Angelo, as well as to better define the legal status of Saint Angelo subject to the sovereignty of Malta over it".  The agreement has a duration of 99 years, but the document allows the Maltese Government to terminate it at any time after 50 years. Under the terms of the agreement, the flag of Malta is to be flown together with the flag of the Order in a prominent position over Saint Angelo. No asylum may be granted by the Order and generally the Maltese courts have full jurisdiction and Maltese law shall apply. The second bilateral treaty mentions a number of immunities and privileges, none of which appeared in the earlier treaty.

2010s.

In February 2013, the order celebrated the 900th anniversary of its papal recognition with a general audience with Pope Benedict XVI and a Mass celebrated by Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone in Saint Peter's Basilica.

Crisis and constitutional reform.

The Order experienced a leadership crisis beginning in December 2016, when Albrecht von Boeselager protested his removal as Grand Chancellor by Grand Master Matthew Festing. In January 2017 Pope Francis ordered von Boeselager reinstated and required Festing's resignation. Francis also named Archbishop Giovanni Becciu as his personal representative to the Order – sidelining the Order's Cardinal Patron Raymond Burke – until the election of a new Grand Master.  The Pope effectively taking control over the order was seen by some as a break with tradition and the independence of the order. In May 2017, the Order named Mauro Bertero Gutiérrez, a Bolivian member of the Government Council, to lead its constitutional reform process. And in May 2018 when a new Grand Master was elected, Francis extended Becciu's mandate indefinitely. In June 2017, in a departure from tradition, the leadership of the Order wore informal attire rather than formal wear full dress uniforms to their annual papal audience. When the Order's General Chapter met in May 2019, as it does every five years, the participants included women for the first time, three of the 62 participants.

Organisation.

Governance.

The proceedings of the Order are governed by its Constitutional Charter and the Order's Code. It is divided internationally into six territorial Grand Priories, six Sub-Priories and 47 national associations.  The six Grand Priories are:  The supreme head of the Order is the Prince and Grand Master, who is elected for life by the Council Complete of State, holds the precedence of a cardinal of the Church since 1630 and received the rank of Prince of the Holy Roman Empire in 1607. Fra' Giacomo dalla Torre del Tempio di Sanguinetto was elected 80th Grand Master on 2 May 2018, a year after Fra' Matthew Festing resigned as Grand Master at the insistence of Pope Francis.  Electors in the Council Complete of State include the members of the Sovereign Council, other office-holders and representatives of the members of the Order. The Grand Master is aided by the Sovereign Council (the government of the Order), which is elected by the Chapter General, the legislative body of the Order.  The Chapter General meets every five years; at each meeting, all seats of the Sovereign Council are up for election. The Sovereign Council includes six members and four High Officers: the Grand Commander, the Grand Chancellor, the Grand Hospitaller and the Receiver of the Common Treasure.  The Grand Commander is the chief religious officer of the Order and serves as Lieutenant "ad interim" during a vacancy in the office of Grand Master. The Grand Chancellor, whose office includes those of the Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is the head of the executive branch; he is responsible for the Diplomatic Missions of the Order and relations with the national Associations. The Grand Hospitaller's responsibilities include the offices of Minister for Humanitarian Action and Minister for International Cooperation; he coordinates the Order's humanitarian and charitable activities. Finally, the Receiver of the Common Treasure is the Minister of Finance and Budget; he directs the administration of the finances and property of the Order.

Patrons of the order since 1961.

The patron, who is either a cardinal when appointed by the pope or soon raised to that rank, promotes the spiritual interests of the Order and its members, and its relations with the Holy See.

Prelate of the order.

The pope appoints the prelate of the order to supervise the clergy of the order, choosing from among three candidates proposed by the Grand Master. On 4 July 2015 Pope Francis named as prelate Bishop Jean Laffitte, who had held various offices in the Roman Curia for more than a decade. Laffitte succeeded Archbishop, who had held the office since 2001. Laffitte's appointment followed the traditional meeting between the pope and the Grand Master, and an audience with the Grand Chancellor and others as well, held on 24 June, the feast of St. John the Baptist.

Membership.

Membership in the order is divided into three classes each of which is subdivided into several categories:  Within each class and category of knights are ranks ranging from bailiff grand cross (the highest) through knight grand cross, and knight – thus one could be a "knight of grace and devotion," or a "bailiff grand cross of justice." The final rank of "donat" is offered to some who join the order in the class of "justice" but who are not knights. Bishops and priests are generally honorary members, or knights, of the Order of Malta. However, there are some priests who are full members of the Order, and this is usually because they were conferred knighthood prior to ordination. The priests of the Order of Malta are ranked as Honorary Canons, as in the Order of the Holy Sepulchre; and they are entitled to wear the black mozetta with purple piping and purple fascia.  Prior to the 1990s, all officers of the Order had to be of noble birth (i.e., armigerous for at least a hundred years), as they were all knights of justice or of obedience. However, Knights of Magistral Grace (i.e., those without noble proofs) now may make the Promise of Obedience and, at the discretion of the Grand Master and Sovereign Council, may enter the novitiate to become professed Knights of Justice.  Worldwide, there are over 13,000 knights and dames, of whom approximately 55 are professed religious. Membership in the Order is by invitation only and solicitations are not entertained.  The Order's finances are audited by a Board of Auditors, which includes a President and four Councillors, all elected by the Chapter General. The Order's judicial powers are exercised by a group of Magistral Courts, whose judges are appointed by the Grand Master and Sovereign Council.

Relationship with other mutually-recognised Orders of Saint John.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta has collaborated with other mutually-recognized Orders of Saint John; for example, the SMOM is a major donor of the St John Eye Hospital in Jerusalem, which is primarily operated by the Venerable Order of Saint John.

International status.

SMOM has formal diplomatic relations with 110 states and has official relations with another five states and with the European Union. Additionally it has relations with the International Committee of the Red Cross and a number of international organizations, including observer status at the UN and some of the specialized agencies. Its international nature is useful in enabling it to pursue its humanitarian activities without being seen as an operative of any particular nation. Its sovereignty is also expressed in the issuance of passports, licence plates, stamps, and coins.  With its unique history and unusual present circumstances, the exact status of the Order in international law has been the subject of debate. It describes itself as a "sovereign subject of international law." Its two headquarters in Rome – the Palazzo Malta in Via dei Condotti 68, where the Grand Master resides and Government Bodies meet, and the Villa del Priorato di Malta on the Aventine, which hosts the Grand Priory of Rome – Fort St. Angelo on the island of Malta, the Embassy of the Order to Holy See, and the Embassy of the Order to Italy have all been granted extraterritoriality by Italy and Malta.  Unlike the Holy See, however, which is sovereign over Vatican City and thus has clear territorial separation of its sovereign area and that of Italy, SMOM has had no territory since the loss of the island of Malta in 1798, other than only those current properties with extraterritoriality listed above. Italy recognizes, in addition to extraterritoriality, the exercise by SMOM of all the prerogatives of sovereignty in its headquarters. Therefore, Italian sovereignty and SMOM sovereignty uniquely coexist without overlapping. The United Nations does not classify it as a "non-member state" or "intergovernmental organization" but as one of the "other entities having received a standing invitation to participate as observers." For instance, while the International Telecommunication Union has granted radio identification prefixes to such quasi-sovereign jurisdictions as the United Nations and the Palestinian Authority, SMOM has never received one. For awards purposes, amateur radio operators consider SMOM to be a separate "entity", but stations transmitting from there use an entirely unofficial callsign, starting with the prefix "1A". Likewise, for internet and telecommunications identification, the SMOM has neither sought nor been granted a top-level domain or international dialling code, whereas the Vatican City uses its own domain (.va), and has been allocated the country code +379.  There are differing opinions as to whether a claim to sovereign status has been recognized. Ian Brownlie, Helmut Steinberger, and are among experts who say that the claim has not been recognized. Even taking into account the Order's ambassadorial diplomatic status among many nations, a claim to sovereign status is sometimes rejected. The Order maintains diplomatic missions around the world and many of the states reciprocate by accrediting ambassadors to the Order (usually their ambassador to the Holy See).  Wengler – a German professor of international law – addresses this point in his book "Völkerrecht" (1964), and rejects the notion that recognition of the Order by some states can make it a subject of international law. Conversely, professor Rebecca Wallace – writing more recently in her book "International Law" (1986) – explains that a sovereign entity does not have to be a country, and that SMOM is an example of this. This position appears to be supported by the number of nations extending diplomatic relations to the Order, which more than doubled from 49 to 100 in the 20-year period to 2008. In 1953, the Holy See decreed that the Order of Malta's quality as a sovereign institution is functional, to ensure the achievement of its purposes in the world, and that as a subject of international law, it enjoys certain powers, but not the entire set of powers of sovereignty "in the full sense of the word." On 24 June 1961, Pope John XXIII approved the Constitutional Charter, which contains the most solemn reaffirmations of the sovereignty of the Order. Article 1 affirms that "the Order is a legal entity formally approved by the Holy See. It has the quality of a subject of international law." Article 3 states that "the intimate connection existing between the two qualities of a religious order and a sovereign order do not oppose the autonomy of the order in the exercise of its sovereignty and prerogatives inherent to it as a subject of international law in relation to States."

