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tc_1179

Which Joan's career revived in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?

What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? is a 1962 American psychological thriller film produced and directed by Robert Aldrich, starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, about an actress who holds her crippled sister captive in an old Hollywood mansion. The screenplay by Lukas Heller is based on the 1960 novel of the same name by Henry Farrell. Upon the film's release it was met with widespread critical and box office acclaim and was later nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design, Black and White. The intensely bitter Hollywood rivalry between the film's two stars, Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, was heavily important to the film's success at the time. This in part led to the revitalization of the then-waning careers of the two stars. In the years after the film's release, critics continued to acclaim the film for its psychologically driven black comedy, camp, and creation of the psycho-biddy subgenre. The film's then unheard of and controversial plot, meant that it originally received an X rating in the UK, Because of the appeal of the film's stars, Dave Itzkoff in The New York Times has identified it as being a "cult classic". In 2003, the character of Baby Jane Hudson was ranked #44 on the American Film Institute's list of the 50 Best Villains of American Cinema. Plot In 1917, Baby Jane Hudson is a vaudevillian child star while her sister Blanche Hudson is not famous and overlooked by their father. By 1935, both sisters are movie actors, but Blanche has achieved stardom, while Jane’s films have flopped, leading Jane to drink heavily. One night, returning from a party, one of the sisters gets out of the car to open the gate leading up to the house, while the other attempts to run her over. The resulting accident leaves Blanche paralyzed. In 1962, a wheelchair-bound Blanche (Joan Crawford) and a bitter, irritable Jane (Bette Davis) are living together in Blanche's mansion. Because she is wheelchair-bound, Blanche rarely leaves her bedroom on the second floor and becomes close with her cleaning woman, Elvira (Maidie Norman). Elvira believes that Jane is exhibiting symptoms of mental illness and becomes concerned for Blanche's well-being, but Blanche defends her sister. Later, when Blanche informs Jane she may be selling the house, Jane's mental health begins to deteriorate further. During an argument, she removes the telephone from Blanche's bedroom, cutting Blanche off from the outside world. Later, Jane begins denying Blanche food, killing her pet parakeet and serving it to her on a platter. Later, when Jane leaves the house to put an advertisement in the paper, Blanche tries to get the attention of her neighbor, Mrs. Bates (Anna Lee), by writing a note pleading for help and throwing it out her bedroom window. Jane returns in time to notice the note and prevents Mrs. Bates from seeing it. When Jane reads the note, the two sisters quarrel again. The next time Elvira comes to clean the house, Jane abruptly fires her and sends her away. Meanwhile, Edwin Flagg (Victor Buono) sees Jane's newspaper advertisement for a piano player and arrives at the mansion, where he is officially hired by Jane to help her in her delusional plan to regain her childhood stardom. While Jane drives Edwin home, Blanche searches the house for food and discovers Jane has been forging her signature on checks. Desperate for help, Blanche crawls down the stairs and calls their doctor, telling him of Jane's erratic behavior and begging him to come to the house. Jane returns in time to find Blanche on the phone and beats her unconscious before imitating her voice over the phone and telling the doctor not to come. She then binds and gags Blanche and locks her back in her upstairs bedroom. Elvira, still suspicious of Jane, returns the next day and discovers Blanche in a weakened and starved state. Before she can rescue her, however, Jane beats Elvira to death with a hammer and disposes of her body. A week later, the police call the Hudson house and tell Jane that a cousin of her maid reported her missing. Panicking, Jane prepares to leave with her sister. Before they leave, Edwin shows up uninvited, hears a noise in Blanche’s room, and discovers what Jane has done to her. Frightened, Edwin runs away, and Jane drives Blanche to the beach. The discovery of Elvira's body is announced in the morning paper. At the beach, Blanche reveals that she was in fact the driver on the night of the car accident and that she tried to run Jane over for being mean to her at the party. Jane had been too drunk to remember what had happened and blamed herself for the accident. Jane responds pensively, "All this time we could have been friends." The police arrive to arrest Jane, and while they tend to Blanche, Jane dances before the puzzled onlookers, believing she once again has the same attention and admiration she received as child. Cast * Bette Davis as Jane Hudson * Joan Crawford as Blanche Hudson * Victor Buono as Edwin Flagg * Maidie Norman as Elvira Stitt * Anna Lee as Mrs. Bates * B. D. Merrill as Liza Bates * Marjorie Bennett as Dehlia Flagg * Dave Willock as Ray Hudson * Julie Allred as young Jane * Gina Gillespie as young Blanche * Debbie Burton as young Jane's singing voice Production The house exterior of the Hudson mansion is located at 172 South McCadden Place in the Hancock Park section of Los Angeles. Other residential exteriors show cottages on DeLongpre Avenue near Harvard Avenue in Hollywood without their current gated courtyards. The scene on the beach was shot in Malibu, reportedly the same site where Aldrich filmed the final scene of Kiss Me Deadly (1955). Footage from the Bette Davis films Parachute Jumper and Ex-Lady (both 1933) and the Joan Crawford film Sadie McKee (1934) was utilized, to represent the film acting of Baby Jane and Blanche respectively. The neighbor's daughter was played by Davis' daughter B. D. Merrill who, following in the footsteps of Crawford's daughter Christina, later wrote a memoir that depicted her mother in an unfavorable light. It was an open secret that Davis and Crawford loathed each other, and filming was contentious as their real-life hatred for one another spilled over into the production, and even after filming had wrapped. Crawford was scheduled to appear alongside Davis on a publicity tour of Baby Jane but cancelled at the last minute. Davis claimed that Crawford backed out because she didn't want to share the stage with her. In a 1972 telephone conservation, Crawford related to future author Shaun Considine that after seeing a screening of the film she urged Davis to go and have a look. When she didn't hear back from her co-star, Crawford called Davis and asked her what she thought of the film to which Davis replied, "You were so right, Joan. The picture is good. And I was terrific." Crawford replied, "That was it. She never said anything about my performance. Not a word." Considine alleges that this denial from Davis (with regards to Joan's talent as an actress) prompted Crawford to cancel the publicity tour and upstage Davis at the Oscars. Prior to the Oscars ceremony, Crawford contacted the Best Actress nominees who were unable to attend the ceremonies and offered to accept the award on their behalf should they win. Davis claimed that Crawford lobbied against her among Academy voters. When Anne Bancroft was declared the winner for The Miracle Worker, she was in New York performing in a play, and had asked Crawford to accept her award if she won. Crawford triumphantly swept on-stage to pick up the trophy. Davis later commented, "It would have meant a million more dollars to our film if I had won. Joan was thrilled I hadn't." As both Davis and Crawford had accepted lower salaries in exchange for a share of the film's profits, Davis considered it especially foolish of Crawford to have worked against their common interests, especially at a time when roles for actresses of their generation were hard to find. During the filming of Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte (1964), Crawford acknowledged to visiting reporter/author Lawrence J. Quirk the difficulty she was having with Davis because of the Oscar incident but added, "She acted like Baby Jane was a one-woman show after they nominated her. What was I supposed to do, let her hog all the glory, act like I hadn't even been in the movie? She got the nomination. I didn't begrudge her that, but it would have been nice if she'd been a little gracious in interviews and given me a little credit. I would have done it for her." Legacy The film's success led to the birth of the psycho-biddy subgenre of horror/thriller films featuring psychotic older women, among them Aldrich's Hush… Hush, Sweet Charlotte, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? and What's the Matter with Helen?. It was parodied by the Italian comedy film What Ever Happened to Baby Toto?. The film was remade in 1991 as a television film starring real-life sisters Vanessa and Lynn Redgrave. Critical reception The film received positive reviews and elicited mixed responses over the Davis/Crawford combination. In his review in The New York Times, Bosley Crowther observed, "[Davis and Crawford] do get off some amusing and eventually blood-chilling displays of screaming sororal hatred and general monstrousness ... The feeble attempts that Mr. Aldrich has made to suggest the irony of two once idolized and wealthy females living in such depravity, and the pathos of their deep-seated envy having brought them to this, wash out very quickly under the flood of sheer grotesquerie." Variety stated, "Although the results heavily favor Davis (and she earns the credit), it should be recognized that the plot, of necessity, allows her to run unfettered through all the stages of oncoming insanity ... Crawford gives a quiet, remarkably fine interpretation of the crippled Blanche, held in emotionally by the nature and temperament of the role." TV Guide awarded the film four stars, calling it "Star wars, trenchantly served" and adding, "If it sometimes looks like a poisonous senior citizen show with over-the-top spoiled ham, just try to look away ... As in the best Hitchcock movies, suspense, rather than actual mayhem, drives the film." The film maintains a 91% rating on review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes based on 46 reviews, indicating critical acclaim. Accolades The film was nominated for five Academy Awards, winning one for Best Costume Design. * Academy Award for Best Actress (Bette Davis, nominee) * Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Victor Buono, nominee) * Academy Award for Best Costume Design, Black and White (Norma Koch, winner) * Academy Award for Best Cinematography, Black and White (Ernest Haller, nominee) * Academy Award for Best Sound (Joseph D. Kelly, nominee) * BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress (Crawford, nominee) * BAFTA Award for Best Foreign Actress (Davis, nominee) * Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama (Davis, nominee) * Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture (Buono, nominee) * Laurel Award for Golden Laurel for Sleeper of the Year (Winner) * Golden Palm – 1963 Cannes Film Festival (nominee) Box office The film was a surprise box office hit, grossing $9 million at the worldwide box office and $4,050,000 in theatrical rentals in North America. In the United Kingdom, the film was originally given an X certificate by the BBFC in 1962, with a few minor cuts. These cuts were waived for a video submission, which was given an 18 certificate in 1988, meaning no-one under 18 years of age could purchase a copy of the film. However, in 2004, the film was re-submitted for a theatrical re-release, and it was given a 12A certificate, now meaning persons under 12 years of age could view it if accompanied by an adult. It remains at this category.

B

tc_1623

In Hanna and Barbera's TV cartoons base on The Addams Family who was the voice of Gomez?