Currency and postage stamps.

The SMOM coins are appreciated more for their subject matter than for their use as currency; SMOM postage stamps, however, have been gaining acceptance among Universal Postal Union member nations.  The SMOM began issuing euro-denominated postage stamps in 2005, although the scudo remains the official currency of the SMOM. Also in 2005, the Italian post agreed with the SMOM to deliver internationally most classes of mail other than registered, insured, and special-delivery mail; additionally 56 countries recognize SMOM stamps for franking purposes, including those such as Canada and Mongolia that lack diplomatic relations with the Order.

Military Corps.

The Order states that it was the hospitaller role that enabled the Order to survive the end of the crusading era; nonetheless, it retains its military title and traditions.  On 26 March 1876, the Association of the Italian Knights of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta ("Associazione dei cavalieri italiani del sovrano militare ordine di Malta", ACISMOM) reformed the Order's military to a modern military unit of the era. This unit provided medical support to the Italian Army and on 9 April 1909 the military corps officially became a special auxiliary volunteer corps of the Italian Army under the name "Corpo Militare dell'Esercito dell'ACISMOM" (Army Military Corps of the ACISMOM), wearing Italian uniforms. Since then the Military Corps have operated with the Italian Army both in wartime and peacetime in medical or paramedical military functions, and in ceremonial functions for the Order, such as standing guard around the coffins of high officers of the Order before and during funeral rites.

Air force.

In 1947, after the post-World War II peace treaty forbade Italy to own or operate bomber aircraft and only operate a limited number of transport aircraft, the Italian Air Force opted to transfer some of its Savoia-Marchetti SM.82 aircraft to the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, pending the definition of their exact status (the SM.82 were properly long range transport aircraft that could be adapted for bombing missions). These aircraft were operated by Italian Air Force personnel temporarily flying for the Order, carried the Order's roundels on the fuselage and Italian ones on the wings, and were used mainly for standard Italian Air Force training and transport missions but also for some humanitarian tasks proper of the Order of Malta (like the transport of sick pilgrims to the Lourdes sanctuary). In the early '50s, when the strictures of the peace treaty had been much relaxed by the Allied authorities, the aircraft returned under full control of the Italian Air Force. One of the aircraft transferred to the Order of Malta, still with the Order's fuselage roundels, is preserved in the Italian Air Force Museum.

Logistics.

The Military Corps has become known in mainland Europe for its operation of hospital trains, a service which was carried out intensively during both World Wars. The Military Corps still operates a modern 28-car hospital train with 192 hospital beds, serviced by a medical staff of 38 medics and paramedics provided by the Order and a technical staff provided by the Italian Army's Railway Engineer Regiment.

The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (; ), commonly known as the Order of Malta or Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious order, traditionally of military, chivalric and noble nature. The order has been called "the smallest sovereign state in the world".

耶路撒冷、罗得岛和马耳他圣若望主权军事医院骑士团(),简称马耳他骑士团。马耳他骑士团的前身为成立于第一次十字军东征之后的一个军事组织——医院骑士团,为三大骑士团之一。该组织成立的最初目的为保护本笃会在耶路撒冷的医护设施。该组织全称中的“圣若望”得名于圣若翰洗者。该组织拥有两幢享有治外法权的建筑:罗马孔多迪大街68号,一幢占地1.2万平方米的大厦马耳他宫,以及罗马郊区阿文提诺山上的马耳他部。


Activities (1913–1918).

The exact date of establishment is unclear or disputed. According to some researchers, the organization might have been established by Enver Pasha, who placed Süleyman Askeri in charge of the organization on 17 November 1913. Its establishment date is rather vague since it was really a continuation of various smaller groups established by Enver Pasa and friends in the aftermath of 1908 Young Turk Revolution.  Enver Pasha assumed the primary role in the direction of the Special Organization and its center of administration moved to Erzurum. Many members of this organization who had played particular roles in the Armenian Genocide also participated in the Turkish national movement. In Thrace and western Anatolia the Special Organization assisted by government and army officials, deported all Greek men of military age to labor brigades beginning in summer 1914 and lasting through 1916.  The first leader was Süleyman Askeri Bey. After his death, he was replaced by Ali Bach Hamba on 14 April 1915, who held the post until the Armistice of Mudros. During World War I Eşref Sencer Kuşçubası was allegedly the director of operations in Arabia, the Sinai, and North Africa. He was captured at Yemen in early 1917 by the British military and was a POW in Malta until 1920 and subsequently released in exchange for British POW. However, Ahmet Efe has written that the Ottoman military archives have detailed information on the organization's personnel, and that Kuşçubası is not mentioned.  The last director, Hüsamettin Ertürk, later worked as an agent in Istanbul of the Ankara government following the Armistice. He also wrote a memoir called "İki Devrin Perde Arkası" (Behind the Scenes of Two Eras).  This list includes allegedly notable members, according to an interview with its purported former leader Eşref Kuşçubaşı by U.S. INR officer Philip H. Stoddard: Although the bulk of its 30,000 members were drawn from trained specialists such as doctors, engineers, and journalists, the organization also employed criminals denoted "başıbozuk", who had been released from prison in 1913 by amnesty.

Disbanding.

The organization was dismantled following a parliamentary debate and replaced by the Worldwide Islamic Revolt () after World War I. This organization held its first meeting in Berlin. However, it was forced underground by the British, who refused to let these German allies operate.  In 1921, Atatürk founded another secret organization called the National Defense Society (), headed by the former chief of the Special Organization, Hüsamettin Ertürk.

The Special Organization (, "Teşkilât-ı Mahsusa") was an Ottoman imperial government special forces unit under the War Department and was allegedly used to suppress Arab separatism and Western imperialism in the Ottoman Empire. Many members of this organization also played leading roles in the First World War. The members of the organization also participated in the resistance against Italians in Libya. It was the progenitor of the National Security Service () of the Republic of Turkey, which was itself the predecessor of the modern National Intelligence Organization (, MİT).

特别组织(奥斯曼土耳其语:تشکیلاتمخصوصه,Teşkilât-I Mahsusa),是第一次世界大战中奥斯曼帝国陆军部下的特殊部队,由库尔德人和贝都因人组成,用于镇压受英法支持的阿拉伯起义。最有名的成员是恩维尔帕夏。


Background.