The Addams Family is a group of fictional characters created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addams Family characters have traditionally included Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley and Thing. The Addamses are a satirical inversion of the ideal American family: an eccentric wealthy clan who delight in the macabre and are seemingly unaware that other people find them bizarre or frightening. They originally appeared as an unrelated group of 150 single-panel cartoons, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between their debut in 1938, and Addams's death in 1988. They have since been adapted to other media, including television series (both live and animated), films, video games and a musical. Premise and background Addams' original cartoons were one-panel gags. The characters were undeveloped and unnamed until the television series production. Gomez and Pugsley are enthusiastic. Morticia is even in disposition, muted, witty, sometimes deadly. Grandma Frump is foolishly good-natured. Wednesday is her mother's daughter. A closely knit family, the real head being Morticia—although each of the others is a definite character—except for Grandma, who is easily led. Many of the troubles they have as a family are due to Grandma’s fumbling, weak character. The house is a wreck, of course, but this is a house-proud family just the same and every trap door is in good repair. Money is no problem.—Charles Addams The family appears to be a single surviving branch of the Addams clan. Many other "Addams families" exist all over the world. According to the film version, the family credo is, Sic gorgiamus allos subjectatos nunc (pseudo-Latin: "We gladly feast on those who would subdue us"). Charles Addams was first inspired by his hometown of Westfield, New Jersey, an area full of ornate Victorian mansions and archaic graveyards. According to the television series, they live in a gloomy mansion adjacent to a cemetery and a swamp at 0001 Cemetery Lane. In the The Addams Family musical (first shown in Chicago in 2009), the house is located in Central Park. Although most of the humor derives from the fact that they share macabre interests, the Addamses are not typically evil. They are a close-knit extended family. Morticia is an exemplary mother, and she and Gomez remain passionate towards each other. Created by the television series writers, she calls him "bubbeleh", to which he responds by kissing her arms, behavior Morticia can also provoke by speaking a few words in French (the meaning is not important; any French will do). The parents are supportive of their children. The family is friendly and hospitable to visitors, in some cases willing to donate large sums of money to causes (television series and films), despite the visitors' horror at the Addamses' peculiar lifestyle. Charles Addams began as a cartoonist in The New Yorker with a sketch of a window washer that ran on February 6, 1932. His cartoons ran regularly in the magazine from 1938, when he drew the first instance of what came to be called The Addams Family, until his death in 1988. In 1946, Addams met science-fiction writer Ray Bradbury after having drawn an illustration for Bradbury's short story "Homecoming" in Mademoiselle magazine, the first in a series of tales chronicling a family of Illinois monsters, the Elliotts. Bradbury and Addams became friends and planned to collaborate on a book of the Elliott Family's complete history, with Bradbury writing and Addams providing the illustrations; but it never materialized. Bradbury's Elliott Family stories were anthologized in From the Dust Returned (2001), with a connecting narrative, an explanation of his work with Addams, and Addams's 1946 Mademoiselle illustration used for the book's cover jacket. Although Addams's own characters were well established by the time of their initial encounter, in a 2001 interview, Bradbury states that Addams "went his way and created the Addams Family and I went my own way and created my family in this book." Adaptations Television The Addams Family (1964–1966) In 1964, the ABC TV network created The Addams Family television series based on Addams's cartoon characters. The series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 half-hour episodes (September 18, 1964 – September 2, 1966). During the original television run of The Addams Family television series, The New Yorker editor William Shawn refused to publish any Addams Family cartoons, though he continued to publish other Charles Addams cartoons. Shawn regarded his magazine as targeting a more refined readership and did not want it associated with characters who could be seen on television by just anybody. After Shawn's 1987 retirement, the characters were welcomed back to The New Yorker. The New Scooby-Doo Movies (1972) The Addams Family's first animated appearance was on the third episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family" (a.k.a. "Wednesday is Missing"), which first aired on CBS Saturday morning, September 23, 1972. Four of the original cast (John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy) returned for the special, which involved the Addamses in a mystery with the Scooby-Doo gang. The Addams Family characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams cartoons. After the episode aired, fans wanted more animated adventures featuring the Addamses, and Hanna-Barbera obliged. The Addams Family Fun-House (1973) In late 1972, ABC produced a pilot for a live-action musical variety show titled The Addams Family Fun-House. The cast included Jack Riley and Liz Torres as Gomez and Morticia (the pair also co-wrote the special), Stubby Kaye as Uncle Fester, Pat McCormick as Lurch and Butch Patrick (who had played Eddie Munster in The Munsters) as Pugsley. Felix Silla reprised his role of Cousin Itt, connecting it to the original TV series. The pilot aired in 1973, but was not picked up for a series. The Addams Family (1973–1975) The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973 to 1975 on NBC. In a departure from the original series, this series took the Addamses on the road in a Victorian-style RV. This series also marked the point where the relations between characters were changed so that Fester was now Gomez's brother, and Grandmama was now Morticia's mother (though the old relations would be revisited in the 1977 television movie, to keep continuity with the original sitcom). Although Coogan and Cassidy reprised their roles, Astin and Jones did not, their parts being recast with Hanna-Barbera voice talents Lennie Weinrib as Gomez and Janet Waldo as Morticia, while a ten-year-old Jodie Foster provided the voice of Pugsley. Again, the characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams cartoons. One season was produced, and the second season consisted of reruns. A complementary comic book series was produced in connection with the show, but it lasted only three issues. The show's theme music was completely different and had no lyrics and no finger snaps, although it retained a bit of the four-note score from the live-action show. Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) A television reunion movie, Halloween with the New Addams Family, aired on NBC on Sunday, October 30, 1977. It features most of the original cast, except Blossom Rock, who had played Grandmama but was very ill at the time; she was replaced by Jane Rose. Veteran character actors Parley Baer and Vito Scotti, who both had recurring roles in the original series, also appeared in the movie. The movie has a slightly different version of the theme song; the finger snaps are used but not the lyrics. Gomez and Morticia have had two more children, Wednesday, Jr. and Pugsley, Jr., who strongly resemble their older siblings. Gomez's brother, Pancho, is staying with the family while Gomez attends a lodge meeting in Tombstone, Arizona. Gomez is jealous of his brother, who once courted Morticia. Halloween is nigh, and Pancho tells the children the legend of the Great Pumpkin-like character of Cousin Shy, who distributes gifts and carves pumpkins for good children on Halloween night. Wednesday (now called "Wednesday, Sr.") is home from music academy, where she is studying the piccolo (breaking glass with it). Pugsley (now "Pugsley, Sr.") is home from Nairobi medical school, where he is training to be a witch doctor. The family's home has been bugged by a gang of crooks who intend to steal the family fortune. Lafferty, the boss, sends a gang member named Mikey into the house to investigate. Mikey panics and flees after treading on the tail of Kitty Kat the lion. The crooks employ a fake Gomez and Morticia to help in their plans, along with two strong-arm goons, Hercules and Atlas. Gomez returns home for the Halloween party and trimming of the scarecrow. Lafferty poses as Quincy Addams (from Boston) to gain entrance to the house during the party. He has his men tie up Gomez and Morticia, and his doubles take their places, confusing Pancho, who is still in love with Morticia, and Ophelia, who is still in love with Gomez. Gomez and Morticia escape (thanks to the "Old Piccolo Game"), and rejoin the party, only to have Lafferty use various methods to try to get rid of them. Lurch scares off the thugs and terrifies Lafferty's other assistant. Fester, trying to be nice, puts Lafferty on the rack. Lafferty tries to escape through the secret passage and steps on Kitty Kat's tail. When the police arrive, the crooks gladly surrender. The Addamses are then free to celebrate Halloween happily, ending the night by singing together in welcome for Cousin Shy. The Addams Family: The Animated Series (1992–1993) The remake series ran on Saturday mornings from 1992–1993 on ABC after producers realized the success of the 1991 Addams Family movie. This series returned to the familiar format of the original series, with the Addams Family facing their sitcom situations at home. John Astin returned to the role of Gomez, and celebrities Rip Taylor and Carol Channing took over the roles of Fester and Grandmama, respectively. Veteran voice actors Jim Cummings, Debi Derryberry, Jeannie Elias and Pat Fraley did the voices of Lurch, Wednesday, Pugsley and Cousin Itt, respectively. New artistic models of the characters were used for this series, though still having a passing resemblance to the original cartoons. Two seasons were produced, with the third year containing reruns. Oddly in this series, Wednesday maintained her macabre, brooding attitude from the Addams Family movies, but her facial expressions and body language conveyed the happy-go-lucky, fun attitude of her portrayal in the original television show. The original Vic Mizzy theme song, although slightly different, was used for the opening. The New Addams Family (1998–1999) The New Addams Family was filmed in Vancouver, Canada, and ran for 65 episodes (one more than the original TV series) during the 1998–1999 season on the then-newly launched Fox Family Channel. Many storylines from the original series were reworked for this new series, incorporating more modern elements and jokes. John Astin returned to the franchise in some episodes of this series, albeit as "Grandpapa" Addams (Gomez's grandfather, a character introduced in Addams Family Reunion). Pubert's absence in the new series (and possibly Addams Family Reunion) was explained in an early episode when Wednesday mentioned that "There were three of us, but Pugsley ate the little one." The cast included Glenn Taranto as Gomez Addams, Ellie Harvie as Morticia, Michael Roberds as Fester, Brody Smith as Pugsley, Nicole Fugere (the only cast member from Addams Family Reunion to return) as Wednesday, John DeSantis as Lurch, Betty Phillips as Grandmama and Steven Fox as Thing. Feature films The Addams Family (1991) In the 1990s, Orion Pictures (which by then had inherited the rights to the series) developed a film version, The Addams Family (released on November 22, 1991). Due to the studio's financial troubles at the time, Orion sold the US rights to the film to Paramount Pictures. Addams Family Values (1993) Upon the last film's success, a sequel followed: Addams Family Values (released on November 19, 1993, with worldwide distribution by Paramount). Loosened content restrictions allowed the films to use far more grotesque humor that strove to keep the original spirit of the Addams cartoons (in fact, several gags were lifted straight from the single-panel cartoons). The two movies used the same cast, except for Grandmama, played by Judith Malina and Carol Kane in the first and second films, respectively. A script for a third film was prepared in 1994, but was abandoned after the sudden death of actor Raúl Juliá. Addams Family Reunion (1998) Another film, Addams Family Reunion, was released direct-to-video on September 22, 1998, this time by Warner Bros. through its video division. It has no relation to the Paramount movies, being in fact a full-length pilot for a second live-action television version, The New Addams Family, produced and shot in Canada. The third movie's Gomez, played by Tim Curry, follows the style of Raúl Juliá, while the new sitcom's Gomez, played by Glenn Taranto, is played in the style of John Astin, who had played the character in the 1960s. The only actors in this Warner Bros./Saban Entertainment production to have played in the previous Paramount films were Carel Struycken as Lurch and Christopher Hart as Thing. Canceled film In 2010, it was announced that Illumination Entertainment, in partnership with Universal Pictures, had acquired the underlying rights to the Addams Family drawings. The film was planned to be a stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams's original drawings. Tim Burton was set to co-write and co-produce the film, with a possibility to direct. In July 2013, it was reported that the film was cancelled. Reboot On October 31, 2013, it was announced in Variety that Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer will be reviving The Addams Family as an animated film with Pamela Pettler to write the screenplay and Andrew Mittman and Kevin Miserocchi to executive produce the film and were in final negotiations with BermanBraun’s Gail Berman and Lloyd Braun to produce. Parodies Two animated television spin-offs have been produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. * Mr. & Mrs. J. Evil Scientist, a family of fictional characters inspired by The Addams Family appeared on the Snagglepuss and Snooper and Blabber animated television series beginning in 1959 and starred in their own comic book. * During the first season of the 1960s The Addams Family television show, a Stone Age version of the Addams Family called the Gruesomes moved next door to Fred and Wilma in The Flintstones. * Comedian Melissa Hunter wrote the Webseries Adult Wednesday Addams, which is a comedy adaption of the franchise. Hunter was forced to remove the series due to copyright infringement. *In an episode of Horrible Histories a song titled "The Borgia Family" was created as a parody of the Addams Family Theme. Video games Five video games released from 1989 to 1994 were based on The Addams Family. * Fester's Quest (1989) was a top-down adventure game that featured Uncle Fester. * In 1992, two versions of The Addams Family were released by Ocean Software based on the 1991 movie: an 8-bit version for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Sega Master System, Sega Game Gear, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64, and a 16-bit version released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Amiga, Atari ST and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis. ICOM Simulations published The Addams Family video game for the TurboGrafx-CD in 1991. * The games' sequel, The Addams Family: Pugsley's Scavenger Hunt (1993), also by Ocean Software, was based on the ABC animated series and was released for NES, SNES, and Game Boy (although the latter two were just 8-bit remakes of the first SNES game, swapping Pugsley's and Gomez's roles). * Addams Family Values (1994) by Ocean was based on the movie's sequel and returned to the style of gameplay seen in Fester's Quest. * A Game Boy Color game was released in the 1990s for promotion of The New Addams Family. The game was titled The New Addams Family Series. In this game, the Addams mansion had been bought by a fictional company called "Funnyday" that wanted to tear down the house and surrounding grounds to make room for an amusement park. Pinball A pinball game by Midway (under the Bally label) was released in 1992 shortly after the movie. It is the best-selling pinball game of all time. Books The Addams Family This first novelization of the television series, written by Jack Sharkey, was released near the end of the show's second season. The book details the family's arrival in their new home and explains how it got its bizarre décor. The arrival and origins of Thing are explained. Each chapter reads as a self-contained story, like episodes of the television show. The novel concludes with the Addams family discovering that their lives will be the basis for a new television series. It was published in paperback by Pyramid Books in 1965. The Addams Family Strikes Back The Addams Family Strikes Back by W.F. Miksch tells how Gomez plans to rehabilitate the image of Benedict Arnold by running for the local school board. The tone and characterizations in this book resemble the TV characters much more closely than in the first novel. Cousin Itt appears as a minor character in this story, but as a tiny, three-legged creature rather than the hairy, derby-hatted character seen on television and in the movies. The novel was published in paperback form by Pyramid Books in 1965. The Addams Family: An Evilution The Addams Family: An Evilution is a book about the "evilution" of The Addams Family characters, with more than 200 published and previously unpublished cartoons, and includes text by Charles Addams and H. Kevin Miserocchi, Director of the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation. Advertising In 1994, the actors cast as the Addamses in the first two films (sans the recently deceased Raúl Juliá) were in several Japanese television spots for the Honda Odyssey. The Addamses are seen speaking Japanese — most prominently Gomez (for whom a voice actor was used to impersonate Juliá while footage from Addams Family Values was seen) and Morticia. In 2007 and 2008, the Addams Family appeared as M&M's in an advertising campaign for M&M's Dark Chocolate. Soundtrack A CD compilation of the music from The Addams Family TV Series was released in 1981 featuring the theme song from The Addams Family and each of the characters theme music as well as incidental music from the TV series. Musical The Addams Family (2010) In May 2007, it was announced that a musical inspired by The Addams Family drawings by Charles Addams was being developed for the Broadway stage. Broadway veterans Marshall Brickman and Rick Elice wrote the book, and Andrew Lippa wrote the score. Julian Crouch and Phelim McDermott (Improbable theatre founders) directed and designed the production, with choreography by Sergio Trujillo. A workshop and private industry presentation was held August 4–8, 2008. Featured in the cast were Bebe Neuwirth as Morticia, Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday, and Nathan Lane as Gomez. In addition, Kevin Chamberlin played Uncle Fester and Zachary James played Lurch. The musical opened in previews at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on Broadway on March 8, 2010, with an official opening on April 8, after an out-of-town tryout in Chicago at the Ford Center for the Performing Arts from November 13, 2009 to January 10, 2010. The cast includes Lane as Gomez, Neuwirth as Morticia, Terrence Mann as Mal Beineke, Carolee Carmello as Alice Beineke, Chamberlin as Uncle Fester, Jackie Hoffman as Grandma, Zachary James as Lurch, Krysta Rodriguez as Wednesday, and Wesley Taylor as Wednesday's love interest, Lucas Beineke. Cast and characters

A

qz_1882

Which actress married Dennis Quaid on Valentine's Day in 1991?

Dennis William Quaid (born April 9, 1954) is an American actor known for a wide variety of dramatic and comedic roles. First gaining widespread attention in the 1980s, his career rebounded in the 1990s after he overcame an addiction to drugs and an eating disorder. Some of his notable credits include Breaking Away, The Right Stuff, Wyatt Earp, The Rookie, The Day After Tomorrow, Traffic, Vantage Point, Footloose, Frequency, The Parent Trap, Yours, Mine & Ours and Soul Surfer. For his role in Far from Heaven (2002) he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. Early life Quaid was born in Houston, Texas, the son of Juanita B. "Nita" Quaid, a real estate agent, and William Rudy Quaid, an electrician. Quaid has English, Irish, Scots-Irish, and Cajun (French) ancestry. Career Quaid dropped out of the University of Houston before graduating and moved to Hollywood to pursue an acting career. He initially had trouble finding work but began to gain notice when he appeared in Breaking Away (1979) and earned good reviews for his role in The Right Stuff (1983). Known for his grin, Quaid has appeared in both comedic and dramatic roles. Quaid had starring roles in the films Enemy Mine (1985), Innerspace (1987) and The Big Easy (1987). He also achieved acclaim for his portrayal of Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls of Fire! (1989). In 1989, he also appeared throughout the Bonnie Raitt music video for the song "Thing Called Love." Quaid's career lost steam in the early 1990s, after he fought anorexia nervosa brought on when he lost 40 pounds to play the tuberculosis-afflicted Doc Holliday in Wyatt Earp and kicked a cocaine addiction as well. He continued to garner positive reviews in a variety of films, however. Quaid was also the guest star of a season 2 episode of Muppets Tonight (1997). He starred in the lead role in the 1996 adventure film Dragonheart, the remake of The Parent Trap (1998), playing the part of the twins' father, and as an aging pro football quarterback in Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday (1999). Some of Quaid's more recent film credits include Frequency (2000), The Rookie (2002), Far from Heaven (2002), Cold Creek Manor (2003), The Flight of the Phoenix (2004), The Alamo (2004), In Good Company (2004), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Yours, Mine and Ours (2005), Vantage Point (2008), G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), and Pandorum (2009). In 2009, Quaid guest starred in an episode of SpongeBob SquarePants, playing Mr. Krabs' grandfather, Captain Redbeard. He portrayed U.S. President Bill Clinton, alongside Michael Sheen as Tony Blair and Hope Davis as Hillary Clinton, in the 2010 film The Special Relationship. In 2012 and 2013, Quaid played Sheriff Ralph Lamb in the CBS TV drama series Vegas. Awards For his role in Far from Heaven (2002) he won the New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor, the Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Supporting Actor and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Male. He received nominations for Best Supporting Actor from the Golden Globe Awards, the Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards. Quaid was also honored with a Distinguished Alumni Award from his alma mater, the University of Houston, in April 2012. Personal life Relationships and children Quaid has been married three times and has three children. Quaid and his first wife, actress P. J. Soles, were married on November 25, 1978. The couple divorced in 1983. On February 14, 1991, Quaid married actress Meg Ryan. Quaid and Ryan fell in love during the shooting of their second film together, D.O.A. Quaid and Ryan have a son, Jack Henry (born April 24, 1992). They announced their separation on June 28, 2000, saying they had been separated six weeks by then. Their divorce was finalized July 16, 2001. Quaid dated model Shanna Moakler in 2001. They were together when she was approached by Playboy, and they discussed it before she posed nude in the magazine. The relationship lasted for eight months. Quaid married Texas real-estate agent Kimberly Buffington, on July 4, 2004, at his ranch in Paradise Valley, Montana. They have fraternal twins, Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace, born via gestational carrier on November 8, 2007, in Santa Monica, California. On November 18, 2007, hospital staff mistakenly gave Quaid's ten-day-old twins a dosage of heparin 1,000 times the common dosage for infants. Their attorney said the newborns will "be fine now," but Quaid filed a lawsuit against the drug manufacturer, Baxter Healthcare, claiming that packaging for the two doses of heparin are not different enough. In May 2008, the Quaids testified before the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, asking U.S. Congress not to preempt the right to sue drug manufacturers for negligence under state law. This incident led Quaid to become a patient-safety advocate, producing a series of documentaries on preventable medical errors that aired on the Discovery Channel as well as co-authoring a medical journal article addressing the positive influence of patient stories in motivating change in healthcare. The first documentary, Chasing Zero: Winning the War on Healthcare Harm, aired on the Discovery Channel in 2010, and the second documentary, Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami: Bring Your Best Board, aired on the Discovery Channel in 2012. Buffington filed for divorce from Quaid in March 2012. According to the divorce petition, the marriage had "become insupportable because of discord or conflict of personalities." Buffington's attorney then withdrew the divorce papers on April 26, 2012. In the summer of 2012, Quaid and Buffington moved to California. In October 2012, Quaid and Buffington again decided to separate, and Buffington filed for legal separation, seeking joint legal and sole physical custody of the twins. After waiting to establish the required six months of residency in California, Quaid filed for divorce on November 30, 2012, asking for joint legal and physical custody of the children and offering to pay spousal support to Buffington. They then reconciled and the divorce was dismissed by September 2013. On June 28, 2016, the couple announced in a joint statement that they were divorcing. Interests Quaid was raised in the Baptist faith. In addition to acting, Quaid is a musician and plays with his band, the Sharks. He wrote and performed the song "Closer To You" in the film The Big Easy (1987). Quaid also has a pilot's license and owned a Cessna Citation, he also is a one-handicap golfer. In 2005, he was named as the top golfer among the "Hollywood set" by Golf Digest. Quaid is an avid fan of the Houston Astros, and after their 2005 National League Championship winning season, he narrated their commemorating DVD release. He coined the phrase "Go 'Stros." After the filming of The Express: The Ernie Davis Story, Quaid went to Cleveland Browns Stadium to dedicate Davis's jersey. Substance use There have been extensive stories about Quaid's past abuse of cocaine. In a candid 2002 interview with Larry King on his talk show, after King asked about his motives for using drugs, Quaid responded, "Well, you got to put it in context. Back in the late '60s, early '70s. That was back during the time where, you know, drugs were going to expand our minds and everybody was experimenting and everything. We were really getting high, we didn't know it. And cocaine at that time was considered harmless. You know. I remember magazine articles in 'People' Magazine of doctors saying, it is not addicting. It is just—alcohol is worse. So I think we all fell into that. But that's not the way it was." When asked if he believed he had ever been addicted to the drugs, he responded, "It was a gradual thing. But it got to the point where I couldn't have any fun unless I had it. Which is a bad place to be." Later in the interview he said, "But I saw myself being dead in about five years if I didn't stop. Charities Quaid lends his name to the annual "Dennis Quaid Charity Weekend" (formerly the "Jiffy Lube/Dennis Quaid Charity Classic") in Austin. The golf tournament attracts numerous celebrities with the proceeds split among local children's charities. He is a member of the Bel-Air Country Club in Bel Air, Los Angeles, California, and tries to stay at homes on private courses when he is on the road. Quaid works with the International Hospital for Children in New Orleans. He makes trips to Central America to help build medical clinics and transport sick children back to the U.S. for treatment they cannot get locally. Filmography Television

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qb_361

Golfer Ernie Els was born in which country?

Theodore Ernest "Ernie" Els (; born 17 October 1969) is a South African professional golfer. A former World No. 1, he is known as "The Big Easy" due to his imposing physical stature (he stands ) along with his fluid golf swing. Among his 71 career victories are four major championships: the U.S. Open in 1994 at Oakmont and in 1997 at Congressional, and The Open Championship in 2002 at Muirfield and in 2012 at Royal Lytham & St Annes. He is one of six golfers to twice win both the U.S. Open and The Open Championship. Other highlights in Els' career include topping the 2003 and 2004 European Tour Order of Merit (money list), and winning the World Match Play Championship a record seven times. He was the leading career money winner on the European Tour until overtaken by Lee Westwood in 2011, and was the first member of the tour to earn over 25 million Euros from European Tour events. He has held the number one spot in the Official World Golf Ranking and until 2013 held the record for weeks ranked in the top ten with 788. Els rose to 15th in the world rankings after winning the 2012 Open Championship. He was elected to the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2010, on his first time on the ballot, and was inducted in May 2011. When not playing, Els has a golf course design business, a charitable foundation which supports golf among underprivileged youngsters in South Africa, and a highly regarded wine-making business. He has written a popular golf instructional column in Golf Digest magazine for several years. Background and family Growing up just east of Johannesburg in Kempton Park, South Africa, he played rugby union, cricket, tennis, and, starting at age 8, golf. He was a skilled junior tennis player and won the Eastern Transvaal Junior Championships at age 13. Els first learned the game of golf from his father Neels, a trucking executive, at the Kempton Park Country Club. He was soon playing better than his father (and his older brother, Dirk), and by the age of 14 he was a scratch handicap. It was around this time that he decided to focus exclusively on golf. Els first achieved prominence in 1984, when he won the Junior World Golf Championship in the Boys 13–14 category. Phil Mickelson was second to Els that year. Els won the South African Amateur Championship a few months after his 17th birthday, becoming the youngest-ever winner of that event, breaking the record which had been held by Gary Player. Els married his wife Liezl in 1998 in Cape Town and they have two children, Samantha and Ben. In 2008 after Els started to display an "Autism Speaks" logo on his golf bag it was announced that their then five-year-old son was autistic. Their main residence is at the Wentworth Estate near Wentworth Golf Club in the south of England. However, they also split time between South Africa and their family home in Jupiter, Florida, in order to get better treatment for Ben's autism. Professional career 1989–1996: Early years and first major win In 1989, Els won the South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship and turned professional the same year. Els won his first professional tournament in 1991 on the Southern Africa Tour (today the Sunshine Tour). He won the Sunshine Tour Order of Merit in the 1991/92 and 1994/95 seasons. In 1993, Els won his first tournament outside of South Africa at the Dunlop Phoenix in Japan. In 1994 Els won his first major championship at the U.S. Open. Els was tied with Colin Montgomerie and Loren Roberts after 72 holes and they went to an 18-hole playoff the next day. In spite of starting the playoff bogey-triple bogey, Els was able to match Roberts' score of 74. Els birdied the second hole of sudden death to win his first U.S. Open title. Els brought his game all around the world in his young career winning the Dubai Desert Classic on the European Tour, and the Toyota World Match Play Championship defeating once again Colin Montgomerie 4 & 2. The following year, Els defended his World Match Play Championship, defeating Steve Elkington 3 & 1. Els won the GTE Byron Nelson Classic in the United States then headed back home to South Africa and won twice more. In 1996, Els won his third straight World Match Play Championship at Wentworth, defeating Vijay Singh in the final 3 & 2. No player in history had ever managed to win three successive titles in the one-on-one tournament. Els finished the year with a win at his home tournament at the South African Open. 1997–2002: Career years and multi-major championships 1997 was a career year for Els first winning his second U.S. Open (once again over Colin Montgomerie) this time at Congressional Country Club, making him the first foreign player since Alex Smith (1906, 1910) to win the U.S. Open twice. He defended his Buick Classic title and added the Johnnie Walker Classic to his list of victories. Els nearly won the World Match Play Championship for a fourth consecutive year, but lost to Vijay Singh in the final. 1998 and 1999 continued to be successful years for Els with 4 wins on both the PGA and European tours. 2000 started in historic fashion for Els being given a special honour by the Board of Directors of the European Tour awarding him with honorary life membership of the European Tour because of his two U.S. Opens and three World Match Play titles. 2000 was the year of runners-up for Els; with three runner-up finishes in the Majors (Masters, U.S. Open and The Open Championship) and seven second-place finishes in tournaments worldwide. Els had a disappointing 2001 season, failing to win a US PGA tour event for the first time since 1994 although he ended the year with nine second-place finishes. 2002 was arguably Els's best year, which started with a win at the Heineken Classic at the Royal Melbourne Golf Club. Then went to America and outplayed World Number one Tiger Woods to lift the Genuity Championship title. The premier moment of the season was surely his Open Championship triumph in very tough conditions at Muirfield. Els overcame a four-man playoff to take home the famous Claret Jug trophy for the first time, also quieting his critics about his mental toughness. The South African also won his fourth World Match Play title, along with his third Nedbank Challenge in the last four years, dominating a world-class field and winning by 8 shots. 2003–2005: The Big Five 2003 gave Els his first European Tour Order of Merit. Although playing fewer events than his competitors Els won four times and had three runners-up. He also performed well in the United States with back to back victories at the Mercedes Championship – where he set the all-time PGA Tour 72-hole record for most strokes under par at 31 under – and Sony Open and achieved top-20 spots in all four majors, including a fifth-place finish at the U.S Open and sixth-place finishes at both the Masters and PGA Championship. To top off the season Els won the World Match Play title for a record-tying fifth time. In 2003 he was voted 37th on the SABC3's Great South Africans. 2004 was another successful year as Els won 6 times on both tours, including big wins at Memorial, WGC-American Express Championship and his sixth World Match Play Championship, a new record. His success did not stop there. Els showed remarkable consistency in the Majors but lost to Phil Mickelson in the Masters when Mickelson birdied the 18th for the title, finished ninth in the U.S. Open after playing in the final group with friend and fellow countryman Retief Goosen and surprisingly lost in a playoff in the Open to the then unknown Todd Hamilton. Els had a 14 ft putt for birdie on the final hole of regulation for the Open at Royal Troon, but he missed the putt and lost in the playoff. Els ended the major season with a fourth-place finish in the PGA Championship, where a three-putt on the 72nd hole would cost him a place in the playoff. In total, Els had 16 top-10 finishes, a second European Order of Merit title in succession and a second-place finish on the United States money list. 2004 was the start of the "Big Five Era", which is used in describing the era in golf where Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen and Phil Mickelson dominated the game of golf. The five switched up and down the top five positions in the World Golf Ranking; most notably Vijay Singh's derailment of Tiger Woods as the best golfer in the world. The five stayed, for the most part, in the top five spots from 2004 until the start of 2007. Nine majors were won between them, many fighting against each other head to head. In July 2005, Els injured his left knee while sailing with his family in the Mediterranean. Despite missing several months of the 2005 season due to the injury, Els won the second event on his return, the Dunhill Championship. 2006–2011: Gradual recovery and comeback At the start of the 2007 season Ernie Els laid out a three-year battle plan to challenge Tiger Woods as world number one. "I see 2007 as the start of a three-year plan where I totally re-dedicate myself to the game," Els told his official website. When he missed the cut by two strokes at the 2007 Masters Tournament, Els ended tour-leading consecutive cut streaks on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. On the PGA Tour, his streak began at the 2004 The Players Championship (46 events) and on the European Tour it began at the 2000 Johnnie Walker Classic (82 events) Els has often been compared to Greg Norman in the sense that both men’s careers could be looked back on and think what could have been. Although the two of them are multiple major championship winners they have both shared disappointment in majors. Their disappointments have ranged from nerves, bad luck and simply being outplayed. 1996 was the year where Norman collapsed in the Masters and Els in the PGA Championship. Els has finished runner-up in six majors. He has finished runner-up to Tiger Woods more than any other golfer and has often been described as having the right game to finally be the golfer to beat Woods in a major. On 2 March 2008, Els won the Honda Classic contested at PGA National's Championship Course in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Els shot a final round 67 in tough windy conditions, which was enough to give him the win by one stroke over Luke Donald. The win marked the end of a three and a half-year-long stretch without a win on the PGA Tour for Els. The win was also his 16th victory on the PGA Tour. On 8 April 2008, Els officially announced that he was switching swing coaches from David Leadbetter (whom Els had worked with since 1990) to noted swing coach Butch Harmon. During Els 2008 Masters press conference Els said the change is in an effort to tighten his swing, shorten his swing, and get a fresh perspective. On 8 November 2009, Els almost ended his year-long slump by shooting a course-tying record 9-under 63 in the final round of the WGC-HSBC Champions to finish at 16-under par 272, a stroke back of Phil Mickelson who finished with a 17-under 271 total, including a final round of 3-under 69. Els finally did break his winless streak by capturing the WGC-CA Championship at Doral in 2010, winning by four strokes over fellow countryman Charl Schwartzel. It was Els's second WGC tournament title. The victory also saw Els overtake Colin Montgomerie to become the career money leader on the European Tour. Els then won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill two weeks later. It was his 18th PGA Tour victory, and his second in as many starts. The win at Bay Hill also vaulted Els to the top of the FedEx Cup standings. He held the top spot for 22 consecutive weeks. In June, Els almost captured his third U.S. Open title at Pebble Beach. Els briefly held a share of the lead after birding the sixth hole, but was derailed by a stretch of bogey, double bogey, bogey on 9,10, and 11. Els finished the tournament in solo 3rd. Els capped his year by winning the PGA Grand Slam of Golf in October, with a one stroke victory over David Toms, and also capturing the South African Open title by beating Retief Goosen by one shot. After his successful 2010 season, Els struggled to find his form in 2011. He ultimately dropped out of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking for the first time since 1993. 2012–present: fourth major championship and career volatility Els started the 2012 season in his home country at the Volvo Golf Champions where he finished in a tie for second place after he and Retief Goosen lost out in a playoff to Branden Grace. Els was next in contention at the Transitions Championship, where he needed a win to qualify for the 2012 Masters. Els led the tournament for most of the final round and had the lead outright until the 16th hole. However, he finished the tournament bogey-bogey missing a short three footer on the last hole to make a playoff. The tournament was eventually won by Luke Donald. In April, Els failed to qualify for the Masters for the first time since 1993. He was ranked 58th in the world prior to the tournament (the top 50 are given automatic invitations). Ultimately, Els' unsuccessful bids to qualify for the Masters was viewed as the likely end of his competitiveness on the PGA Tour. Els surprised the golfing world by winning the 2012 Open Championship in July by birding the 72nd hole. Adam Scott led by four shots after a birdie at the 14th hole, but bogeyed the final four holes to miss a playoff with Els by one stroke. Els' win rejuvenated his career and earned him 5 year exemptions to the other 3 majors. Els became the eighth player to win major tournaments in three different decades, joining his countryman Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino, Billy Casper, Raymond Floyd, John Henry Taylor and Harry Vardon. Els' win also marked the third major champion out of the previous four major championships to be won with a type of long putter. His win reignited the controversy over the legality of long or anchored putters in golf. In June 2013, Els won for the first time since the 2012 Open Championship at the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany. He claimed a wire-to-wire victory with a one-stroke win over Thomas Bjørn for his 28th European Tour title. Els moved up to 14th from 20th in the world rankings after the win. Els struggled to find his form throughout the 2014 season. He finished 4th at the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in February, 5th at The Barclays and 7th at the PGA Championship, but struggled with missed cuts, including a missed cut at the Masters in April. Els' struggles continued into 2015 when he made only 10 cuts on the PGA Tour. He finished a 173rd in the FedEx Cup and failed to qualify for the playoffs. In preparation for the anchored putter ban in 2016, Els switched back to the short putter in late 2015. Els' struggles with short putts, or the "yips," became the draw of much media attention in early 2016. At the 2016 Masters Tournament, Els' putting was again the source of negative publicity when he six-putted from 3 feet on his opening hole. Els recorded a 9 on the hole and ended up shooting 80–73 and missing the cut. After the Masters, Els thanked his fans on his website for their support and was admittedly embarrassed by his putting performance. Other ventures Els-designed golf courses *Anahita Golf Course – Beau Champ, Mauritius *Mission Hills Golf Club (The Savannah Course) – Shenzhen, China *Whiskey Creek – Ijamsville, Maryland, USA *Oubaai – Garden Route, South Africa *The Els Club – Dubai, UAE Els is also responsible for the refinement and modernisation of the West Course, Wentworth-Virginia Water, England, which took place in 2006. Courses under construction include: *Datai Bay Golf Club - Langkawi, Malaysia *Hoakalei Country Club at Hoakalei Resort – Ewa Beach, Hawaii *Gardener Ross Golf and Country Estate – Gauteng, South Africa *Albany – New Providence, The Bahamas *Durrat Al Bahrain Golf Course – Durrat Al Bahrain, Bahrain Internationalisation of golf Unlike most of his contemporaries, Els is known for his willingness to participate in tournaments all around the world, having played regularly in European Tour-sanctioned events in Asia, Australasia, and his native country of South Africa. He says that his globe-trotting schedule is in recognition of the global nature of golf. This has caused some friction with the PGA Tour, an organisation that would prefer Els to play more tournaments in the United States. In late 2004, Tim Finchem, the director of the PGA Tour, wrote quite a firm letter to Els asking him to do so, but Els publicised and rejected this request. The PGA Tour's attitude caused considerable offence in the golfing world outside of North America. Foundation The Ernie Els and Fancourt Foundation was established in 1999. It has the objective of identifying youths from under-privileged backgrounds who show talent and potential in the game of golf. It provides educational assistance amongst other moral and financial help in order for these youths to reach their full potential. The first Friendship Cup was played in 2006 which is a match play competition, played in a Ryder Cup type format. In the cup, Els's foundation plays against the foundation of Tiger Woods. Els's foundation won 12.5 points to 3.5 points. Els has also participated several times in the Gary Player Invitational series of charity golf events, to assist Player raise significant funds for underprivileged children around the world. Autism-related activities Since his son's autism diagnosis, Els and his wife have been active in charities devoted to that condition. This involvement has increased as Ben has reached school age. In 2009, Els launched an annual charity golf event, the Els for Autism Pro-Am, held at the PGA National Resort & Spa in Palm Beach Gardens near his South Florida residence during the PGA Tour's March swing into the area. The first event, which featured many PGA Tour and Champions Tour golfers, raised $725,000 for The Renaissance Learning Center, a nonprofit charter school in the area for autistic children. The couple has also established the Els Center of Excellence, which began as a drive to build a new campus for the aforementioned school but has since mushroomed into a $30 million plan to combine the school with a research facility. Quotes On his technique: —Els on his son's autism: Amateur wins (4) *1984 World Junior Golf Championships (Boys 13–14 division) *1986 South African Boys Championship, South African Amateur Championship *1989 South African Amateur Stroke Play Championship Professional wins (71) PGA Tour wins (19) PGA Tour playoff record (4–4) European Tour wins (28) 1 Co-sanctioned by the Sunshine Tour 2 Co-sanctioned by the Asian Tour 3 Els's victories in the majors and WGC events count as wins on both the PGA Tour and the European Tour. European Tour playoff record (2–5) Sunshine Tour wins (16) 1 Co-sanctioned by the European Tour Japan Golf Tour wins (1) Other wins (19) *1990 (1) Spoornet SA Classic *1994 (3) Toyota World Match Play Championship (unofficial money European Tour event), Sarazen World Open, Johnnie Walker World Golf Championship *1995 (1) Toyota World Match Play Championship (unofficial money European Tour event) *1996 (4) Toyota World Match Play Championship (unofficial money European Tour event), World Cup of Golf (individual and team titles), Johnnie Walker Super Tour Event *1997 (1) PGA Grand Slam of Golf (unofficial money PGA Tour event) *1999 (1) Nedbank Million Dollar Challenge (unofficial money Sunshine Tour event) *2000 (1) Nedbank Golf Challenge (unofficial money Sunshine Tour event) *2001 (1) World Cup of Golf *2002 (2) Nedbank Golf Challenge (unofficial money Sunshine Tour event), Cisco World Match Play Championship (unofficial money European Tour event) *2003 (1) HSBC World Match Play Championship (unofficial money European Tour event) *2004 (1) Nelson Mandela Invitational (unofficial money Sunshine Tour event; with Vincent Tshabalala) *2008 (1) Hassan II Golf Trophy *2010 (1) PGA Grand Slam of Golf (unofficial money PGA Tour event) Major championships Wins (4) 1 Defeated Montgomerie in 18-hole playoff and Roberts in sudden-death: Els (74-4-4), Roberts (74-4-5), Montgomerie (78) 2 Defeated Appleby and Elkington in 4-hole playoff and Levet in sudden-death: Els (4-3-5-4-par), Appleby (4-3-5-5), Elkington (5-3-4-5), Levet (4-2-5-5-bogey) Results timeline DNP = did not play CUT = missed the half-way cut "T" = tied Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10. Summary *Most consecutive cuts made – 27 (2000 Masters – 2006 PGA) *Longest streak of top-10s – 5 (2003 PGA – 2004 PGA) World Golf Championships Wins (2) Results timeline 1Cancelled due to 9/11 DNP = Did not play QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play "T" = tied WD = withdrew NT = No tournament Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-10. Note that the HSBC Champions did not become a WGC event until 2009. PGA and European Tour career summary * As of 22 November 2015. These figures are from the respective tour's official sites. Note that there is double counting of money earned (and wins) in the majors and World Golf Championships since they became official events on both tours. Team appearances Professional *Alfred Dunhill Cup (representing South Africa): 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997 (winners), 1998 (winners), 1999, 2000 *World Cup (representing South Africa): 1992, 1993, 1996 (Individual and team winners), 1997, 2001 (winners) *Presidents Cup (International team): 1996, 1998 (winners), 2000, 2003 (tie), 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013