On October 14, 1780, Continental Army commander General George Washington chose Nathanael Greene, a Rhode Island Quaker officer, to be commander of the Southern Department of the rebel Continental forces. Greene's task was not an easy one. In 1780 the Carolinas had been the scene of a long string of disasters for the Continental Army, the worst being the capture of one American army under Gen. Benjamin Lincoln in May 1780, at the Siege of Charleston. The British took control of this city, the largest in the South and the capital of South Carolina, and occupied it. Later that year another Colonial army, commanded by Gen. Horatio Gates, was destroyed at the Battle of Camden. A victory of Colonial militia over their Loyalist counterparts at the Battle of Kings Mountain on the northwest frontier in October had bought time, but most of South Carolina was still occupied by the British. When Greene took command, the southern army numbered 2307 men (on paper, 1482 present), of whom only 949 were Continental regulars, mostly the famous highly trained "Maryland Line" regiment.  On December 3, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan reported for duty to Greene's headquarters at Charlotte, North Carolina. At the start of the Revolution, Morgan, whose military experience dated to the French and Indian War (1754–1763), had served at the Siege of Boston in 1775. Later he participated in the 1775 invasion of Canada and its climactic battle, the Battle of Quebec. That battle, on December 31, 1775, ended in defeat and Morgan's capture by the British.  Morgan was exchanged in January 1777 and placed by George Washington in command of a picked force of 500 trained riflemen, known as Morgan's Riflemen. Morgan and his men played a key role in the 1777 victory at Saratoga along the Hudson River in upstate New York, which proved to be a turning point of the entire war. Bitter after being passed over for promotion and plagued by severe attacks of sciatica, Morgan left the rebel army in 1779. A year later he was promoted to brigadier general and returned to service in the Southern Department.  Greene decided that his weak army was unable to meet the British in a stand-up fight. He made the unconventional decision to divide his army, sending a detachment west of the Catawba River to raise the morale of the locals and find supplies beyond the limited amounts available around Charlotte. Greene gave Morgan command of this wing and instructed him to join with the militia west of the Catawba and take command of them. Morgan headed west on December 21, charged with taking position between the Broad and Pacolet rivers, and protecting the civilians in that area. He had 600 men, some 400 of which were Continentals, mostly the Marylanders. The rest were Virginia militia who had experience as Continentals. By Christmas Day Morgan had reached the Pacolet River. He was joined by 60 more South Carolina militia led by the experienced guerrilla partisan Andrew Pickens. Other militia from Georgia and the Carolinas joined Morgan's camp.  Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis was planning to return to North Carolina and conduct the invasion that he had postponed after the defeat at Kings Mountain. Morgan's force represented a threat to his left. Additionally, Cornwallis received incorrect intelligence claiming that Morgan was going to attack the important British fort of American Loyalists at Ninety Six, in western South Carolina. Seeking to save the fort and defeat Morgan's command, Cornwallis on January 2 ordered cavalry (dragoons) Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton to the west. Tarleton was 26 years old and had enjoyed a spectacular career in his service with the British in the colonies. In December 1776, he and a small party surprised and captured Colonial Gen. Charles Lee in New Jersey. He served with distinction at the Siege of Charleston and the Battle of Camden. Commanding the British Legion, a mixed infantry/cavalry force composed of American Loyalists who constituted some of the best British troops in the Carolinas, Tarleton won victories at Monck's Corner and Fishing Creek. He became infamous among Colonists after his victory at the Battle of Waxhaws, because his men had killed American soldiers after they had surrendered. In Tarleton's account published in the British Isles in 1781, he said that his horse had been shot from under him during the initial charge and his men, thinking him dead, engaged in "a vindictive asperity not easily restrained".  Tarleton and the Legion marched to Ninety Six. After learning Morgan was not there, Tarleton decided to increase his forces. He asked for reinforcements of British regulars, which Cornwallis sent. Tarleton set out with his enlarged command to drive Morgan across the Broad River. On January 12 he received accurate news of Morgan's location and continued with hard marching, building boats to cross rivers that were flooding with winter rains. Receiving word that Tarleton was in hot pursuit, Morgan retreated north, to avoid being trapped between Tarleton and Cornwallis.  By the afternoon of the 16th, Morgan was approaching the Broad River, which was high with flood waters and reported difficult to cross. He knew Tarleton was close behind. By nightfall he had reached a place called locally "Hannah's Cowpens", a well-known grazing area for local cattle. Pickens, who had been patrolling, arrived that night to join Morgan with his large body of irregular militia. Morgan decided to stand and fight rather than continue to retreat and risk being caught by Tarleton while fording the Broad River. Learning of Morgan's location, Tarleton pushed his troops, marching at 3 a.m. instead of camping for the night.

Prelude.

Continental force.

The size of the American force at Cowpens remains in dispute. Morgan claimed in his official report to have had about 800 men at Cowpens, which is substantially supported by historian John Buchanan, whose estimate is between 800 and 1000 men. In contrast, historian Lawrence E. Babits, in his detailed study of the battle, estimates that the strength of Morgan's command on the day of the battle was closer to 1,900, composed of:  Babits's figures can be summarized as follows: 82 Continental light dragoons, 55 state dragoons, 45 militia dragoons, 300 Continental infantry, about 150 state infantry, and 1,255–1,280 militia infantry, for a total of 1,887–1,912 officers and men. Broken down by state, there were about 855 South Carolinians, 442 Virginians, 290–315 North Carolinians, 180 Marylanders, 60 Georgians, and 60 Delawareans.  Morgan's forces were strengthened by these core elements of relatively seasoned troops and his own brilliance in leadership. His Continentals were veterans (Marylanders from the 1776 Battle of Brooklyn), and many of his militia, which included some Overmountain Men, who had fought at the Battle of Musgrove Mill and the Battle of Kings Mountain. The experienced British forces (and particularly their relatively young commander) were accustomed, especially in the Southern Theater, to easily routing often "green" militia, and could have underestimated the opposition.

British force.

Tarleton's force included: A total of over 1,150 officers and men.  Broken down by troop classification, there were 300 cavalry, 553 regulars, 24 artillerymen, and 281 militia. Tarleton's men from the Royal Artillery, 17th Light Dragoons, 7th Regiment (Royal Fusiliers), 16th Regiment, and 71st Regiment were reliable and good soldiers:. Tarleton's own unit, the British Legion were formidable "in a pursuit situation" but had an uncertain reputation "when faced with determined opposition".

Morgan's plan.

Daniel Morgan turned to his advantage the landscape of Cowpens, the varying reliability of his troops, his opponent's expectations, and the time available before Tarleton's arrival. He knew untrained militiamen, which composed a large portion of his force, were generally unreliable in battle, and in the past had routed at the first hint of defeat and abandoned the regulars. (The Battle of Camden had ended in disaster when the militia, which was half of the American force, broke and ran as soon as the shooting started.) To eliminate that possibility, he defied convention by placing his army between the Broad and Pacolet rivers, thus making escape impossible if the army was routed.  Selecting a low hill as the center of his position, he placed his Continental infantry on it, deliberately leaving his flanks exposed to his opponent. With a ravine on their right flank and a creek on their left flank, Morgan reasoned his forces were protected against British flanking maneuvers at the beginning of the battle. Morgan reasoned that Tarleton would be highly confident and attack him head on. He arranged his troops to encourage this. He set up three lines of soldiers: one of skirmishers (sharpshooters), one of militia, and a main one. The first was 150 select skirmishers from North Carolina (Major McDowell) and Georgia (Major Cunningham). The second line, behind the skirmishers but in front of the third line of Continentals, consisted of 300 militiamen under the command of Col. Andrew Pickens. The effect was the conspicuous placement of weak militia in the center front, to encourage the British to attack there. The skirmishers and militia would screen the strongest Continental troops, while inflicting damage as the British advanced.  Morgan asked the militia to fire two volleys, something they could achieve, and then withdraw to the left, to re-form in the rear, behind the third line, under cover of the reserve light dragoons (mounted infantry) commanded by William Washington and James McCall. The irregular militia commander, Colonel Pickens, would execute, in effect, a feigned rout to further embolden the British.  The third line, on the hill, was manned by Morgan's best troops: about 550 men consisting of Continentals from the steadfast Brooklyn veterans, the "Delaware Line" and "Maryland Line", and experienced militiamen from Georgia and Virginia. Colonel John Eager Howard of Baltimore commanded the Continentals and Colonels Tate and Triplett commanded the experienced militia. The third line could be expected to stand and hold against the British force. Morgan expected that the British advancing uphill would be disorganized, and weakened both physically and psychologically by the first two lines, before engaging the third. The third line would also withdraw a short distance to add to the appearance of rout.  In developing his tactics at Cowpens, as historian John Buchanan wrote, Morgan may have been "the only general in the American Revolution, on either side, to produce a significant original tactical thought".

Tarleton's approach.

At 2:00 a.m. on January 17, 1781, Tarleton roused his troops and continued his march to Cowpens. Lawrence Babits states that, "in the five days before Cowpens, the British were subjected to stress that could only be alleviated by rest and proper diet". He points out that "in the forty-eight hours before the battle, the British ran out of food and had less than four hours’ sleep". Over the whole period, Tarleton's brigade did a great deal of rapid marching across difficult terrain. Babits concludes that they reached the battlefield exhausted and malnourished. Tarleton sensed victory and nothing would persuade him to delay. His Tory scouts had told him of the countryside Morgan was fighting on, and he was certain of success because Morgan's soldiers, mostly militiamen, seemed to be caught between mostly experienced British troops and a flooding river. As soon as he reached the spot, Tarleton formed a battle line, which consisted of dragoons on his flanks, with his two grasshopper cannons in between the British Regulars and American Loyalists.  Tarleton's plan was simple and direct. Most of his infantry (including that of the Legion) would be assembled in linear formation and move directly upon Morgan. The right and left flanks of this line would be protected by dragoon units. In reserve were the 250-man battalion of Scottish Highlanders (71st Regiment of Foot), commanded by Major Arthur MacArthur, a professional soldier of long experience who had served in the Dutch Scotch Brigade. Finally, Tarleton kept the 200-man cavalry contingent of his Legion ready to be unleashed when the Americans broke and ran.

Battle.