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Which creature features on the label of a Bacardi rum bottle?

Bacardi Limited (English:;;) is the largest privately held, family-owned spirits company in the world. Originally known for its eponymous Bacardi white rum, it now has a portfolio of more than 200 brands and labels. Founded in 1862, and family-owned for seven generations, Bacardi employs 6,000 people, manufactures at 27 facilities in 16 markets on four continents, with sales in more than 150 countries. Bacardi Limited refers to the Bacardi group of companies, including Bacardi International Limited. The company sells in excess of 200 million bottles per year. The company's sales in 2007 were US$5.5 billion, up from $4.9 billion in 2006. Bacardi Limited is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda, and has a 16-member board of directors led by the original founder's great-great grandson, Facundo L. Bacardí. Along with other leading alcohol producers, Bacardi is part of a producers' commitments to reducing harmful drinking.[5] History Early history Facundo Bacardí Massó, a Spanish wine merchant, was born in Sitges, Catalonia, Spain, in 1814, and emigrated to Cuba in 1830. During this period, rum was cheaply made and not considered a refined drink, and rarely sold in upmarket taverns. Facundo began attempting to "tame" rum by isolating a proprietary strain of yeast still used in Bacardi production. This yeast gives Bacardi rum its flavour profile. After experimenting with several techniques he hit upon filtering the rum through charcoal, which removed impurities. In addition to this, Facundo aged the rum in white oak barrels, which had the effect of mellowing the drink. The final product was the first clear, or "white" rum in the world. Moving from the experimental stage to a more commercial endeavour, he and his brother José set up a Santiago de Cuba distillery they bought in 1862, which housed a still made of copper and cast iron. In the rafters of this building lived fruit bats – the inspiration for the Bacardi bat logo. The 1880s and 90s were turbulent times for Cuba and the company. Emilio Bacardi, Don Facundo's eldest son, was repeatedly imprisoned and was exiled from Cuba for having fought in the rebel army against Spain in the Cuban War of Independence. Emilio's brothers, Facundo and José, and his brother-in-law Henri (Don Enrique) Schueg, remained in Cuba with the difficult task of sustaining the company during a period of war. The women in the family were exiled in Kingston, Jamaica. After the Cuban War of Independence and the US occupation of Cuba, "The Original Cuba Libre" and the Daiquiri were both created, using Bacardi rum. In 1899 US General Leonard Wood appointed Emilio Bacardi Mayor of Santiago de Cuba. In 1912, Emilio Bacardi travelled to Egypt, where he purchased a mummy (still on display) for the future Emilio Bacardi Moreau Municipal Museum in Santiago de Cuba. In Santiago, his brother Facundo M. Bacardí continued to manage the company along with Schueg, who began the company's international expansion by opening bottling plants in Barcelona (1910) and New York City (1915). The New York plant was soon shut down due to Prohibition, yet during this time Cuba became a hotspot for US tourists. In 1922 Emilio opened a new distillery in Santiago. In 1930 Schueg opened the Art Deco Bacardi building in Havana and the third generation of the Bacardí family entered the business. Facundito Bacardí was known to have invited Americans (still subject to Prohibition) to "Come to Cuba and bathe in Bacardi rum." A new product was introduced: Hatuey beer. Bacardi's transition into an international brand was due mostly to Schueg's "business genius"; Schueg "branded Cuba as the home of rum, and Bacardi as the king of rums" and expanded overseas, first to Mexico (1931), then to Puerto Rico (1936), under the brand name Ron Bacardi. (Ron is the Spanish word for rum). Post-Prohibition production in Puerto Rico enabled rum to be sold tariff-free in the US. He then expanded to the United States (1944). During World War II, the company was led by Schueg's son-in-law, José "Pepin" Bosch. Pepin founded Bacardi Imports in New York City, and became Cuba's Minister of the Treasury in 1949. Cuban Revolution Portuondo and other Bacardí family members initially supported the Cuban revolutionaries, including Fidel Castro and the broader M-26-7 movement: Bosch personally donated tens of thousands of dollars to the movement, and acted as an intermediary between the revolutionaries and the CIA to assuage the latter's concerns. Family members, employees, and facilities were put to use by the movement and the company supported the revolution publicly with advertisements and parties. But their support turned to opposition as the pro-Soviet Che Guevara wing of the movement began to dominate and as Castro turned against their interests. The Bacardí family (and hence the company) maintained a fierce opposition to Fidel Castro's revolution in Cuba in the 1960s. In his book Bacardi, The Hidden War, Hernando Calvo Ospina outlines the political element to the family's money. Ospina describes how the Bacardi family and the company left Cuba after the Castro regime confiscated the company’s Cuban assets on 15 October 1960, particularly nationalizing and banning all private property on the island as well as all bank accounts. However, due to concerns over the previous Cuban leader, Fulgencio Batista, the company had started foreign branches a few years before the revolution; the company moved the ownership of its trademarks, assets and proprietary formulas out of the country to the Bahamas prior to the revolution and also built plants in Puerto Rico and Mexico after Prohibition to save import taxes on rum being imported to the U.S. This helped the company survive after the communist government confiscated all Bacardí assets in the country without any compensation. Ospina also explains the close ties Bacardí family members had to the U.S. political elite as well as to organizations of state such as the CIA. The family funded various Cuban exile organizations, such as CANF. More recently, Bacardi lawyers were influential in the drafting of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which sought to extend the scope of the United States embargo against Cuba. In 1999, Otto Reich, a lobbyist in Washington on behalf of Bacardi, drafted section 211 of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Appropriations Act, FY1999 (), a bill that became known as the Bacardi Act. Section 211 denied trademark protection to products of Cuban businesses expropriated after the Cuban revolution, a provision keenly sought by Bacardi. The act was aimed primarily at the Havana Club brand in the U.S. The brand was created by the José Arechabala Company and confiscated without compensation in the Cuban revolution. The Havana Club trademark had been registered by the Cuban government in the United States without permission of the rightful owners. The new law invalidated the trademark registration. Section 211 has been challenged unsuccessfully by the Cuban government and the European Union in U.S. courts. However, the act has been ruled illegal by the WTO (August 2001). The U.S. Congress has yet to re-examine the matter. Bacardi and Cuba today Bacardi drinks are not found in Cuba today. The main brand of rum in Cuba is Havana Club, produced by a company that was confiscated and nationalized by the government during the revolution. Bacardi later bought the brand from the original owners, the Arechabala family. The Cuban government, in partnership with the French company Pernod Ricard, sells its Havana Club products internationally, except in the United States and its territories. Bacardi created its own line of Havana Club rum based on the original recipe from the Arechabala family, manufactures it in Puerto Rico, and sells it in Florida. Bacardi continues to fight in the courts, attempting to legalize their own Havana Club trademark outside the United States. Drinks now made in the former Cuban Bacardi distillery are sold in Cuba under the name Caney. Despite having no production facilities in Cuba today, Bacardi in the UK has recently decided to re-emphasize its Cuban heritage, primarily for commercial reasons. Facing increased competition in the rum market from the now international brand Havana Club, the company concluded that it was important for sales to associate its rum with Cuba. TV advertisements with slogans of "Welcome to the Latin Quarter" are but one example of this. In 1998, under the distinctive bat logo, the phrase "company founded in Santiago de Cuba in 1862" was added. Bacardi has faced criticism and legal problems for supposedly attempting to encourage consumers to believe that they were purchasing rum made in Cuba, rather than just marking its heritage. Bacardi adverts in Spain, since 1966, had described a popular combination of rum and Coke as "rum and coke". However, after 1998, it began to describe the drink as Cuba Libre – literally translated as "Free Cuba", which is the original name of the drink and what it is mostly called in Latin America. In this instance, Bacardi faced a legal ruling from the Spanish Association of Advertising Users which forced the company to stop the advert. They concluded that it could "mislead the viewer as to the true nature of the product", as the advert contained so much Caribbean imagery, one might conclude it came from Cuba. The Bacardi Building in Havana is regarded as one of the finest Art Deco buildings in Latin America. 2012 OSHA investigation In August 2012, a temporary worker at the company's Jacksonville, Florida, bottling subsidiary, Bacardi Bottling, was fatally injured while servicing a palletizer machine. After conducting an investigation, the U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) determined that Bacardi was in violation of several safety regulations, including two willful violations. Bacardi Bottling was fined $192,000 by OSHA. Brands Bacardi Limited has made numerous acquisitions to diversify away from the eponymous Bacardi rum brand. In 1993, Bacardi merged with Martini & Rossi, the Italian producer of Martini vermouth and sparkling wines, creating the Bacardi-Martini group. In 1998, the company acquired Dewar's scotch, including Royal Brackla and Bombay Sapphire gin from Diageo for $2 billion. Bacardi acquired the Cazadores tequila brand in 2002 and in 2004 purchased Grey Goose, a French-made vodka, from Sidney Frank for $2 billion. In 2006 Bacardi Limited purchased New Zealand vodka brand 42 Below. Other associated brands include the US version of Havana Club, Drambuie Scotch whisky liqueur, DiSaronno Amaretto, Eristoff vodka, B&B and Bénédictine liqueurs. Awards In its 150-year history, Bacardi rum has won more than 550 awards for quality and product profile, making it the world’s most awarded rum. Emblems of gold medals and the Spanish Coat of Arms awarded during the formative years of the business appear on the bottle. Bacardi rums have been entered for a number of international spirit ratings awards. Several Bacardi spirits have performed notably well. Bacardi 8, for example, received two gold medals and a silver medal from the San Francisco World Spirits Competition between 2008 and 2010. In addition, it received the International High Quality Trophy at Monde Selection's World Quality Selections in 2010, and a Grand Gold Medal in 2011. Bacardi Gold, Bacardi 8, and Bacardi Reserva Limitada were also awarded International High Quality Trophy awards at the 2010 Monde Selection’s World Quality Selections. However, it should be noted that these awards are non-competitive, and only products that pay to enter are assessed. Proof66, a website that aggregates professional ratings from the Beverage Testing Institute and other professional rating organizations, places Bacardi Reserva Limitada, Bacardi 1873 Solera, and Bacardi 8 in the First Tier or Top 10th percentile of all rated spirits. Hemingway connection Ernest Hemingway lived in Cuba from 1939 until shortly after the Cuban Revolution. He lived at Finca Vigía, in the small town of San Francisco de Paula, located very close to Bacardi’s Modelo Brewery for Hatuey Beer in Cotorro, Havana. In 1954, Compañía Ron Bacardi S.A. threw Hemingway a party when he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature – soon after the publication of his novel The Old Man and the Sea (1952) – in which he honored the company by mentioning its Hatuey beer. Hemingway also mentioned Bacardi and Hatuey in his novels To Have and Have Not (1937) and For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940). Guillermo Cabrera Infante wrote an account of the festivities for the periodical Ciclón, titled "El Viejo y la marca" ("The Old Man and the Brand"). In his account he described how "on one side there was a wooden stage with two streamers – Hatuey beer and Bacardi rum – on each end and a Cuban flag in the middle. Next to the stage was a bar, at which people crowded, ordering daiquiris and beer, all free.” A sign at the event read "Bacardi rum welcomes the author of The Old Man and the Sea". In his article "The Old Man and the Daiquiri", Wayne Curtis writes about how Hemingway’s "home bar also held a bottle of Bacardi rum". Hemingway wrote in Islands in the Stream, "...this frozen daiquirí, so well beaten as it is, looks like the sea where the wave falls away from the bow of a ship when she is doing thirty knots." United States headquarters In 1964 Bacardi opened its new US headquarters in Miami, Florida. Exiled Cuban architect Enrique Gutierrez created a building that was hurricane-proof, using a system of steel cables and pulleys which allow the building to move slightly in the event of a strong shock. The steel cables are anchored into the bedrock and extend through marble-covered shafts up to the top floor, where they are led over large pulleys. Outside, on both sides of the eight-story building, more than 28,000 tiles painted and fired by Brazilian artist Francisco Brennard, depicting abstract blue flowers, were placed on the walls according to the artist's exact specifications. In 1972, the Company commissioned the square building in the plaza. Architect Ignacio Carrera-Justiz used cantilevered construction, a style invented by Frank Lloyd Wright. Wright observed how well trees with taproots withstood hurricane-force winds. The building, raised 47 feet off the ground around a central core, features four massive walls, made of sections of inch-thick hammered glass mural tapestries, designed and manufactured in France. The design came from a painting by German artist Johannes M. Dietz. In 2006, Bacardi USA leased a 15-story headquarters complex in Coral Gables, Florida. Bacardi had employees in seven buildings across Miami-Dade County at the time. Bacardi vacated its former headquarters buildings on Biscayne Boulevard in Midtown Miami. The building currently serves as the headquarters of the National YoungArts Foundation. Miami citizens began a campaign to label the buildings as "historic". University of Miami professor of architecture Allan Schulman said "Miami's brand is its identity as a tropical city. The Bacardi buildings are exactly the sort that resonate with our consciousness of what Miami is about". In 2007 Chad Oppenheim, the head of Oppenheim Architecture + Design, described the Bacardi buildings as "elegant, with a Modernist [look combined with] a local flavour." The current American headquarters is at 2701 LeJeune Road in Coral Gables. The 300 employees occupy 230000 sqft of leased office space. Mexico City buildings Bacardi had architects Ludwig Mies Van Der Rohe and Felix Candela design office buildings and a bottling plant for them in Mexico City during the 1950s. The building complex was added to the tentative list of UNESCO's World Heritage Site list on 20 November 2001.

D

qb_1944

Mount Chimborazo is in which South American country?

Chimborazo is a currently inactive stratovolcano in the Cordillera Occidental range of the Andes. Its last known eruption is believed to have occurred around A.D. 550. With a peak elevation of , Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador. It is the highest peak near the equator. Chimborazo is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's center. Geography Location Chimborazo is in the Cordillera Occidental of the Andes of central Ecuador, 150 km (93 mi) south-southwest of the capital Quito. It is a neighbor to 5,018 m high Carihuairazo. Chimborazo's summit rises 2,500 m above the surrounding highlands (~3,500 to 4,000 m) with a ~20 km wide base. Under clear conditions, the summit of Chimborazo can be seen from the coastal city Guayaquil, nearly 140 km away. The nearest cities are Riobamba (~30 km to the southeast), Ambato (~30 km to the northeast) and Guaranda (~25 km to the southwest). Chimborazo is surrounded by the Reserva de Produccion Faunistica Chimborazo, which forms a protected ecosystem to preserve the habitat for the Andes native camelids of vicuña, llama and alpaca. Chimborazo is at the main end of the Ecuadorian Volcanic Arc, north west of the town of Riobamba. Chimborazo is in la Avenida de los Volcanes (the Avenue of Volcanoes) west of the Sanancajas mountain chain. Carihuairazo, Tungurahua, Tulabug, and El Altar are all mountains that neighbor Chimborazo. The closest mountain peak, Carihuairazo, is from Chimborazo. There are many microclimates near Chimborazo, varying from desert in the Arenal to the humid mountains in the Abraspungo valley. Glacier The top of Chimborazo is completely covered by glaciers, with some north-eastern glacier arms flowing down to 4,600 m. Its glacier is the source of water for the population of the Bolivar and Chimborazo provinces of Ecuador. Chimborazo glacier's ice mass has decreased over the past decades, which is thought by some to be due to the combined influences of global warming, ash covers from recent volcanic activity of Tungurahua, and the El Niño phenomenon. As on other glaciated Ecuadorian mountains, Chimborazo's glacial ice is mined by locals (the so-called Hieleros from Spanish Hielo for Ice) to be sold in the markets of Guaranda and Riobamba. In earlier days, the people transported ice for cooling uses down to coastal towns such as Babahoyo or Vinces. Elevation With an elevation of , Chimborazo is the highest mountain in Ecuador and the Andes north of Peru; it is higher than any more northerly summit in the Americas. Farthest point from Earth's center The summit of Mount Everest reaches a higher elevation above sea level, but the summit of Chimborazo is widely reported to be the farthest point on the surface from Earth's center, with Huascarán a very close second. The summit of the Chimborazo is the fixed point on Earth that has the utmost distance from the center – because of the oblate spheroid shape of the planet Earth, which is "thicker" around the Equator than measured around the poles.It has been difficult to resolve this issue definitively because of error margins in summit elevations and geoid data. Application of the formula at Earth radius#Radius at a given geodetic latitude shows that the Earth's radius is 520 m greater at Chimborazo than at Huascaran, with most recent data showing another 5 m due to local variations in gravity, for a total of 525 m. Two heights are given for Huascarán - from the Peruvian National Geographic Institute (IGN) map, and from the Austrian Alpine Club (OeAV) survey map. Chimbaro is now . Thus Chimborazo's summit is roughly either 20 m or 40 m further from the Earth's center than that of Huascaran. Chimborazo is one degree south of the Equator and the Earth's diameter at the Equator is greater than at the latitude of Everest ( above sea level), nearly 27.6° north, with sea level also elevated. Despite being lower in elevation above sea level, it is from the Earth's center, farther than the summit of Everest ( from the Earth's center).In this ranking, several other Andean peaks as well as Africa's highest mountain, Kilimanjaro, exceed Everest. However, by the criterion of elevation above sea level, Chimborazo is not even the highest peak of the Andes. Geology Chimborazo is an ice-capped inactive volcano in Ecuador. Chimborazo is a double volcano composed of one volcanic edifice on top of another. Chimborazo shows four summits; Veintimilla, Whymper, Politecnica, and Nicolas Martínez. The Veintimilla peak is about 6230 m high. The Whymper peak is the highest point on the mountain at 6,263 meters. The Politecnica peak is 5820 m high. The last peak, Nicolas Martínez, is 5570 m high. This peak was named after the father of Ecuadorian mountaineering. The volcano is categorized as a stratovolcano. This type of volcano is characterized as having low slopes at the bottom that gradually get steeper the higher up the mountain. Chimborazo has a circumference of 78 mi and a diameter of 30 mi. Chimborazo's upper elevations are covered in glaciers that are decreasing in size due to climate change and falling ash from the nearby volcano, Tungurahua. In addition to the glaciers, the volcano is covered with craters. The volcano is dominantly andesitic to dactic. This means that the lava is blocky, or flowing down the sides of the volcano, or somewhere in between. The highest point on Chimborazo is the farthest point from the center of the earth, thus it is also the point on the earth's surface which is at some time closer to the sun than any other point on the earths surface at any time during one year. Chimborazo is the farthest point from the center of the earth because the earth bulges out at the equator and Chimborazo is located just one degree south of the equator. Mount Everest is 28° north of the equator. This is why Chimborazo is 2.1 kilometres farther from the earth's center than Everest. Chimborazo is 73.5 metres higher than the highest mountain in North America. Chimborazo is often associated with the nearby volcano Cotopaxi, although the two volcanoes have completely different structures. Volcanism Chimborazo is a dominantly andesitic-dacitic stratovolcano. About 35,000 years ago a collapse of Chimborazo produced a debris avalanche with an average thickness of forty meters. which underlies the city of Riobamba. It temporarily dammed the Rio Chambe, causing an ephemeral lake. Chimborazo then erupted several times during the Holocene, the last time around 550 AD ± 150 years. The eruptions after the collapse were primarily andesitic, or blocky, coagulated lava flow. These eruptions produced pyroclastic surges that went down as far as 3800 meters altitude. There has been at least 7 eruptions in the past 10000 years. Chimborazo is officially considered inactive, but studies show that there might be an eruption in the future. The average time between eruptions for Chimborazo is 1000 years, and the last eruption was 1400 years ago. History Until the beginning of the 19th century, it was thought that Chimborazo was the highest mountain on Earth (measured from sea level), and such reputation led to many attempts on its summit during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1746, the volcano was explored by French academicians from the French Geodesic Mission. Their mission was to determine the sphericity of the Earth. Their work along with another team in Lapland established that the Earth was an oblate spheroid rather than a true sphere. They did not reach the summit of Chimborazo. In 1802, during his expedition to South America, Baron Alexander von Humboldt, accompanied by Aimé Bonpland and the Ecuadorian Carlos Montúfar, tried to reach the summit. From his description of the mountain, it seems that before he and his companions had to return suffering from altitude sickness they reached a point at 5,875 m, higher than previously attained by any European in recorded history. (Incans had reached much higher altitudes previously; see Llullaillaco). In 1831, Jean Baptiste Boussingault and Colonel Hall reached a new "highest point", estimated to be 6,006 m. Other failed attempts to reach the summit followed. On 4 January 1880, the English climber Edward Whymper reached the summit of Chimborazo. The route that Whymper took up Chimborazo is now known as the Whymper route. Edward Whymper, and his Italian guides Louis Carrel and Jean-Antoine Carrel, were the first Europeans to summit a mountain higher than 20,000 feet. As there were many critics who doubted that Whymper had reached the summit, later in the same year he climbed to the summit again, choosing a different route (Pogyos) with the Ecuadorians David Beltrán and Francisco Campaña. Etymology Several theories regarding the origin of the name Chimborazo exist. In many dialects of Quichua or Quechua, "chimba" means "on the other side" as in "on the other side of the river" or "on the opposite bank." Other dialects pronounce this word "chimpa." Also, "razu" means "ice" or "snow." Local Quichua speakers will say that Chimborazo is a hispanicized pronunciation of "chimbarazu," meaning "the snow on the other side." Another theory suggests it is a combination of the Cayapa Schingbu for Women and the Colorado/Quichua Razo for Ice/Snow resulting in Women of Ice. According to another, Chimbo is Jivaro for Throne of Master/God resulting in Icethrone of God. The locals also used to call the mountain Urcurazu, with the Quichua Urcu for Mountain resulting in Mountain of Ice. In local indigenous mysticism, Chimborazo represents Taita (Father) whereas neighbouring Tungurahua is seen as Mama, hence Taita Chimborazo and Mama Tungurahua. SAETA Flight 232 In August 1976, SAETA Flight 232 carrying 55 passengers and four crew members aboard a Vickers Viscount from Quito to Cuenca disappeared en route. In February 2003, after 27 years, the aircraft was found with the bodies of its 59 occupants at 5400 m elevation on Chimborazo by Ecuadorian climbers on the rarely used eastern route Integral. Other * Chimborazo is featured on the Ecuadorian coat of arms, to represent the beauty and richness of the Ecuadorian Sierra (Highlands). * Simón Bolívar's poem, "Mi delirio sobre el Chimborazo", was inspired by the mountain. * Walter J. Turner's poem, "Romance" contains the couplet "Chimborazo, Cotopaxi/They had stolen my soul away!" * Luis Alberto Costales's poem, "Canto al Chimborazo" (Sing of Chimborazo). Mountaineering As Ecuador's highest mountain, Chimborazo is a very popular climb and can be climbed year round with the best seasons being December–January and July–August. Routes The easiest (Grade: PD) and most climbed routes are the Normal and the Whymper route. Both are western ridge routes starting at the Whymper hut and leading via the Ventemilla summit to the main (Whymper) summit. There are several other less used and more challenging routes on the other mountains faces and ridges leading to one of Chimborazo's summits: Main (Whymper, Ecuador), Politecnico (Central), N. Martinez (Eastern). The mountain is contained on the IGM (Instituto Geografico Militar) 1:50000 Map Chimborazo (CT-ÑIV-C1). Huts There are two functioning Huts, the Carrel Hut (4,850 m) and the nearby Whymper Hut (5,000 m). The Carrel Hut can be reached by car from Riobamba, Ambato or Guaranda. On the north-west side there is the now defunct Zurita hut (4,900 m), which served as base for the Pogyos route. Climbing El Castillo is the most popular route up the volcano. This route is usually climbed December to February and June to September. This route involves climbing the west side of the volcano. The route starts at Whymper hut to a saddle above El Castillo. From the saddle, there is a glacier ridge then you go to the Veintemilla summit. Veintemilla summit is often the turnaround point for climbers. There is a 30-minute snow filled basin between Veintemilla summit and Whymper summit. Whymper summit is the highest point of the mountain. The El Castillo route takes around eight to twelve hours to ascend and about three to five hours to descend. Climbing Chimborazo is dangerous due to risk of avalanches, the severe weather conditions, and the fact that it is covered in glaciers. Climbing should begin at night in order to reach the summit before sunrise when the snow melts increasing the chance of avalanche and rockfall. The climb itself demands skill. The climb is often on black ice in which crampons and other high tech climbing equipment are required. On November 10, 1993 three parties of climbers, one ascending and two descending, were caught in an avalanche on the steep slopes below the Veintimilla summit. This avalanche buried ten climbers in a crevasse at . These climbers comprised: six French, two Ecuadorans, one Swiss, and one Chilean. After the ten climbers were buried in snow, it took twenty people and ten days to find their bodies. This is considered the worst climbing accident in Ecuador to date.

C

qb_4470

‘Corylus’ is the Latin name for which plant?

The hazel (Corylus) is a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae,Germplasm Resources Information Network: [http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/npgs/html/genus.pl?2962 Corylus]Chen, Z.-D. et al. (1999). Phylogeny and evolution of the Betulaceae as inferred from DNA sequences, morphology, and paleobotany. Amer. J. Bot. 86: 1168–1181. Available [http://www.amjbot.org/cgi/content/full/86/8/1168?cknck#F5 online.]Rushforth, K. (1999). Trees of Britain and Europe. Collins ISBN 0-00-220013-9.Huxley, A., ed. (1992). New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Macmillan ISBN 0-333-47494-5. though some botanists split the hazels (with the hornbeams and allied genera) into a separate family Corylaceae.Bean, W. J. (1976). Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles 8th ed., vol. 1. John Murray ISBN 0-7195-1790-7. The fruit of the hazel is the hazelnut. Hazels have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins. The flowers are produced very early in spring before the leaves, and are monoecious, with single-sex catkins, the male catkins are pale yellow and 5–12 cm long, and the female ones are very small and largely concealed in the buds, with only the bright-red, 1-to-3 mm-long styles visible. The fruits are nuts 1–2.5 cm long and 1–2 cm diameter, surrounded by an involucre (husk) which partly to fully encloses the nut. The shape and structure of the involucre, and also the growth habit (whether a tree or a suckering shrub), are important in the identification of the different species of hazel. The pollen of hazel species, which are often the cause for allergies in late winter or early spring, can be identified under magnification (600X) by their characteristic granular exines bearing three conspicuous pores. Species Corylus has 14–18 species. The circumscription of species in eastern Asia is disputed, with WCSP and the Flora of China differing in which taxa are accepted; within this region, only those taxa accepted by both sources are listed below.WCSP: [http://www.kew.org/wcsp/qsearch.do?plantNameCorylus&page quickSearch Corylus]Flora of China: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id 2&taxon_id108088 Corylus]Flora of North America: [http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id1&taxon_id 108088 Corylus] The species are grouped as follows: * Nut surrounded by a soft, leafy involucre, multiple-stemmed, suckering shrubs to 12 m tall ** Involucre short, about the same length as the nut *** Corylus americana—American hazel, eastern North America *** Corylus avellana—Common hazel, Europe and western Asia *** Corylus heterophylla—Asian hazel, Asia *** Corylus yunnanensis—Yunnan hazel, central and southern China ** Involucre long, twice the length of the nut or more, forming a 'beak' *** Corylus colchica—Colchican filbert, Caucasus *** Corylus cornuta—Beaked hazel, North America *** Corylus maxima—Filbert, southeastern Europe and southwest Asia *** Corylus sieboldiana—Asian beaked hazel, northeastern Asia and Japan (syn. C. mandshurica) * Nut surrounded by a stiff, spiny involucre, single-stemmed trees to 20–35 m tall ** Involucre moderately spiny and also with glandular hairs *** Corylus chinensis—Chinese hazel, western China *** Corylus colurna—Turkish hazel, southeastern Europe and Asia Minor *** Corylus fargesii—Farges' hazel, western China *** Corylus jacquemontii—Jacquemont's hazel, Himalaya *** Corylus wangii—Wang's hazel, southwest China ** Involucre densely spiny, resembling a chestnut burr *** Corylus ferox—Himalayan hazel, Himalaya, Tibet and southwest China (syn. C. tibetica). Several hybrids exist, and can occur between species in different sections of the genus, e.g. Corylus × colurnoides (C. avellana × C. colurna). The oldest confirmed hazel species is Corylus johnsonii found as fossils in the Ypresian-age rocks of Ferry County, Washington. Uses The nuts of all hazels are edible. The common hazel is the species most extensively grown for its nuts, followed in importance by the filbert. Nuts are also harvested from the other species, but apart from the filbert, none is of significant commercial importance. A number of cultivars of the common hazel and filbert are grown as ornamental plants in gardens, including forms with contorted stems (C. avellana 'Contorta', popularly known as "Harry Lauder's walking stick" from its gnarled appearance); with weeping branches (C. avellana 'Pendula'); and with purple leaves (C. maxima 'Purpurea'). Hazel is a traditional material used for making wattle, withy fencing, baskets, and the frames of coracle boats. The tree can be coppiced, and regenerating shoots allow for harvests every few years. Hazels are used as food plants by the larvae of various species of Lepidoptera. Mythology and folklore The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one wisdom and inspiration. There are numerous variations on an ancient tale that nine hazel trees grew around a sacred pool, dropping into the water nuts that were eaten by salmon (a fish sacred to Druids), which absorbed the wisdom. A Druid teacher, in his bid to become omniscient, caught one of these special salmon and asked a student to cook the fish, but not to eat it. While he was cooking it, a blister formed and the pupil used his thumb to burst it, which he naturally sucked to cool, thereby absorbing the fish's wisdom. This boy was called Fionn Mac Cumhail (Fin McCool) and went on to become one of the most heroic leaders in Gaelic mythology.Floriz: [http://www.floriz.co.uk/knowledge/26-trees/4-mythology-and-folklore-of-the-hazel-tree Mythology and Folklore of the Hazel Tree] "The Hazel Branch" from Grimms' Fairy Tales claims that hazel branches offer the greatest protection from snakes and other things that creep on the earth. Gallery File:Corylus fargesii, Arnold Arboretum - IMG 6165.JPG|Form (Farges' hazel) File:Hazel Catkins.jpg|Male catkins (common hazel) File:Hazel Flower Female.jpg|Female flower (common hazel) File:TurkHazel.jpg|Leaves and nuts with spiny husks (Turkish hazel) File:Hazelnuts.jpg|Hazelnuts

B

qb_8485

A sterlet is what type of creature?