Morgan's strategy worked perfectly. The British advanced in open order, anticipating victory only to encounter another, stronger line after exerting themselves and suffering casualties. The depth of the American lines gradually soaked up the shock of the British advance.  A few minutes before sunrise, Tarleton's vanguard emerged from the woods in front of the American position. Tarleton ordered his dragoons to attack the first line of skirmishers, who opened fire and shot fifteen dragoons. When the dragoons promptly retreated, Tarleton immediately ordered an infantry charge, without pausing to study the American deployment or to allow the rest of his infantry and his cavalry reserve to make it out of the woods. Tarleton attacked the skirmish line without pausing, deploying his main body and his two grasshopper cannons. The American skirmishers kept firing as they withdrew to join the second line manned by Pickens's irregular militia. The British attacked again, this time reaching the militiamen, who (as ordered) poured two volleys into the enemy, especially targeting commanders. The British—with 40% of their casualties being officers—were astonished and confused. They reorganized and continued to advance. Tarleton ordered one of his officers, Ogilvie, to charge with some dragoons into the "defeated" Americans. His men moved forward in regular formation and were momentarily paused by the militia musket fire but continued to advance. Pickens's militia seemed to "flee" as usual, around the American left to the rear as planned after getting off their second volley.  Taking the withdrawal of the first two lines as a full blown retreat, the British advanced headlong into the third and final line of disciplined Maryland and Delaware regulars which awaited them on the hill. The 71st Highlanders were ordered to flank the American right. John Eager Howard spotted the flanking movement and ordered the Virginia militiamen manning the American right to turn and face the Scots. However, in the noise of battle, Howard's order was misunderstood and the militiamen began to withdraw. It was now 7:45 am and the British had been fighting for nearly an hour. They were tired and disorganized, but they saw the Virginia militia on the rebels’ right withdrawing and believed the Americans were on the run. They charged, breaking formation and advancing in a chaotic mass. Morgan ordered a volley. Howard's "fleeing" militia suddenly stopped their withdrawal and made an about-face. The Virginians fired into the British at a range of no more than thirty yards, with massive effect, causing the confused British to lurch to a halt. John Eager Howard shouted, "Charge bayonets!"  The Continentals in the center, as ordered, mounted a bayonet charge. Tarleton's force, faced with a terrible surprise, began to collapse; some men surrendering on the spot, while others turned and ran. Howard's men charged forward and seized the two British grasshopper cannons. William Washington's cavalry came around from behind the opposite American left to hit the British on their right flank and rear. Pickens's militia, having now reorganized, charged out from behind the hill, completing a 360-degree circle around the American position to hit the 71st Highlander Scots on the British left flank and rear. Howard ordered the Virginia militia, whose withdrawal had brought on the British ill-fated charge, to turn about and attack the Scots from the other direction.  The shock of the sudden charge, coupled with the reappearance of the American militiamen on the left flank where Tarleton's exhausted men expected to see their own cavalry, proved too much for the British. Nearly half of the British and Loyalist infantrymen fell to the ground whether they were wounded or not. Their will to fight was gone. Historian Lawrence Babits diagnoses "combat shock" as the cause for this abrupt British collapse—the effects of exhaustion, hunger, and demoralization suddenly catching up with them. Caught in a clever double envelopment that has been compared with the Battle of Cannae in ancient times, many of the British surrendered.  When Tarleton's right flank and center line collapsed, only a minority of the 71st Highlanders were putting up a fight against part of Howard's line. Tarleton, realizing the desperate nature of what was occurring, rode back to his one unit left that was whole, the British Legion cavalry. He ordered them to charge, but they refused and fled the field. The Highlanders, surrounded by militia and Continentals, surrendered. Desperate to save something, Tarleton found about forty cavalrymen and with them tried to save the two cannons his forces had brought, but they had been taken and held. With a few remaining horsemen Tarleton rode back into the fight, but after clashing with Washington's men, he too retreated from the field. He was stopped by Washington himself, who attacked him with his sword, calling out, "Where is now the boasting Tarleton?" A cornet of the 17th, Thomas Patterson, rode up to strike Washington but was shot by Washington's orderly trumpeter. Tarleton shot Washington's horse from under him and fled, ending the battle. It was now 8:00 a.m. and the Battle of Cowpens had lasted approximately one hour. In his retreat, Tarleton was able to escape capture by forcing a local planter named Adam Goudylock to serve as a guide.

Aftermath.

Morgan's army took 712 prisoners, which included 200 wounded. Even worse for the British, the forces lost (especially the British Legion and the dragoons) constituted the cream of Cornwallis's army. Additionally, 110 British soldiers were killed in action, and every artilleryman was either killed or incapacitated by wounds. Tarleton suffered an 86 percent casualty rate, and his brigade had been wiped out as a fighting force. John Eager Howard quoted Maj. McArthur of the 71st Highlanders, now a prisoner of the Americans, as saying that "he was an officer before Tarleton was born; that the best troops in the service were put under 'that boy' to be sacrificed." An American prisoner later told that when Tarleton reached Cornwallis and reported the disaster, Cornwallis placed his sword tip on the ground and leaned on it until the blade snapped.  Historian Lawrence E. Babits has demonstrated that Morgan's official report of 73 casualties appears to have only included his Continental troops. From surviving records, he has been able to identify by name 128 Colonial soldiers who were either killed or wounded at Cowpens. He also presents an entry in the North Carolina State Records that shows 68 Continental and 80 Militia casualties. It would appear that both the number of Morgan's casualties and the total strength of his force were about double what he officially reported.  Tarleton's apparent recklessness in pushing his command so hard in pursuit of Morgan that they reached the battlefield in desperate need of rest and food may be explained by the fact that, up until Cowpens, every battle that he and his British Legion had fought in the South had been a relatively easy victory. He appears to have been so concerned with pursuing Morgan that he quite forgot that it was necessary for his men to be in a fit condition to fight a battle once they caught him, though Cornwallis himself did press Tarleton to take aggressive action.  Coming in the wake of the American debacle at Camden, Cowpens was a surprising victory and a turning point that changed the psychology of the entire war—""spiriting up the people"", not only those of the backcountry Carolinas, but those in all the Southern states. As it was, the Americans were encouraged to fight further, and the Loyalists and British were demoralized. Furthermore, its strategic result—the destruction of an important part of the British army in the South—was crucial toward ending the war. Along with the British defeat at the Battle of Kings Mountain, Cowpens was a serious blow to Cornwallis, who might have defeated much of the remaining resistance in South Carolina had Tarleton won at Cowpens. Instead, the battle set in motion a series of events leading to the end of the war. Cornwallis abandoned his pacification efforts in South Carolina, stripped his army of its excess baggage, and pursued Greene's force into North Carolina. Skirmishes occurred at the Catawba River (February 1, 1781) and other fords. Yet, after a long chase Cornwallis met Greene at the Battle of Guilford Court House, winning a pyrrhic victory that so damaged his army that he withdrew to Yorktown, Virginia, to rest and refit. Washington seized this opportunity to trap and defeat Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown, which caused the British to give up their efforts to defeat the Americans. In the opinion of John Marshall, "Seldom has a battle, in which greater numbers were not engaged, been so important in its consequences as that of Cowpens." It gave General Nathanael Greene his chance to conduct a campaign of "dazzling shiftiness" that led Cornwallis by "an unbroken chain of consequences to the catastrophe at Yorktown which finally separated America from the British crown".

The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between U.S. forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Sir Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas (North and South). The battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British.

考彭斯战役(Battle of Cowpens)是一场美国革命军决定性的胜利,美军在丹尼尔·摩根准将率领下击败了伯纳斯特·塔尔顿的军队。该场战役是南方战场的一部分。这场战役扭转了战局,美军并开始重占失去的南方土地。


Early life.

Fox was born in Toronto, the son of Dianne Gerace, who was an Olympic high jumper and women's pentathlete, and Ulrich Fox. His father is Bahamian and his mother is Canadian of Italian and Scottish descent. Fox's family moved to his father's native Bahamas when Fox was young. He attended Kingsway Academy in Nassau, where he was a member of the high school's basketball team, the "Saints". Fox also played high school basketball in Warsaw, Indiana. After two seasons (1984–1986) at Warsaw, Fox was projected to have a very successful senior season. Just prior to his senior season, the Indiana High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) ruled that he had no more high school eligibility left (due to completing eight semesters between the Bahamas and Indiana) and was not allowed to participate in any further IHSAA games. Despite not playing his senior season, Fox was voted onto the Indiana All-Star team in 1987.  He then went on to star collegiately at the University of North Carolina where his highlights included leading the Tar Heels to the 1991 NCAA Final Four.

Basketball career.

Boston Celtics.

Fox began his professional basketball career when he was selected by the Boston Celtics in the first round (24th pick overall) of the 1991 NBA draft. As a member of the Celtics, Fox became the first rookie starter on opening night since Larry Bird in 1979 and made the 1992 NBA All-Rookie Second Team after averaging 8 points per game. By the 1995–96 season, Fox had become the team's starting small forward and achieved double figure scoring. He recorded career highs of 15.4 points a game and 2.2 steals a game (fifth in the league) and made 101 three-point field goals in the 1996–97 campaign.

Los Angeles Lakers.