The sterlet (Acipenser ruthenus) is a relatively small species of sturgeon from Eurasia native to large rivers that flow into the Black Sea, Azov Sea, and Caspian Sea, as well as rivers in Siberia as far east as Yenisei. Populations migrating between fresh and salt water (anadromous) have been extirpated. Due to overfishing (for its flesh, caviar, and isinglass), pollution, and dams, the sterlet has declined throughout its native range and is considered vulnerable by the IUCN. Restocking projects are ongoing, and it has been introduced to some regions outside its native range, but the latter have generally not become self-sustaining. Today, the majority of the international trade involves sterlets from aquaculture. Physical appearance *The sterlet may reach 16 kg in weight and 100 to 125 cm in length, rarely exceeding a length of 3 ft. *It is quite variable in coloration, but usually has a yellowish ventral side. *It is distinguishable from other European species of sturgeons by the presence of a great number of whitish lateral scutes, fringed barbels, and an elongated and narrow snout, highly variable in length. Feeding habits The sterlet's main source of food is benthic organisms; they commonly feed on crustaceans, worms, and insect larvae. Life history The sterlet commonly reaches the age of 22 to 25 years. Males reach sexual maturity at 3–7 years old and females at 4–12 years old. Spawning occurs from the middle of April to the beginning of June. Females may lay from 15,000–44,000 eggs, at water temperatures preferably 12–17°C (54–63°F). As pond fish Sterlets require relatively large ponds with good water conditions, and may get entangled in plants such as blanketweed. They may require special food such as sterlet sticks, as they are unable to digest the vegetable proteins usually found in commercial fish foods. As food In Russia, it is held in high esteem on account of its excellent flesh, contributing also to the best kinds of caviar and isinglass. Sturgeon hybrids *Sterlet x Beluga (Huso huso) = (Bester) *Sterlet x Siberian [Russian] Sturgeon (Acipenser gueldenstaedtii)] *Sterlet x Diamondback *Hybrids are hardier than their parents.

I

dpql_4129

Who got to no. 3 in the UK charts with ‘You’re So Vain’ in 1972?

"You're So Vain" is a song written and performed by Carly Simon and released in November 1972. The song is a critical profile of a self-absorbed lover about whom Simon asserts "You're so vain, you probably think this song is about you." The title subject's identity has long been a matter of speculation, with Simon stating that the song refers to three men, only one of whom she has named publicly, actor Warren Beatty. The song is ranked at #82 on Billboard's Greatest Songs of All-Time. "You're So Vain" was voted #216 in RIAA's Songs of the Century. And on August 23, 2014, the U.K. Official Charts Company crowned it the ultimate song of the 1970s. The distinctive bass guitar intro is played by Klaus Voormann and the strings were arranged and orchestrated by Paul Buckmaster. Subject of the song Before the song became a hit single in 1972, Simon told an interviewer that the song was about "men," not a specific "man". In 1983, she said it is not about Mick Jagger, who contributed uncredited backing vocals to the song. In a 1993 book Angela Bowie claimed to be the "wife of a close friend" mentioned in "You're So Vain", and that Jagger, for a time, had been "obsessed" with her. Simon made another comment about the subject's identity as a guest artist on Janet Jackson's 2001 single, "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", which sampled "You're So Vain". Simon said about the song, "The apricot scarf was worn by Nick (Delbanco). Nothing in the words were referred to Mick." In a 2007 interview Warren Beatty said, "Let's be honest. That song was about me." Simon in 1983 said Beatty "certainly thought it was about him — he called me and said thanks for the song..." Over the years Simon has divulged "letter clues" and has claimed that the subject's name contains the letters A, E, and R. Shortly before the writing of the song, Simon was married to James Taylor; she has said that he was "definitely not" the subject of the song. David Bowie, David Cassidy and Cat Stevens (Yusef Latief) have all been cited by the press as speculative candidates. In August 2003 Simon agreed to reveal the name of the song's subject to the highest bidder of the Martha's Vineyard Possible Dreams charity auction. With the top bid of $50,000, Dick Ebersol, president of NBC Sports and a friend of Simon, won the right to know the name of the subject of "You're So Vain". A condition of the prize was that Ebersol not reveal the name. Ebersol said Simon allowed him to divulge a clue about the person's name: "Carly told me that I could offer up to the entire world a clue as to what she'll tell me when we have this night in about two weeks. And the clue is: The letter 'E' is in the person's name." In 2004 Simon told Regis Philbin, "If I tell it, it's going to come out in dribs and drabs. And I've given out two letters already, an 'A' and an 'E.' But I'm going to add one to it. I'm going to add an 'R,' in honor of you." In 2005 Simon's ex-husband Jim Hart said he was sure that the song was not about anyone famous. On June 19, 2008 Howard Stern claimed that Simon had privately revealed to him about whom the song was written after her interview on his popular radio show on Sirius Satellite Radio. Stern commented, "There is an odd aspect to it ... he's not that vain." On March 17, 2009, Stern claimed that she had said it was a "composite of three people". Stern repeated this on May 5, 2014 claiming, "she takes me aside, pulls me close, whispers in my ear.. three names. She goes, it wasn't one person, it was three people." Stern thought that one of the names was Warren Beatty and another might be David Geffen, but said that he "forgot." In her 2008 book Girls Like Us, author Sheila Weller includes a detailed account of Simon's love affair with musician Dan Armstrong, and suggests that he was the inspiration for "You're So Vain." Her heartbreak over eventually losing him inspired the song "Dan, My Fling," which appears on her first album. Armstrong's full name, Daniel Kent Armstrong, contains all three letters of Simon's clue. On November 4, 2009, Simon said she had hidden the name of the subject in a certain version of the song. The next day, the program's crew revealed the name concealed in a back-played whisper: David. Simon denied that the whisper was "David", saying she has spoken "Ovid" both forwards and backwards, and that sounded like David. In February 2010, Simon reiterated that the name of the subject was whispered in a re-recording of "You're So Vain": "There's a little whisper — and it's the answer to the puzzle." A representative for Simon confirmed that the name whispered during the song is "David". Multiple media outlets then speculated that the subject was Simon's former boss at Elektra, David Geffen, The following day Jim Hart, Simon's ex-husband and close friend, denied that the song was about Geffen. Simon said that when she wrote the song in 1971, she had not yet met Geffen. Simon's publicist also confirmed the song was not about Geffen, but that there was indeed "a David who is connected to the song in some way, shape, or form," Vanity Fair noted that in addition to "David", "Warren" and an unintelligible name are whispered during the recording. After her live performance of the song with Simon in July 2013, Taylor Swift stated that Simon had revealed the identity of the song's subject to her in confidence. In November 2015, Simon, promoting her about-to-be-published memoir, said, "I have confirmed that the second verse is Warren (Beatty)," and added that while "Warren thinks the whole thing is about him," he is the subject only of that verse, with the remainder of the song referring to two other, still-unnamed men. References in the song * Two solar eclipses ("Then you flew your Learjet up to Nova Scotia to see the total eclipse of the sun") were visible from Nova Scotia in the early 1970s, on March 7, 1970, and July 10, 1972. Simon said she wrote the song in 1971. * The line "I hear you went up to Saratoga and your horse naturally won," refers to the Saratoga Race Course horse-racing season held in late July, August, and early September in Saratoga Springs, New York. The season is frequented by the rich and famous of New York and other East Coast cities. *Simon said the line "clouds in my coffee" came "from an airplane flight that I took with Billy Mernit, who was my friend and piano player at the time. As I got my coffee, there were clouds outside the window of the airplane and you could see the reflection in the cup of coffee. Billy said to me, 'Look at the clouds in your coffee'." Covers and adaptations *The song has been covered by Chocolate Starfish, The Mountain Goats, David Axelrod, John Barrowman, Liza Minnelli, Jack Klugman and Tony Randall (as "The Odd Couple"), Chimira, Venice, The Feeling, Jann Arden, Janet Jackson (who sampled the song in "Son of a Gun (I Betcha Think This Song Is About You)", with Simon providing featured vocals), Trey Songz (who sampled from Janet Jackson in his single "About You)," Anna Waronker, Faster Pussycat, Dres, Daryll-Ann, Smokie, Queens of the Stone Age, Sally Seltmann, Asaro and Wolcott, Matthew Sweet and Susanna Hoffs, Marilyn Manson (featuring Johnny Depp), and Italian pop star Mina in her 1985 album Finalmente ho conosciuto il conte Dracula.... *On July 27, 2013, Simon performed "You're So Vain" with Taylor Swift on her Red Tour. * The song "Starfuckers, Inc." by Nine Inch Nails, released in year 2000, references "You're So Vain", by quoting the chorus. * Supporters of English football team Everton F.C. sang the song to player Leighton Baines at the 2009 football matches. * On their 2009 album Felony, New York City metalcore band, Emmure had a song titled "R2Deepthroat" where vocalist Frankie says "You're so vain, I bet you think this song is about you, don't you?" Chart performance Weekly singles charts Year-end charts The song was a number-one hit in the US, Canada and Australia and reached number four in Ireland and South Africa. Bowing at #99 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 2 December 1972, the song took only five more weeks to rocket to the top of the chart, where it stayed for the first three weeks of 1973, also spending two weeks at the top of the Easy Listening chart in early 1973, her first number one on either chart. "You're So Vain" was Simon's breakthrough hit in the United Kingdom, reaching number three on the UK chart on its original release in 1973. The song was re-released in the UK in 1991 to cash in on its inclusion in a commercial for Dunlop Tyres, peaking at number 41. Awards |- |rowspan="3"| 1974 |rowspan="4"| "You're So Vain" |Record of the Year | |- |Song of the Year | |- |Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female | |- |2004 |Grammy Hall of Fame Award | |}

B

wh_3240

"Which institution is known as 'The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street""?"