In the summer of 1997, the Celtics released Fox, and he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers. He played and started in all 82 games during the 1997–98 season, averaging 12 points per game. In the playoffs, he tallied 10.9 points a game as the Lakers advanced to the Western Conference Finals before losing to the Utah Jazz. In the 1998–99 season, the Lakers acquired All-Star small forward Glen Rice. Fox primarily served as his backup during the next two seasons.  In the 1999–2000 season playoffs, Fox played all 23 games as the Lakers advanced to the 2000 NBA Finals against the Indiana Pacers. In the Finals, Fox averaged 6.7 points, including 11 in the Lakers' game 1 victory. In game 6, with the Lakers leading the series 3–2, Fox hit a critical three-pointer in the fourth quarter to help the Lakers' final rally as they won the game and the NBA title, Fox's first.  Following the departure of Glen Rice, Fox started 77 of 82 games in the 2000–01 season, posting an average of 9.6 points a game while shooting 39% from three-point range. In the playoffs, Fox started in all 16 games as the Lakers swept through the first three rounds and reached the 2001 NBA Finals against the Philadelphia 76ers. Fox scored 19 points in the Lakers' game 1 loss; the 76ers were led by Allen Iverson's 48 points. The Lakers would win the next four games of the series, securing their second straight championship. In the fifth game, Fox contributed with 20 points, and hit all three of his three-point field goal attempts.  In the 2001–02 season, Fox played and started in all 82 games in the regular season and in all of the Lakers' 19 playoff games. The Lakers faced a grueling 7 game series against the Sacramento Kings, with Fox scoring 13 points in the Lakers' game 7 victory in Sacramento.  In the 2002 NBA Finals against the New Jersey Nets, Fox averaged 9.8 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals as the Lakers swept the Nets in 4 games to win their third straight NBA title. In the 2002–03 season, Fox started in 75 of 76 games but suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of the last two games of the first round against the Minnesota Timberwolves and the entire Western Conference Semifinal series against the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs defeated the Lakers 4–2. Fox missed 40 games in the 2003–04 season due to a foot injury, but started in 34 of 38 games while active. He would only start in 3 of 16 playoff games as the Lakers advanced to the 2004 NBA Finals but lost to the Detroit Pistons in 5 games. In 56 career NBA playoff games, Fox averaged 6.1 points per game, 2.6 rebounds, and 1.8 assists. Following the 2003–04 season, Fox was traded back to the Celtics in a deal that brought Chucky Atkins to the Lakers, but opted to retire instead of suiting up for the Celtics.

National team.

Fox played internationally for Canada twice, at the 1990 and 1994 FIBA World Championships.

Acting career.

During NBA career.

While attending University of North Carolina, Fox completed a bachelor's degree in Radio, Television and Motion Pictures. In 1994 Fox appeared in the film "Blue Chips" as a member of the Western University basketball team. In 1996 Fox then played the role of Terry Hastings in the film "Eddie", a slumping basketball player who receives help from fan "Eddie" played by Whoopi Goldberg. Fox then had a role as the ladies man Chick Deagan in the 1998 film "He Got Game" film directed by Spike Lee. It was in 1997 however that Fox received the biggest role of his early acting career playing prison inmate Jackson Vahue on the HBO prison drama "Oz", appearing in 11 episodes of the show between 1997 and 2003. Vahue is a superstar basketball player imprisoned for charges related to a sexual assault charge. He subsequently develops and overcomes a major drug addiction. Fox first appeared on the episode "To Your Health" and each of the following episodes for the rest of the first season. His character would again appear at the beginning of the second season, before returning during the middle of the fourth season on the episode "Revenge is Sweet" and appearing on the duration of the season, as Vahue is nearing probation. His character's final appearance would come in the show's last season, on series finale "Exeunt Omnes", when Vahue is almost killed by the character Brass.  Fox was a supporting actor in the 1999 film "Resurrection" playing the role of Detective Scholfield and the role of Ray in the television film "The Collectors". At the time, ESPN quoted Fox as saying of trying to balance his acting career with his sports career that, "I mean, Penny Marshall is courtside. You got Jack (Nicholson) and Denzel (Washington). The head of the William Morris Agency is there. (Ally McBeal creator) David E. Kelley comes to some games... I want to jump into conversations with them, but I'm working!"  In addition to "Oz", Fox appeared in three more television series in the year 2003. On the first season of the crime drama "1-800-Missing" starring Vivica A. Fox, Rick Fox played the role of Eric Renard over five episodes. He also provided the voice of the characters Flash Williams and Smooth Daley on the "Crime Wave/Odd Ball" episode of Nickelodeon's animated series "The Fairly OddParents", and played the role of Peter Sampson on the television show "Street Time". As Eric Renard he played the love interest of the FBI agent Brooke Haslett, played by actress Gloria Reuben. That year he also appeared in the film "Holes" in the supporting character role of Clyde 'Sweetfeet' Livingston, a baseball player.

Post-NBA acting career.

In 2005 Fox guest starred as the character Stephen Melbourne in the UPN television series "Kevin Hill" and appeared in "Love, Inc." as the character David Marley, appearing in six episodes after only being announced for three. In 2006 Fox played the role of Fabrizio in the film "Mini's First Time" the same year he appeared in 5 episodes as Daunte in the CW drama series, "One Tree Hill". In 2007 Fox played Wilhelmina Slater's bodyguard and lover Dwayne in the second season of "Ugly Betty", opposite his former wife Vanessa Williams. The following year Fox signed on with the show "Dirt" to play a recurring role in a multi-episode storyline lasting six episodes playing the role of Prince Tyrese. In 2008 and 2009, he had a recurring role (as a fictionalized version of himself) on the BET comedy-drama television series "The Game", also returning to reprise his role in the 2012 season finale. In 2008 Fox also had a lead role in "Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns" as Harry, a coach trying to court the character of Brenda played by Angela Bassett. In 2009, Fox played himself in the comedies "Party Down" and "Head Case", and he currently has recurring roles on VH1's "Single Ladies" and "Tyler Perry's House of Payne". In 2010 Fox briefly guest starred on the science-fiction series "Dollhouse", and took on a recurring role on the CW remake of "Melrose Place". In 2011, Fox then played the role of Bernadette's ex-boyfriend Glenn in "The Big Bang Theory" episode "The Love Car Displacement". In an article about his appearance, "TV Guide" quoted Fox as saying about his role, "It's all in Glenn's head now. 'How am I losing to this guy? He's smarter than me... I love that they turned the 'threatening ex' on its ear. At the end of the day, I have more insecurity about my intellect and am constantly fighting to be accepted intellectually and be seen for more than my looks and my size. I want to appear intelligent and prove my intelligence. That's where I'm battling with him."  In 2011 Fox also played a suspect on the crime drama "Body of Proof" and in 2012 he played the character Andre Carson on the series "Franklin & Bash". He also played the recurring role of Winston on "Single Ladies" and Andrew Thompson the series "Mr. Box Office".  In 2013, Fox played the role of Chase Vincent in the VH1 series "Hit the Floor". In 2014, Fox guest starred as the character Dr. James Kendall in the CBS television series "Mom". On the same airdate, he appeared as himself on an episode of the CBS sitcom "The McCarthys". In 2015, Fox played the role of Sam Johnson, the general manager for eponymous basketball team on Yahoo's original series "Sin City Saints", he appeared in the TV film "", and played retired basketball player Calvin Owens on "iZombie". In 2016, Fox also appeared in the Showtime original series "Shameless". He's currently playing the role of Darius Nash on the OWN series "Greenleaf".

Reality television.

In late 2010, Fox was a celebrity contestant on ABC's "Dancing With The Stars", paired with pro Cheryl Burke. They came in sixth place. He was also host of the "Jace Hall Show" for five episodes. Fox appeared as a contestant on "Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader?", in season 3. He was a special guest judge during season 4 of "RuPaul's Drag Race". And in 2017, Fox was a contestant on the "Chopped" Star Power actors competition. Fox came in second place.

Professional gaming.

In 2015, Fox and partner Amit Raizada acquired professional "League of Legends" team Gravity Gaming of the North American League of Legends Championship Series, re-branding it to Echo Fox.  In April 2019, Fox threatened to leave the esports team after accusing Razaida of making racist comments against him and Echo Fox CEO Jace Hall, as well as threatening Fox's family. In response, Riot Games, which operates the LCS, launched an investigation. It ordered Echo Fox to remove Razaida, or it would have to sell its spot in the LCS within 60 days, saying "hate speech, threats, and bigotry have no place in the LCS." With Echo Fox unable to remove Razaida, Riot Games came up with an agreement to end Echo Fox's participation in the LCS, eventually resulting in Evil Geniuses acquiring the team's spot.  In September 2019, a lawsuit ousting Fox as general partner was sent to him by several of his business partners, stating Fox had repeatedly worked against the best interests of the company. The letter sent had several signatures including: Vision Esports head Stratton Sclavos, investor Daniel Deshe, Raizada Group manager Ravi Srivastava and Khalid Jones, who was Fox's partner in the general partnership. In response, Fox filed a lawsuit against Raizada and Sclavos alleging the two partners committed fraud, conspiracy and breach of contract against him.

Personal life.

Fox has a son Kyle (born 1993) with Kari Hillsman, a woman he dated while playing basketball for the Boston Celtics. Fox was also married to American actress/singer Vanessa Williams. After eloping in summer 1999 in the Caribbean, they had another ceremony in September 1999 in New York City. They had a daughter in May 2000. In August 2004, Fox filed for divorce from Williams. Fox and Williams' split however was amicable enough for the two of them to work onscreen together several years later on the television show "Ugly Betty". Fox and actress Eliza Dushku dated from October 2009 to June 2014. His younger sister, Jeanene Fox, is a model and actress.

Ulrich Alexander Fox (born July 24, 1969) is a Canadian-Bahamian retired basketball player, actor, businessman, and former esports franchise owner. He played in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, and played college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He was the owner of the esports franchise Echo Fox until his departure from the franchise in October 2019.

乌尔里希·亚历山大·「里克」·福克斯(英语:Ulrich Alexander "Rick" Fox,1969年-7月24日),巴哈马裔加拿大前职业篮球运动员、演员,篮球场上位置小前锋。


Career.

Her first representative match for England was against China at the World Championships 1997 in Scotland. The best performances of her career are winning the European Women's Doubles Gold medal in 2000 with Jo Goode and in 2006 with Gail Emms.  Kellogg's highest world ranking is fourth in Women's Doubles with a national ranking of first in the same event.

1998 Commonwealth Games.

She represented England and won two gold medals (women's doubles and team) and a bronze medal (mixed doubles), at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2004 Summer Olympics.

Kellogg competed with Gail Emms in women's doubles at the 2004 Summer Olympics. They defeated Koon Wai Chee and Li Wing Mui of Hong Kong in the first round but were defeated by Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili of China in the round of 16.

2006 World Championships and Commonwealth Games.

Kellogg reached the mixed doubles final at the 2006 IBF World Championships with Anthony Clark, losing in the final against Gail Emms and Nathan Robertson. She also won a silver medal (team) and bronze medal (doubles) at the 2006 Commonwealth Games.

2008 Summer Olympics.

She and partner Gail Emms faced China in doubles at the 2008 Olympics in the Round of 16. They lost the first match.

Personal life.

In 1999 she graduated from Loughborough University with a degree in Sports Science. Her occupation/professional qualification is BSC Physical Education, Sport Science and Recreational Management.  Kellogg was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours.

Record against selected opponents.

Mixed Doubles results with Anthony Clark against Super Series finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.

Donna Victoria Kellogg, (born 20 January 1978) is an English badminton player. She first played badminton at the age of 10.

唐娜·凯洛格(英语:Donna Kellogg,1978年-1月20日),英格兰女子羽毛球运动员,擅长双打项目,曾三度赢得欧洲羽毛球锦标赛女双(2000年及2006年)和混双(2008年)冠军及2006年世界羽毛球锦标赛混双亚军。


Training.

The simplest training algorithm for vector quantization is:  A more sophisticated algorithm reduces the bias in the density matching estimation, and ensures that all points are used, by including an extra sensitivity parameter :  It is desirable to use a cooling schedule to produce convergence: see Simulated annealing. Another (simpler) method is LBG which is based on K-Means.  The algorithm can be iteratively updated with 'live' data, rather than by picking random points from a data set, but this will introduce some bias if the data are temporally correlated over many samples.

Applications.

Vector quantization is used for lossy data compression, lossy data correction, pattern recognition, density estimation and clustering.  Lossy data correction, or prediction, is used to recover data missing from some dimensions. It is done by finding the nearest group with the data dimensions available, then predicting the result based on the values for the missing dimensions, assuming that they will have the same value as the group's centroid.  For density estimation, the area/volume that is closer to a particular centroid than to any other is inversely proportional to the density (due to the density matching property of the algorithm).

Use in data compression.

Vector quantization, also called "block quantization" or "pattern matching quantization" is often used in lossy data compression. It works by encoding values from a multidimensional vector space into a finite set of values from a discrete subspace of lower dimension. A lower-space vector requires less storage space, so the data is compressed. Due to the density matching property of vector quantization, the compressed data has errors that are inversely proportional to density.  The transformation is usually done by projection or by using a codebook. In some cases, a codebook can be also used to entropy code the discrete value in the same step, by generating a prefix coded variable-length encoded value as its output.  The set of discrete amplitude levels is quantized jointly rather than each sample being quantized separately. Consider a "k"-dimensional vector formula_12 of amplitude levels. It is compressed by choosing the nearest matching vector from a set of "n"-dimensional vectors formula_13, with "n" < "k".  All possible combinations of the "n"-dimensional vector formula_13 form the vector space to which all the quantized vectors belong. Only the index of the codeword in the codebook is sent instead of the quantized values. This conserves space and achieves more compression.  Twin vector quantization (VQF) is part of the MPEG-4 standard dealing with time domain weighted interleaved vector quantization.  The usage of video codecs based on vector quantization has declined significantly in favor of those based on motion compensated prediction combined with transform coding, e.g. those defined in MPEG standards, as the low decoding complexity of vector quantization has become less relevant.

Use in pattern recognition.

VQ was also used in the eighties for speech and speaker recognition. Recently it has also been used for efficient nearest neighbor search  and on-line signature recognition. In pattern recognition applications, one codebook is constructed for each class (each class being a user in biometric applications) using acoustic vectors of this user. In the testing phase the quantization distortion of a testing signal is worked out with the whole set of codebooks obtained in the training phase. The codebook that provides the smallest vector quantization distortion indicates the identified user.  The main advantage of VQ in pattern recognition is its low computational burden when compared with other techniques such as dynamic time warping (DTW) and hidden Markov model (HMM). The main drawback when compared to DTW and HMM is that it does not take into account the temporal evolution of the signals (speech, signature, etc.) because all the vectors are mixed up. In order to overcome this problem a multi-section codebook approach has been proposed. The multi-section approach consists of modelling the signal with several sections (for instance, one codebook for the initial part, another one for the center and a last codebook for the ending part).

Use as clustering algorithm.

As VQ is seeking for centroids as density points of nearby lying samples, it can be also directly used as a prototype-based clustering method: each centroid is then associated with one prototype. By aiming to minimize the expected squared quantization error and introducing a decreasing learning gain fulfilling the Robbins-Monro conditions, multiple iterations over the whole data set with a concrete but fixed number of prototypes converges to the solution of k-means clustering algorithm in an incremental manner.

Generative Adversarial Networks (GAN).

VQ has been used to quantize the feature in the discriminator of GANs. The feature quantization (FQ) technique performs implicit feature matching. It improves the GAN training, and yield improved performance on a variety of popular GAN models: BigGAN for image generation, StyleGAN for face synthesis, and U-GAT-IT for unsupervised image-to-image translation.  "Part of this article was originally based on material from the Free On-line Dictionary of Computing and is used with under the GFDL."

Vector quantization (VQ) is a classical quantization technique from signal processing that allows the modeling of probability density functions by the distribution of prototype vectors. It was originally used for data compression. It works by dividing a large set of points (vectors) into groups having approximately the same number of points closest to them. Each group is represented by its centroid point, as in k-means and some other clustering algorithms.

向量量化(英语:Vector quantization)是一个在讯号处理中的一个量化法,其为借由样本向量(prototype vector)的训练来估算密度几率函数,并借由此密度函数推估最有效的量化方案。此技术原用于资料压缩,透过分割大数量的资料点(函数),让每个小群集都有相同的资料点,而这些小群集的所有资料就由其正中央的点作为代表,这点与k-平均算法以及其他群集分析的特性相当。 向量量化所使用的密度分布法的优势在于,此种压缩法对于高几率出现(密集)的资料误差小,而对低几率(稀疏)的资料误差大,故特别适用于大量且高维度的向量破坏性资料压缩。 向量量化是竞逐式学习的一种技巧,故与深度学习的自编码器其中使用的自组织对应以及稀疏神经编码有关系。


Basketball career.

Early years.

Mason attended Tennessee State University and was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in the third round of the 1988 NBA draft (53rd pick), but was cut shortly afterwards. He then played for the Efes Pilsen basketball club in Turkey and Marinos de Oriente in Venezuela and had brief NBA stints with the New Jersey Nets and the Denver Nuggets.  In the 1990–1991 season, Mason played 26 games for the CBA's Tulsa Fast Breakers, with whom he averaged 29.9 points and 14.8 rebounds per game in his only season in the league.  Also in 1991, Mason played as a power forward for the Long Island Surf of the USBL. In his one season with the Surf, Mason was named to the All-USBL First Team, averaging more 27.8 points and 11.2 rebounds per game, and he set a league record with 28 rebounds in a game. Ed Krinsky, general manager of the Surf, said, "I really believed he could play in the N.B.A. He was a huge guy with backcourt skills". Later that year, Mason was already on the New York Knicks' summer league roster, with Pat Riley as coach. In the year 2000, in celebration of the USBL's 15th anniversary, USBL fans voted on the "All-15 Team," a collection of the best USBL players from 1985 to 2000, many of whom went on to become renowned NBA stars, with Mason included among the 15.