The Bank of England, formally the Governor and Company of the Bank of England, is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694, it is the second oldest central bank in the world, after the Sveriges Riksbank, and the world's 8th oldest bank. It was established to act as the English Government's banker and is still the banker for the Government of the United Kingdom. The Bank was privately owned by stockholders from its foundation in 1694 until nationalised in 1946. In 1998, it became an independent public organisation, wholly owned by the Treasury Solicitor on behalf of the government, with independence in setting monetary policy. The Bank is one of eight banks authorised to issue banknotes in the United Kingdom, but has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales and regulates the issue of banknotes by commercial banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. The Bank's Monetary Policy Committee has devolved responsibility for managing monetary policy. The Treasury has reserve powers to give orders to the committee "if they are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances" but such orders must be endorsed by Parliament within 28 days. The Bank's Financial Policy Committee held its first meeting in June 2011 as a macro prudential regulator to oversee regulation of the UK's financial sector. The Bank's headquarters have been in London's main financial district, the City of London, on Threadneedle Street, since 1734. It is sometimes known by the metonym The Old Lady of Threadneedle Street or The Old Lady, a name taken from the legend of Sarah Whitehead, whose ghost is said to haunt the Bank's garden. The busy road junction outside is known as Bank junction. Mark Carney assumed the post of Governor of the Bank of England on 1 July 2013. He succeeded Mervyn King, who took over on 30 June 2003. Carney, a Canadian, will serve an initial five-year term rather than the typical eight, and will seek UK citizenship. He is the first non-British citizen to hold the post. As of January 2014, the Bank also has four Deputy Governors. History Founding England's crushing defeat by France, the dominant naval power, in naval engagements culminating in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head, became the catalyst for England's rebuilding itself as a global power. England had no choice but to build a powerful navy. No public funds were available, and the credit of William III's government was so low in London that it was impossible for it to borrow the £1,200,000 (at 8% p.a.) that the government wanted. To induce subscription to the loan, the subscribers were to be incorporated by the name of the Governor and Company of the Bank of England. The Bank was given exclusive possession of the government's balances, and was the only limited-liability corporation allowed to issue bank notes. The lenders would give the government cash (bullion) and issue notes against the government bonds, which can be lent again. The £1.2m was raised in 12 days; half of this was used to rebuild the navy. As a side effect, the huge industrial effort needed, including establishing ironworks to make more nails and advances in agriculture feeding the quadrupled strength of the navy, started to transform the economy. This helped the new Kingdom of Great Britain – England and Scotland were formally united in 1707 – to become powerful. The power of the navy made Britain the dominant world power in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The establishment of the bank was devised by Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, in 1694, to the plan which had been proposed by William Paterson three years before, but not acted upon. He proposed a loan of £1.2m to the government; in return the subscribers would be incorporated as The Governor and Company of the Bank of England with long-term banking privileges including the issue of notes. The Royal Charter was granted on 27 July through the passage of the Tonnage Act 1694. Public finances were in so dire a condition at the time that the terms of the loan were that it was to be serviced at a rate of 8% per annum, and there was also a service charge of £4,000 per annum for the management of the loan. The first governor was Sir John Houblon, who is depicted in the £50 note issued in 1994. The charter was renewed in 1742, 1764, and 1781. 18th century The Bank's original home was in Walbrook, a street in the City of London, where during reconstruction in 1954 archaeologists found the remains of a Roman temple of Mithras (Mithras is – rather fittingly – said to have been worshipped inter alia as the God of Contracts); the Mithraeum ruins are perhaps the most famous of all 20th-century Roman discoveries in the City of London and can be viewed by the public. The Bank moved to its current location in Threadneedle Street in 1734, and thereafter slowly acquired neighbouring land to create the edifice seen today. Sir Herbert Baker's rebuilding of the Bank, demolishing most of Sir John Soane's earlier building, was described by architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner as "the greatest architectural crime, in the City of London, of the twentieth century". When the idea and reality of the National Debt came about during the 18th century, this was also managed by the Bank. By the charter renewal in 1781 it was also the bankers' bank – keeping enough gold to pay its notes on demand until 26 February 1797 when war had so diminished gold reserves that - following an invasion scare caused by the Battle of Fishguard days earlier - the government prohibited the Bank from paying out in gold by the passing of the Bank Restriction Act 1797. This prohibition lasted until 1821. 19th century The 1844 Bank Charter Act tied the issue of notes to the gold reserves and gave the Bank sole rights with regard to the issue of banknotes. Private banks that had previously had that right retained it, provided that their headquarters were outside London and that they deposited security against the notes that they issued. A few English banks continued to issue their own notes until the last of them was taken over in the 1930s. Scottish and Northern Irish private banks still have that right. The bank acted as lender of last resort for the first time in the panic of 1866. The last private bank in England to issue its own notes was Thomas Fox's Fox, Fowler and Company bank in Wellington, which rapidly expanded, until it merged with Lloyds Bank in 1927. They were legal tender until 1964. There are nine notes left in circulation; one is housed at Tone Dale House Wellington. 20th century Britain remained on the gold standard until 1931 when the gold and foreign exchange reserves were transferred to the Treasury, but they continued to be managed by the Bank. During the governorship of Montagu Norman, from 1920–44, the Bank made deliberate efforts to move away from commercial banking and become a central bank. In 1946, shortly after the end of Norman's tenure, the bank was nationalised by the Labour government. After 1945 the Bank pursued the multiple goals of Keynesian economics, especially "easy money" and low interest rates to support aggregate demand. It tried to keep a fixed exchange rate, and attempted to deal with inflation and sterling weakness by credit and exchange controls. Nicholas Kaldor has analyzed the transition from Keynesian economics to Chicago economics in his 1980's book The Scourge of Monetarism. This analysis contains an analysis of a prior 1950's decision to abandon monetarist policies. In 1977, the Bank set up a wholly owned subsidiary called Bank of England Nominees Limited (BOEN), a private limited company, with two of its hundred £1 shares issued. According to its Memorandum & Articles of Association, its objectives are: "To act as Nominee or agent or attorney either solely or jointly with others, for any person or persons, partnership, company, corporation, government, state, organisation, sovereign, province, authority, or public body, or any group or association of them...." Bank of England Nominees Limited was granted an exemption by Edmund Dell, Secretary of State for Trade, from the disclosure requirements under Section 27(9) of the Companies Act 1976, because "it was considered undesirable that the disclosure requirements should apply to certain categories of shareholders." The Bank of England is also protected by its Royal Charter status, and the Official Secrets Act. BOEN is a vehicle for governments and heads of state to invest in UK companies (subject to approval from the Secretary of State), providing they undertake "not to influence the affairs of the company". BOEN is no longer exempt from company law disclosure requirements. Although a dormant company, dormancy does not preclude a company actively operating as a nominee shareholder. BOEN has two shareholders: the Bank of England, and the Secretary of the Bank of England. In 1981 the reserve requirement for banks to hold a minimum fixed proportion of their deposits as reserves at the Bank of England was abolished: see reserve requirement#United Kingdom for more details. On 6 May 1997, following the 1997 general election which brought a Labour government to power for the first time since 1979, it was announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, that the Bank would be granted operational independence over monetary policy. Under the terms of the Bank of England Act 1998 (which came into force on 1 June 1998), the Bank's Monetary Policy Committee was given sole responsibility for setting interest rates to meet the Government's Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation target of 2.5%. The target has changed to 2% since the Consumer Price Index (CPI) replaced the Retail Prices Index as the Treasury's inflation index. If inflation overshoots or undershoots the target by more than 1%, the Governor has to write a letter to the Chancellor of the Exchequer explaining why, and how he will remedy the situation. The handing over of monetary policy to the Bank had been a key plank of the Liberal Democrats' economic policy since the 1992 general election. Conservative MP Nicholas Budgen had also proposed this as a private member's bill in 1996, but the bill failed as it had the support of neither the government nor the opposition. Robert Skidelsky has analyzed this change in Labour's politics in his book The Return of the Master, describing this New Keynesian's adoption of Rational Expectations Hypothesis, which comes in a packet with central bank independence, as a mistake. It is not in the interest of the big money to adopt Keynesian REH model, even if RE is a principle that can be adopted in any model. Alan A. Walters, later Sir Alan Walters, is the most famous UK developer of REH known from his 1971 article Consistent Expectations, Distributed Lags and the Quantity Theory. Functions of the Bank Current independent central banks are known as Friedmanite central banks, because the 2,5 % or 2% rule is based on and most famous from Milton Friedman's work. This rule together with central bank independence, creates an artificial lack of money in public sector, known misleadingly as the "starve the beast" strategy, in order to abolish modern states. The Bank performs all the functions of a central bank. The most important of these are maintaining price stability, and supporting the economic policies of Her Majesty's Government, thus promoting economic growth. There are two main areas which are tackled by the Bank to ensure it carries out these functions efficiently: Monetary stability Stable prices and confidence in the currency are the two main criteria for monetary stability. Stable prices are maintained by seeking to ensure that price increases meet the Government's inflation target. The Bank aims to meet this target by adjusting the base interest rate, which is decided by the Monetary Policy Committee, and through its communications strategy, such as publishing yield curves. Financial stability Maintaining financial stability involves protecting against threats to the whole financial system. Threats are detected by the Bank's surveillance and market intelligence functions. The threats are then dealt with through financial and other operations, both at home and abroad. In exceptional circumstances, the Bank may act as the lender of last resort by extending credit when no other institution will. The Bank works together with other institutions to secure both monetary and financial stability, including: * HM Treasury, the Government department responsible for financial and economic policy; and * Other central banks and international organisations, with the aim of improving the international financial system. The 1997 Memorandum of Understanding describes the terms under which the Bank, the Treasury and the FSA work toward the common aim of increased financial stability. In 2010 the incoming Chancellor announced his intention to merge the FSA back into the Bank. As of 2012, the current director for financial stability is Andy Haldane. The Bank acts as the government's banker, and it maintains the government's Consolidated Fund account. It also manages the country's foreign exchange and gold reserves. The Bank also acts as the bankers' bank, especially in its capacity as a lender of last resort. The Bank has a monopoly on the issue of banknotes in England and Wales. Scottish and Northern Irish banks retain the right to issue their own banknotes, but they must be backed one for one with deposits at the Bank, excepting a few million pounds representing the value of notes they had in circulation in 1845. The Bank decided to sell its banknote printing operations to De La Rue in December 2002, under the advice of Close Brothers Corporate Finance Ltd. Since 1998, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) has had the responsibility for setting the official interest rate. However, with the decision to grant the Bank operational independence, responsibility for government debt management was transferred in 1998 to the new Debt Management Office, which also took over government cash management in 2000. Computershare took over as the registrar for UK Government bonds (gilt-edged securities or gilts) from the Bank at the end of 2004. The Bank used to be responsible for the regulation and supervision of the banking and insurance industries. This responsibility was transferred to the Financial Services Authority in June 1998, but after the financial crises in 2008 new banking legislation transferred the responsibility for regulation and supervision of the banking and insurance industries back to the Bank. In 2011 the interim Financial Policy Committee (FPC) was created as a mirror committee to the MPC to spearhead the Bank's new mandate on financial stability. The FPC is responsible for macro prudential regulation of all UK banks and insurance companies. To help maintain economic stability, the Bank attempts to broaden understanding of its role, both through regular speeches and publications by senior Bank figures, a semiannual Financial Stability Report, and through a wider education strategy aimed at the general public, generally known as propaganda. It maintains a free museum and runs the Target Two Point Zero competition for A-level students. Asset purchase facility The Bank has operated, since January 2009, an Asset Purchase Facility (APF) to buy "high-quality assets financed by the issue of Treasury bills and the DMO's cash management operations" and thereby improve liquidity in the credit markets. It has, since March 2009, also provided the mechanism by which the Bank's policy of quantitative easing (QE) is achieved, under the auspices of the MPC. Along with the managing the £200 billion of QE funds, the APF continues to operate its corporate facilities. Both are undertaken by a subsidiary company of the Bank of England, the Bank of England Asset Purchase Facility Fund Limited (BEAPFF). Banknote issues The Bank has issued banknotes since 1694. Notes were originally hand-written; although they were partially printed from 1725 onwards, cashiers still had to sign each note and make them payable to someone. Notes were fully printed from 1855. Until 1928 all notes were "White Notes", printed in black and with a blank reverse. In the 18th and 19th centuries White Notes were issued in £1 and £2 denominations. During the 20th century White Notes were issued in denominations between £5 and £1000. Until the mid-19th century, commercial banks were allowed to issue their own banknotes, and notes issued by provincial banking companies were commonly in circulation. The Bank Charter Act 1844 began the process of restricting note issue to the Bank; new banks were prohibited from issuing their own banknotes and existing note-issuing banks were not permitted to expand their issue. As provincial banking companies merged to form larger banks, they lost their right to issue notes, and the English private banknote eventually disappeared, leaving the Bank with a monopoly of note issue in England and Wales. The last private bank to issue its own banknotes in England and Wales was Fox, Fowler and Company in 1921. However, the limitations of the 1844 Act only affected banks in England and Wales, and today three commercial banks in Scotland and four in Northern Ireland continue to issue their own banknotes, regulated by the Bank. At the start of the First World War, the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1914 was passed, which granted temporary powers to HM Treasury for issuing banknotes to the values of £1 and 10/- (ten shillings). Treasury notes had full legal tender status and were not convertible into gold through the Bank; they replaced the gold coin in circulation to prevent a run on sterling and to enable raw material purchases for armament production. These notes featured an image of King George V (Bank of England notes did not begin to display an image of the monarch until 1960). The wording on each note was: Treasury notes were issued until 1928, when the Currency and Bank Notes Act 1928 returned note-issuing powers to the banks. The Bank of England issued notes for ten shillings and one pound for the first time on 22 November 1928. During the Second World War the German Operation Bernhard attempted to counterfeit denominations between £5 and £50, producing 500,000 notes each month in 1943. The original plan was to parachute the money into the UK in an attempt to destabilise the British economy, but it was found more useful to use the notes to pay German agents operating throughout Europe. Although most fell into Allied hands at the end of the war, forgeries frequently appeared for years afterwards, which led banknote denominations above £5 to be removed from circulation. In 2006, over £53 million in banknotes belonging to the Bank was stolen from a depot in Tonbridge, Kent. Modern banknotes are printed by contract with De La Rue Currency in Loughton, Essex. The Vault The Bank is custodian to the official gold reserves of the United Kingdom and many other countries. The vault, beneath the City of London, covers a floor space greater than that of the third-tallest building in the City, Tower 42, and needs keys that are three feet (90 cm) long to open. As at around 2011, the Bank was the 15th-largest custodian of gold reserves, holding around 4600 tonnes. These gold deposits were estimated in February 2012 to have a current market value of £156,000,000,000. Governance of the Bank of England Governors Following is a list of the Governors of the Bank of England since the beginning of the 20th century: Court of Directors Other staff Since 2013, the Bank has had a Chief Operating Officer (COO). , the Bank's COO has been Charlotte Hogg. , the Bank's chief economist is Andrew Haldane. ================================================== Threadneedle Street is a street in the City of London, between Bishopsgate at its northeast end and Bank junction in the southwest. It is one of nine streets that converge at Bank. The street is famous as the site of the Bank of England; the bank itself is sometimes known as 'the Old Lady of Threadneedle Street' and has been based at its current location since 1734. The London Stock Exchange was also situated on Threadneedle Street until 2004, when it relocated to nearby Paternoster Square. The Baltic Exchange was founded in the on Threadneedle Street in 1744; it is now located on St Mary Axe. Etymology Some believe that the name originated as Three Needle Street (first attested in 1598), perhaps from a signboard portraying three needles, or from the three needles on the arms of needle-makers who had premises on the street. The threads and needles used by the members of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors is another possibility, since the livery company's hall has been located on Threadneedle Street since 1347. Before 1598 the road was part of Broad Street (now Old Broad Street). Points of interest In addition to the Bank of England, there are a number of shops, banks, restaurants and offices located on Threadneedle Street. The Merchant Taylors' Hall, home of the Worshipful Company of Merchant Taylors, has occupied a site off Threadneedle Street since 1347. It is said that it is here that the British national anthem was sung, in private, in 1607 for the first time, conducted by John Bull. The headquarters of the South Sea Company was located on the street from 1711 to the 1850s. The London office of the world's oldest merchant bank, Berenberg Bank, is located at No. 60. The nearest London Underground station is Bank. London's first bus service ran between Threadneedle Street and Paddington from 1829. Today, the street is served by bus routes 8, 11, 23, 26, 133, 242, and 388. Over 5000 tonnes of gold bars are held by the Bank of England (both official reserves of the UK Treasury, and others) in a system of 8 vaults over two floors under Threadneedle Street.

J

bb_1513

What alcoholic drink whose name means 'little water' was first distilled from grain in the 8-9th centuries in NE Europe?