NBA success.

New York Knicks.

Mason signed with the New York Knicks in the summer of 1991. Under coach Pat Riley, Mason blossomed in New York, where he became part of a strong frontcourt alongside Patrick Ewing, Charles Oakley and Charles Smith. Mason played for the Knicks until 1996. In 1994, the Knicks reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 1973, but lost in seven games to the Hakeem Olajuwon-led Houston Rockets.  Mason won the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1995. He led the league in minutes played in 1995–96 with 3,457, setting a Knicks team record. In 1996, Mason and Brad Lohaus were traded to the Charlotte Hornets for Larry Johnson.

Charlotte Hornets.

In the 1996-1997 season, Mason recorded career highs in minutes played (43.1), points (16.2), rebounds (11.4) and assists (5.7). He led the league in minutes. Following the season, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team and to the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. Mason missed the entire 1998–99 season due to a ruptured bicep, then averaged 11.6 points and 8.5 rebounds in the 1999–2000 season.

Miami Heat.

In 2000, Mason was traded to the Miami Heat along with Eddie Jones, Ricky Davis and Dale Ellis for Jamal Mashburn, P. J. Brown, Tim James, Rodney Buford and Otis Thorpe In Miami, although Mason had been brought over by Miami coach Pat Riley to be a role player on what was thought to have been a contender Heat team, the kidney ailment of Alonzo Mourning forced Mourning to sit out and made Mason a starter for the team. Mason would respond by finishing second on the team in scoring, with 16.1 points per game, and averaging 9.6 rebounds. With Mourning and Grant Hill selected but unable to play due to injury in the 2001 NBA All-Star Game, Mason was chosen to represent the Heat in his only selection to an All-Star team. Mason helped the Heat make the playoffs with a 50 win season for the injury-ravaged squad. Mason, however, virtually disappeared in the playoffs, taking only 13 shots and averaging a mere 5.3 points and 3 rebounds in three games. Mason was waived during the offseason.

Milwaukee Bucks.

Mason signed with the Milwaukee Bucks for the 2001–02 season. In Mason's first season with the Bucks, the team stumbled to a 41–41 record (11 games worse than the previous season) and missed the playoffs altogether. Mason's numbers went down as well: 9.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg. Nonetheless, Milwaukee stuck with Mason for another year, waiving him after the 2002–03 season. Mason retired from the NBA in 2003.

TV/film/music appearances.

In the TV series "New York Undercover", Mason appeared in two different episodes, playing himself in one. He also plays a pickup player in the 1996 film "Eddie", and himself in Woody Allen's "Celebrity".  In addition, Mason appears in the Diamond D rap video "Best Kept Secret", dunking his way through the video on a New York City playground basketball court.  The Beastie Boys song "B-Boys Makin' With The Freak Freak" from 1994's "Ill Communication" LP mentions him with the lyric "I got my hair cut correct like Anthony Mason"—the Beasties being NY Knicks fans. The Notorious B.I.G. song "Story to Tell" tells of the rapper sleeping with the girlfriend of a New York Knick in the player's home. This player was revealed, decades later, to be Mason.

Personal life.

Mason was born in Miami, Florida, and spent most of his childhood in New York City in the Queens borough.  After being charged with statutory rape in 1998, Mason pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.  Mason's son, Anthony Mason Jr., played on the St. John's University Red Storm basketball team. He completed his eligibility for the 2009–10 St. John's Red Storm, and he went on to try out with the Miami Heat, before playing for teams such as the Sioux Falls Skyforce and Cholet Basket. Another son, Antoine, played basketball at Auburn University after transferring there from Niagara University, where he led the 2012–13 Niagara Purple Eagles in scoring as a redshirt sophomore.

Death.

Mason suffered a heart attack in early February 2015 and was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. He died on February 28, 2015, in New York City at the age of 48.

Anthony George Douglas Mason (December 14, 1966 – February 28, 2015) was an American professional basketball player. In his 13-year career he played with the New Jersey Nets, Denver Nuggets, New York Knicks, Charlotte Hornets, Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He averaged 10.8 points and 8.3 rebounds in his 13-year NBA career. Mason earned the NBA Sixth Man of the Year Award in 1995 and led the NBA in minutes played in the following two seasons. In 1997, he was named to the All-NBA Third Team and the NBA All-Defensive Second Team. He was selected to the 2001 NBA All-Star Game. Mason was a member of the 1993-1994 New York Knicks team that reached the NBA Finals.

安东尼·乔治·道格拉斯·梅森(英语:Anthony George Douglas Mason,1966年-12月14日-2015年-2月28日),美国篮球运动员,身高2米01,场上位置大前锋,曾就读于田纳西州立大学,大学毕业后在1988年NBA选秀中以第三轮第53顺位为波特兰拓荒者选中。


Early life and education.

Anatole Katok graduated from Moscow State University, from which he received his master's degree in 1965 and PhD in 1968 (with a thesis on "Applications of the Method of Approximation of Dynamical Systems by Periodic Transformations to Ergodic Theory" under Yakov Sinai). In 1978 he emigrated to the USA. He was married to the mathematician Svetlana Katok, who also works on dynamical systems and has been involved with Anatole Katok in the MASS Program for undergraduate students at Penn State.

Work and research.

While in graduate school, Katok (together with A. Stepin) developed a theory of periodic approximations of measure-preserving transformations commonly known as Katok—Stepin approximations. This theory helped to solve some problems that went back to von Neumann and Kolmogorov, and won the prize of the Moscow Mathematical Society in 1967.  His next result was the theory of monotone (or Kakutani) equivalence, which is based on a generalization of the concept of time-change in flows. There are constructions in the theory of dynamical systems that are due to Katok. Among these are the Anosov—Katok construction of smooth ergodic area-preserving diffeomorphisms of compact manifolds, the construction of Bernoulli diffeomorphisms with nonzero Lyapunov exponents on any surface, and the first construction of an invariant foliation for which Fubini's theorem fails in the worst possible way (Fubini foiled).  With Elon Lindenstrauss and Manfred Einsiedler, Katok made important progress on the Littlewood conjecture in the theory of Diophantine approximations.  Katok was also known for formulating conjectures and problems (for some of which he even offered prizes) that influenced bodies of work in dynamical systems. The best-known of these is the Katok Entropy Conjecture, which connects geometric and dynamical properties of geodesic flows. It is one of the first rigidity statements in dynamical systems. In the last two decades Katok has been working on other rigidity phenomena, and in collaboration with several colleagues, made contributions to smooth rigidity and geometric rigidity, to differential and cohomological rigidity of smooth actions of higher-rank abelian groups and of lattices in Lie groups of higher rank, to measure rigidity for group actions and to nonuniformly hyperbolic actions of higher-rank abelian groups.  Katok's works on topological properties of nonuniformly hyperbolic dynamical systems. It includes density of periodic points and lower bounds on their number as well as exhaustion of topological entropy by horseshoes. These were the topic of his lecture at the International Congress of Mathematicians in 1983, as well as the 1982 Rufus Bowen Memorial Lectures at University of California, Berkeley.  Katok's collaboration with his former student Boris Hasselblatt resulted in the book "Introduction to the Modern Theory of Dynamical Systems", published by Cambridge University Press in 1995. This book is considered as encyclopedia of modern dynamical systems and is among the most cited publications in the area.  Anatole Katok was Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Modern Dynamics and a member of the editorial boards of multiple other prestigious publications, including Ergodic Theory and Dynamical Systems, Cambridge Tracts in Mathematics, and Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics.

Teaching.

Katok held tenured faculty positions at three mathematics departments: University of Maryland (1978–1984), California Institute of Technology (1984–1990) and since 1990 at the Pennsylvania State University, where he held the Raymond N. Shibley professorship since 1996. He had advised 42 PhD students on their thesis; the Mathematics Genealogy Project lists most of his PhD students, and 114 descendants.

Honors and recognition.

In 1967 Katok was awarded a Moscow Mathematical Society for Young Mathematicians Prize (with A. Stepin and V. Oseledets). In 1983 he was an invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians in Warsaw (his talk was titled "Nonuniform hyperbolicity and structure of smooth dynamical systems"). Katok became a member of American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004. In 2012, he became a fellow of the American Mathematical Society.

Anatole Borisovich Katok (; August 9, 1944 – April 30, 2018) was an American mathematician with Russian-Jewish origins. Katok was the director of the Center for Dynamics and Geometry at the Pennsylvania State University. His field of research was the theory of dynamical systems.

安纳托利·鲍里索维奇·卡托克(,英语:Anatole Borisovich Katok,1944年-8月9日-2018年-4月30日),美籍俄裔数学家。卡托克是宾夕法尼亚州立大学动力系统与几何中心的主任。


Etymology.

The island was named "Jena Island" when it was discovered by the Spanish ship "Rosario" in 1702. That was the island's name until 1904 when the Japanese term "Nishinoshima" (literally, "West Island") was made the official name.  When a new island was formed in the 1973 eruption, that was called, but due to erosion and shifting sands, that island joined the main island and ceased to be considered a separate entity.  During the early stages of the 2013 eruption, a new volcanic island was formed about southeast from the original Nishinoshima. The island was not given an official name but was mentioned in Japanese reports as "new island": or. Government officials said the island would be named "after it is stable and it is clear it will remain". As the island has now merged with Nishinoshima, "there is little possibility it will be named as a separate entity."

Geology.

Morphology.

Prior to 1974, Nishinoshima was a small, green island which had no eruptions in the past 10,000 years. The island was merely the tip of an undersea volcano some in height and wide at the base. Its main period of activity was from the Late Pleistocene to the Holocene. The volcano takes the form of a caldera, with the original Nishinoshima and some nearby rocks forming part of the northwest ridge of a caldera about in diameter. The island was originally about long and wide. A 1911 survey determined the caldera was at its deepest. The volcano has many large, submarine, satellite cones to the south, west and northeast. The southern cone rises to within of the surface, around SSE of Nishinoshima.

1973–1974 Eruption.

On 30 May 1973, the crew of a passing ship noted that, at around 11:00, white smoke rose east of the island to around in the air every few minutes. An aerial inspection the next day said that the eruption was taking place east of the island. A whirlpool was also seen. Yellow-green sea water and floating pumice were seen north of the site. Another crew discovered that two black rocks were rising from the sea.  In July, the eruption continued to erupt water fountains every few minutes with white smoke rising to 100 m above sea level. An aerial inspection on 14 September noted that a new island had formed above the submarine eruption site, the island formed a cinder cone around high and across. The new island had a diameter crater that frequently ejected cinders to a maximum height of. White smoke rose to a height around high.  In November, a fissure eruption was noted on the new island with a chain of cinder cones running from southwest to northeast, the most recent cones were formed at the end of the chain, with the original cone being destroyed by the waves. The cones were erupting ash to a height of around.  In December, the new island grew larger than "old" Nishinoshima. The island was long and wide; the new island had now developed a central crater that rose to a maximum height of. The cone was continuing to eject ash and cinders to a height of. A small craterlet on the new island was also emitting lava flows.  By February 1974, the new island had developed two cinder cones at the western end of the new island, but only the eastern cinder cone was erupting. Observations on 11 January noted that the active eastern cinder cone was emitting a lava flow.  In March, the new island was still erupting; by then, the island had five cinder cones; one cinder cone was erupting red hot lava. Lava flows were still erupting from the new island's flanks. On March 1, the five cinder cones were quiet, but a large lava flow may have still been effusing from the island's flanks. After that, the eruption ended; wave movements then joined the new and old islands.

2013–2015 eruption.

In November 2013, an eruption created a new, small island south-southeast off the shore of the original island. By December 2013, the island rose above sea level, with an area of 56,000 square meters (13.8 acres). The island was considered large enough to maintain a presence above sea level for at least several years. By 20 December 2013, the island had grown fast enough that experts predicted that it would probably join up with Nishinoshima before the end of 2013, and cease to be a separate island. On 26 December 2013, the Japanese Coast Guard confirmed that the two islands had joined.  The United States space agency, NASA, says two cones have formed around the main volcanic vents and stand more than above sea level. The newer portion of the island is now larger than the original Nishinoshima landmass. The merged island is slightly more than across.  During July and August 2014, lava flow increased, causing the island to expand rapidly to the east. Between September and December, the lava flow increased further and headed north, almost completely overrunning the pre-existing island, leaving only a small portion of the old island exposed. On 27 December 2014, Japanese authorities said the island had reached nearly in size and is estimated to have risen to about above the sea level and that the volcano was still active. A pyroclastic cone formed around the vents which further rose the island to about 135 m (442 ft) by 23 February 2015.  The eruption continued throughout the first half of 2015, and the island continued to expand. However, by August, the volcano ceased to erupt smoke and ash, but continued to emit lava. As of September 16, 2015, the total area of the island had decreased slightly, but the fumarolic zone had expanded as "vigorous volcanic activity continued without significant change". Eruptions resumed soon thereafter, but November 17, 2015, was the date of the last observed explosive eruption. Fumarolic activity continued, but decreased in amount as no new lava flows were observed. Decreases in temperatures were also recorded, and subsidence was observed near the summit of the volcano. In August 2016, the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that the alert level for the volcano had been lowered, and that the no-entry zone had been reduced from a radius of to a radius of. This would finally enable landings on the island. Water discoloration was still evident immediately offshore in August, indicating that volcanic activity, while in significant decline, was still present. On 14 February 2017, the Japan Meteorological Agency cancelled all alerts for the island, declaring that there was no indication of subsequent eruptions.  On October 2016, a team of scientists visited Nishinoshima to conduct research on the island. Apart from documenting the island's ecology and geology, monitoring equipment was also installed for future volcanic activity.  Wyss Yim, a retired professor of Earth Sciences, has theorised that the Nishinoshima eruption caused the North Pacific Blob, a mass of warm surficial water off the Pacific Coast of North America.

2017 and 2018 eruptions.

On 20 April 2017, the Japan Coast Guard confirmed explosive eruptions at the No. 7 crater at Nishinoshima and lava flows emerging from the base of volcano. Satellite imagery from 19 April also confirmed high temperatures on the island. Examination of the data revealed that the eruption likely began on 17 April. By 27 April, two lava flows had reached the sea, one on the west shore, the other on the south-west shore of the island. By 29 June, the flows had created two lobes, one extending 330 meters beyond the western shore, and other 310 to the south-west. The area of the island increased to. By July, surface temperatures began to decrease until they became indistinguishable from the surroundings in August; lava flows also stopped by the end of August. On 3 October, the Coordinating Committee for Prediction of Volcanic Eruptions of the Japan Meteorological Agency announced that Nishinoshima had likely ceased erupting. In June 2018, the JMA announced that the no-entry zone had been reduced from a radius of to a radius of. Within a month, however, the zone was returned to 1500m after small eruptions were spotted on July 12, 2018. These eruptions quickly subsided, and the no-entry zone was reduced to 500m on October 31, 2018.

2019 eruption.

On 6 December 2019, the Japan Coast Guard confirmed explosive activity in Nishinoshima has returned, with new lava flows entering the sea by the following day. The conditions were enough that the Meteorological Agency issued a warning to passing ships to stay clear of Nishinoshima.

2020.

The Japan Coast Guard observations confirmed that lava was flowing out on the northeast coast. Further activity was observed on February 4th, and the northern extension of the island was expected.

Ecology.

Since the 2013 eruption, biologists have expressed great interest in how Nishinoshima would be colonized by plants and wildlife. It is expected that organic matter, mainly deposited by nesting birds in the form of feathers or excrement, would enrich the island surface for plants to grow. To prevent interference of the colonization process, researchers were also advised not to bring external species to Nishinoshima.  On October 2016, a team of scientists visited Nishinoshima to examine its environment and geologic makeup for the first time up-close. Their studies have discovered that both plant and animal life continue to exist on the remaining part of the old Nishinoshima island that had not been covered by lava. An accompanying video crew from Nippon TV captured masked boobies laying eggs and a pod of dolphins (either Indo-Pacific, "Tursiops aduncus", or common bottlenose, "T. truncatus") swimming off the coast. Gannets, bramblings and earwigs were also discovered living on the island by researchers. Several cetaceans have been known to live around the island prior to the eruption such as spinner dolphins and short-finned pilot whales, and above mentioned bottlenose dolphin. Humpback whales had been seen before the eruption, and their recent returns have been confirmed as well.  In terms of flora, plants that were present on the original island like goosegrass and purslane were found to be growing again on the "old" section of Nishinoshima.

Originally the above-water part of the ridge of an underwater caldera, Nishinoshima was enlarged in 1974 after fresh eruptions created a new section of the island. Another eruption that began in November 2013 further enlarged the island and attracted worldwide attention. A volcanic cone soon formed, raising to an estimated height of 142 m (466 ft) by July 2016. The eruptions ceased by November 2015, though emissions of volcanic gases continued for several months afterwards.

西之岛(),是日本所属小笠原群岛中的一个火山岛,位于东京南方约1,000公里,父岛以西约130公里。在日本的行政区划隶属于东京都小笠原支厅小笠原村。