An alcoholic beverage, or alcoholic drink, is a drink that contains a substantial amount of the psychoactive drug ethanol (informally called alcohol), a depressant which in low doses causes euphoria, reduced anxiety, and sociability, and in higher doses causes intoxication (drunkenness), stupor, and unconsciousness. Long-term use can lead to alcohol abuse, physical dependence, and alcoholism. Drinking alcohol plays an important social role in many cultures. Most countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption; some countries with Muslim majorities ban such activities entirely. However, alcoholic beverages are legal in most parts of the world. The global alcoholic beverages industry exceeded $1 trillion in 2014. Alcohol is one of the most widely used recreational drugs in the world. In the United States 89% of adults have drunk alcohol at some point in time, 70% have drunk it in the last year and 56% in the last month. Alcoholic beverages are typically divided into three classes—beers, wines, and spirits—and typically contain between 3% and 40% alcohol by volume. Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggest that intentionally fermented beverages existed at least as early as the Neolithic period (cir. 10,000 BC). Many nonhuman animals also consume alcohol when given the opportunity and are affected in much the same way as humans, although humans are the only species known to produce alcoholic beverages intentionally. Fermented beverages Wine Wine is a fermented beverage produced from grapes. Wine involves a longer fermentation process than beer and also a long aging process (months or years), resulting in an alcohol content of 9%–16% ABV. Sparkling wine can be made by means of a secondary fermentation. Fruit wines are made from fruits other than grapes, such as plums, cherries, or apples. Rice wines like sake are made from rice. Beer Beer is a beverage fermented from grain mash. It is made from barley or a blend of several grains. If the fermented mash is distilled, then the beverage is a spirit. Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world. Cider Cider or cyder ( ) is a fermented alcoholic beverage made from any fruit juice; apple juice (traditional and most common), peaches, pears ("Perry" cider) or other fruit. Cider alcohol content varies from 1.2% ABV to 8.5% or more in traditional English ciders. In some regions, cider may be called "apple wine". Mead Mead is an alcoholic beverage created by fermenting honey with water, sometimes with various fruits, spices, grains, or hops. The alcoholic content of mead may range from about 8% ABV to more than 20%. The defining characteristic of mead is that the majority of the beverage's fermentable sugar is derived from honey. Distilled beverages A distilled beverage or liquor is an alcoholic beverage produced by distilling (i.e., concentrating by distillation) ethanol produced by means of fermenting grain, fruit, or vegetables. Unsweetened, distilled, alcoholic beverages that have an alcohol content of at least 20% ABV are called spirits. For the most common distilled beverages, such as whiskey and vodka, the alcohol content is around 40%. The term hard liquor is used in North America to distinguish distilled beverages from undistilled ones (implicitly weaker). Vodka, gin, baijiu, tequila, whiskey, brandy, and soju are examples of distilled beverages. Distilling concentrates the alcohol and eliminates some of the congeners. Freeze distillation concentrates ethanol along with methanol and fusel alcohols (fermentation by-products partially removed by distillation) in applejack. Fortified wine is wine, such as port or sherry, to which a distilled beverage (usually brandy) has been added. Fortified wine is distinguished from spirits made from wine in that spirits are produced by means of distillation, while fortified wine is simply wine that has had a spirit added to it. Many different styles of fortified wine have been developed, including port, sherry, madeira, marsala, commandaria, and the aromatized wine vermouth. Rectified spirit Rectified spirit, also called "neutral grain spirit," is alcohol which has been purified by means of "rectification" (i.e., repeated distillation). The term "neutral" refers to the spirit's lacking the flavor that would have been present if the mash ingredients had been distilled to a lower level of alcoholic purity. Rectified spirit also lacks any flavoring added to it after distillation (as is done, for example, with gin). Other kinds of spirits, such as whiskey, are distilled to a lower alcohol percentage in order to preserve the flavor of the mash. Rectified spirit is a clear, colorless, flammable liquid that may contain as much as 95% ABV. It is often used for medicinal purposes. It may be a grain spirit or it may be made from other plants. It is used in mixed drinks, liqueurs, and tinctures, but also as a household solvent. Health effects Alcoholic beverages are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) as a Group 1 carcinogen (carcinogenic to humans). IARC classifies alcoholic beverage consumption as a cause of female breast, colorectum, larynx, liver, esophagus, oral cavity, and pharynx cancers; and as a probable cause of pancreatic cancer. Alcohol in carbonated beverages is absorbed faster than alcohol in non-carbonated drinks. Short-term effects Wine, beer, distilled spirits and other alcoholic drinks contain ethyl alcohol and alcohol consumption has short-term psychological and physiological effects on the user. Different concentrations of alcohol in the human body have different effects on a person. The effects of alcohol depend on the amount an individual has drunk, the percentage of alcohol in the wine, beer or spirits and the timespan that the consumption took place, the amount of food eaten and whether an individual has taken other prescription, over-the-counter or street drugs, among other factors. Drinking enough to cause a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.03%-0.12% typically causes an overall improvement in mood and possible euphoria, increased self-confidence and sociability, decreased anxiety, a flushed, red appearance in the face and impaired judgment and fine muscle coordination. A BAC of 0.09% to 0.25% causes lethargy, sedation, balance problems and blurred vision. A BAC from 0.18% to 0.30% causes profound confusion, impaired speech (e.g., slurred speech), staggering, dizziness and vomiting. A BAC from 0.25% to 0.40% causes stupor, unconsciousness, anterograde amnesia, vomiting (death may occur due to inhalation of vomit (pulmonary aspiration) while unconscious and respiratory depression (potentially life-threatening). A BAC from 0.35% to 0.80% causes a coma (unconsciousness), life-threatening respiratory depression and possibly fatal alcohol poisoning. As with all alcoholic beverages, drinking while driving, operating an aircraft or heavy machinery increases the risk of an accident; many countries have penalties against drunk driving. Long-term effects The main active ingredient of wine, beer and distilled spirits is alcohol. Drinking small quantities of alcohol (less than one drink in women and two in men) is associated with a decreased risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and early death. Drinking more than this amount, however, increases the risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation, and stroke. The risk is greater in younger people due to binge drinking which may result in violence or accidents. About 3.3 million deaths (5.9% of all deaths) are believed to be due to alcohol each year. Alcoholism reduces a person's life expectancy by around ten years and alcohol use is the third leading cause of early death in the United States. No professional medical association recommends that people who are nondrinkers should start drinking wine. Another long-term effect of alcohol usage, when also used with tobacco products, is alcohol acting as a solvent, which allows harmful chemicals in tobacco to get inside the cells that line the digestive tract. Alcohol slows these cells' healing ability to repair the damage to their DNA caused by the harmful chemicals in tobacco. Alcohol contributes to cancer through this process. While lower quality evidence suggest a cardioprotective effect, no controlled studies have been completed on the effect of alcohol on the risk of developing heart disease or stroke. Excessive consumption of alcohol can cause liver cirrhosis and alcoholism. The American Heart Association "cautions people NOT to start drinking ... if they do not already drink alcohol. Consult your doctor on the benefits and risks of consuming alcohol in moderation." Usage Apéritifs and digestifs An apéritif is any alcoholic beverage usually served before a meal to stimulate the appetite, while a digestif is any alcoholic beverage served after a meal for the purpose of improving digestion. Fortified wine, liqueurs, and dry champagne are common apéritifs. Because apéritifs are served before dining, they are usually dry rather than sweet. Flavoring Pure ethanol tastes bitter to humans; some people also describe it as sweet. However, ethanol is also a moderately good solvent for many fatty substances and essential oils. This facilitates the use of flavoring and coloring compounds in alcoholic beverages as a taste mask, especially in distilled beverages. Some flavors may be naturally present in the beverage’s raw material. Beer and wine may also be flavored before fermentation, and spirits may be flavored before, during, or after distillation. Sometimes flavor is obtained by allowing the beverage to stand for months or years in oak barrels, usually made of American or French oak. A few brands of spirits may also have fruit or herbs inserted into the bottle at the time of bottling. Congeners In the alcoholic beverages industry, congeners are substances produced during fermentation. These substances include small amounts of chemicals such as occasionally desired other alcohols, like propanol and 3-methyl-1-butanol, but also compounds that are never desired such as acetone, acetaldehyde and glycols. Congeners are responsible for most of the taste and aroma of distilled alcoholic beverages, and contribute to the taste of non-distilled drinks. It has been suggested that these substances contribute to the symptoms of a hangover. Tannins are congeners found in wine in the presence of phenolic compounds. Wine tannins add bitterness, have a drying sensation, taste herbaceous and are often described as astringent. Wine tannins adds balance, complexity, structure and makes a wine last longer, so they play an important role in the aging of wine. Food energy Alcoholic beverages are a source of food energy. The USDA uses a figure of per gram of alcohol ( per ml) for calculating food energy. In addition to alcohol, many alcoholic beverages contain carbohydrates. For example, beer usually contains 10–15 g of carbohydrates (40 -) per 12 USoz which may contribute to an increase in body weight and beer belly. In addition to the direct effect of its caloric content, alcohol is also known to potentiate the insulin response of the human body to glucose, which, in essence, "instructs" the body to convert consumed carbohydrates into fat and to suppress carbohydrate and fat oxidation. Alcohol measurement Alcohol concentration The concentration of alcohol in a beverage is usually stated as the percentage of alcohol by volume  (ABV, the number of milliliters (ml) of pure ethanol in 100 ml of beverage) or as proof. In the United States, proof is twice the percentage of alcohol by volume at 60 degrees Fahrenheit (e.g. 80 proof = 40% ABV). Degrees proof were formerly used in the United Kingdom, where 100 degrees proof was equivalent to 57.1% ABV. Historically, this was the most dilute spirit that would sustain the combustion of gunpowder. Ordinary distillation cannot produce alcohol of more than 95.6% ABV (191.2 proof) because at that point alcohol is an azeotrope with water. A spirit which contains a very high level of alcohol and does not contain any added flavoring is commonly called a neutral spirit. Generally, any distilled alcoholic beverage of 170 US proof or higher is considered to be a neutral spirit. Most yeasts cannot reproduce when the concentration of alcohol is higher than about 18%, so that is the practical limit for the strength of fermented beverages such as wine, beer, and sake. However, some strains of yeast have been developed that can reproduce in solutions of up to 25% ABV. Serving measures Shot sizes Shot sizes vary significantly from country to country. In the United Kingdom, serving size in licensed premises is regulated under the Weights and Measures Act (1985). A single serving size of spirits (gin, whisky, rum, and vodka) are sold in 25 ml or 35 ml quantities or multiples thereof. Beer is typically served in pints (568 ml), but is also served in half-pints or third-pints. In Israel, a single serving size of spirits is about twice as much, 50 or 60 mL. The shape of a glass can have a significant effect on how much one pours. A Cornell University study of students and bartenders' pouring showed both groups pour more into short, wide glasses than into tall, slender glasses. Aiming to pour one shot of alcohol (1.5 ounces or 44.3 ml), students on average poured 45.5 ml & 59.6 ml (30% more) respectively into the tall and short glasses. The bartenders scored similarly, on average pouring 20.5% more into the short glasses. More experienced bartenders were more accurate, pouring 10.3% less alcohol than less experienced bartenders. Practice reduced the tendency of both groups to over pour for tall, slender glasses but not for short, wide glasses. These misperceptions are attributed to two perceptual biases: (1) Estimating that tall, slender glasses have more volume than shorter, wider glasses; and (2) Over focusing on the height of the liquid and disregarding the width. Standard drinks A standard drink is a notional drink that contains a specified amount of pure alcohol. The standard drink is used in many countries to quantify alcohol intake. It is usually expressed as a measure of beer, wine, or spirits. One standard drink always contains the same amount of alcohol regardless of serving size or the type of alcoholic beverage. The standard drink varies significantly from country to country. For example, it is 7.62 ml (6 grams) of alcohol in Austria, but in Japan it is 25 ml (19.75 grams). In the United Kingdom, there is a system of units of alcohol which serves as a guideline for alcohol consumption. A single unit of alcohol is defined as 10 ml. The number of units present in a typical drink is sometimes printed on bottles. The system is intended as an aid to people who are regulating the amount of alcohol they drink; it is not used to determine serving sizes. In the United States, the standard drink contains of alcohol. This is approximately the amount of alcohol in a 12 USoz glass of beer, a 5 USoz glass of wine, or a glass of a 40% ABV (80 US proof) spirit. Laws Alcohol laws regulate the manufacture, sale, and consumption of alcoholic beverages. Such laws seek to reduce the health and social effects of their consumption. In particular, alcohol laws specify the legal drinking age, which usually varies between 16 and 25 years, sometimes depending upon the type of beverage. Some countries do not have a legal drinking or purchasing age, but most set the minimum age at 18 years. Such laws may take the form of permitting distribution only to licensed stores or monopoly stores, and they are often combined with taxation. In some jurisdictions, alcoholic beverages are totally prohibited for reasons of religion (e.g., Islamic countries with sharia law) or for reasons of public health and morals (e.g., Prohibition in the United States from 1920 to 1933). In jurisdictions which enforce sharia law, the consumption of alcoholic beverages is an illegal offense, although such laws may exempt non-Muslims. History * 10,000–5,000 BC: Discovery of late Stone Age jugs suggests that intentionally fermented beverages existed at least as early as the Neolithic period. * 7000–5600 BC: Examination and analysis of ancient pottery jars from the neolithic village of Jiahu in the Henan province of northern China revealed residue left behind by the alcoholic beverages they had once contained. According to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, chemical analysis of the residue confirmed that a fermented drink made of grape and hawthorn fruit wine, honey mead and rice beer was being produced in 7000–5600 BC (McGovern et al., 2005; McGovern 2009). The results of this analysis were published in December 2004. * 12th century: Distilled alcoholic beverages were first recorded in Europe in the mid-12th century. By the early 14th century, they had spread throughout the European continent.

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bb_2855

What is the US word for an automotive wheel nut or the brace used to loosen/tighten one?

A lug nut or wheel nut is a fastener, specifically a nut, used to secure a wheel on a vehicle. Typically, lug nuts are found on automobiles, trucks (lorries), and other large vehicles using rubber tires. Design A lug nut is a nut with one rounded or conical (tapered) end, used on steel and most aluminum wheels. A set of lug nuts are typically used to secure a wheel to threaded wheel studs and thereby to a vehicle's axles. Some designs (BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Saab, Volkswagen) use lug bolts instead of nuts, which screw into a tapped (threaded) hole in the wheel's hub or drum brake or disc. This configuration is commonly known as a bolted joint. The lug's taper is normally 60 degrees (although 45 is common for wheels designed for racing applications), and is designed to center the wheel accurately on the axle, and to reduce the tendency for the nut to loosen, due to fretting induced precession, as the car is driven. Honda uses a spherical rather than a tapered seat, but the nut performs the same function. Older style (non-ferrous) alloy wheels have a 1/2 to 1 inch cylindrical shank slipping into the wheel to center it and a washer that applies pressure to clamp the wheel to the axle. Wheel lug nuts may have different shapes. Aftermarket alloy and forged rims often require specific lug nuts to match their mounting holes, so it's often required to get a new set of lug nuts when the rims are changed. There are 4 common lug nut types: "Cone Seat", "Bulge Cone Seat", "Under Hub Cap", and "Spline Drive". Removal and installation Lug nuts may be removed using a lug, socket or impact wrench. If the wheel is to be removed then an automotive jack to raise the vehicle and some wheel chocks would be used as well. Wheels that have hubcaps or hub covers need these removed beforehand, typically with a screwdriver, flatbar, or prybar. Lug nuts can be difficult to remove, as they may become frozen to the wheel stud. In such cases a breaker bar or repeated blows from an impact wrench can be used to free them. Alternating between tightening and loosening can free especially stubborn lug nuts. Lug nuts must be installed in an alternating pattern, commonly referred to as a star pattern. This ensures a uniform distribution of load across the wheel mounting surface. When installing lug nuts, it is recommended to tighten them with a calibrated torque wrench. While a lug, socket or impact wrench may be used to tighten lug nuts the final tightening should be performed by a torque wrench, ensuring an accurate and adequate load is applied. Torque specifications vary by vehicle and wheel type. Both vehicle and wheel manufacturers provide recommended torque values which should be consulted when an installation is done. Failure to abide by the recommended torque value can result in damage to the wheel and brake rotor/drum. Additionally, under tightened lug nuts may come loose with time. Detecting loose nuts In order to allow early detection of loose lug nuts, some large vehicles are fitted with loose wheel nut indicators. The indicator spins with the nut, so that it can be detected with a visual inspection. Anti-theft nuts or bolts In countries where the theft of alloy wheels is a serious problem, locking nuts (or bolts, as applicable) are available - or already fitted by the vehicle manufacturer - which require a special adaptor ("key") between the nut and the wrench to fit and remove. The key is normally unique to each set of nuts. Only one locking nut per wheel is normally used, so they are sold in sets of four. Most designs can be defeated using a hardened removal tool which uses a left-hand self-cutting thread to grip the locking nut, although more advanced designs have a spinning outer ring to frustrate such techniques. History Some cars made prior to about 1960 used left-hand and right-hand screw thread for different sides of the vehicle to prevent loosening. It was later realized that the taper seat performed the same function. Modern vehicles use right-hand threads on all wheels.

A

bb_4224

The German company Recaro famously produces what high-performance product?

RECARO GmbH & Co. KG, commonly known as Recaro, is a German company based in Kirchheim unter Teck in the vicinity of Stuttgart, known for their automobile bucket seats. The company can produce OEM racing-style seats for mainstream manufacturers. RECARO GmbH & Co. KG is part of the Recaro Group. The Recaro Holding as parent company of the Recaro Group owns the Recaro brand and the independently operating companies of the Recaro Group: The RECARO Holding independent business divisions include; * RECARO Aircraft Seating GmbH & Co. * RECARO Child Safety GmbH & Co. KG. * RECARO Automotive Seating GmbH & Co. KG. History Founding and beginnings Founded in 1906 by Wilhelm Reutter as Reutter Carosserie-Werke, the company became known for building limousine bodies during the 1920s. In 1930 they started producing bodies for the Volkswagen Beetle, and in 1949 Porsche began engaging the company to build their Porsche 356 sports car bodies. Move from car bodies to racing seats Due to new manufacturing methods, the market for car bodies went downhill in the 1950s, and Reutter found itself on hard times. In 1963, Porsche acquired the car body factory. What remained was renamed to Recaro GmbH & Co, changing its focus to high-end seats. The company began producing both OEM seats for Porsche, and a separate line of aftermarket seats. In 1969, the Reutter family sold their ownership to three companies, Keiper, Huber & Wagner and Metzeler, due to economic problems. In 1983, Keiper purchased all shares in Recaro and established Keiper Recaro GmbH & Co in Kirchheim (Teck) near Esslingen am Neckar. Recaro today Recaro changed their name in 1990. In their home country of Germany, the name was to change to RECARO GmbH & Co. KG. Operations expanded as they established Recaro North America Inc at Oakland, Michigan, Recaro UK Ltd in Birmingham, Recaro South East Asia in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Recaro Japan Co Ltd in Kyoto, and Recaro France in La Rochelle. Meanwhile, Recaro seats could be seen in a variety of cars, ranging from the Aston Martin V03, the Audi S and RS models, the legendary Ford Escort RS Cosworth, to the New Beetle RSi. A side-airbag seat was added to the Recaro line. The company also manufactures wheelchairs, as well as seats for aircraft and airlines, automotive children seats, and for the Shinkansen train in Japan. Its seats are used in the VIP lounges and substitute box at European football stadiums. Recaro seats are also used in the Leopard 2 MBT. Recaro also manufactures seats for the dugouts of some of Europe's top football clubs including Manchester United, Reading, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Hércules, VfB Stuttgart, Benfica and West Ham United. The Dutch company Sun Marine Seats manufacture Recaro Maritime boat seats. In June 2011 Recaro sold the automotive seating division to the US automotive supplier Johnson Controls. The acquisition gives Johnson Controls, as licensee of the RECARO brand in the automotive industry, the exclusive unlimited right to market Recaro seats for cars and commercial vehicles. All other brand companies now belong to RECARO Group, Stuttgart, which is the brand owner and licensor of RECARO Automotive Seating. Airliner seats Recaro also manufactures seats for airliners; demand has grown, with output reaching 70,000 seats in 2010, so Recaro plans to increase capacity. In 2010, Recaro developed a slimline seat for airlines in conjunction with Lufthansa; Lufthansa have ordered 32000, and other airlines have ordered a further 6000. Other significant customers include Alitalia, Air France, KLM, United Airlines, American Airlines, Croatia Airlines, JetBlue Airways, AirTran Airways, Qantas and Air New Zealand. Recaro's primary competitors in the airline seating business include Acro Aircraft Seating, Zodiac Seats U.S., Zodiac Seats France, Aviointeriors, BE Aerospace, Expliseat, and Thompson Aero Seating. Cars with OEM-installed Recaro seats Below is a list of OEM-installed Recaro seats, available at the present and formerly:

A

bb_7225

A salpingectomy is the surgical removal of which part of the body?

Salpingectomy refers to the surgical removal of a Fallopian tube. It is often related to tubal pregnancies and is a procedure that is preferred over its ovarian tube-sparing counterparts due to the high rate of recurrence in said ectopic pregnancies. Salpingectomy is different from a salpingostomy and salpingotomy. The latter two terms are often used interchangeably and refer to creating an opening into the tube (e.g. to remove an ectopic pregnancy), but the tube itself is not removed. Technically, the creation of a new tubal opening (os) by surgery would be a salpingostomy, while the incision into the tube to remove an ectopic is a salpingotomy. Indications The procedure was performed by Lawson Tait in 1883 in patients with a bleeding ectopic pregnancy; this procedure has since saved the lives of countless women. Other indications for a salpingectomy include infected tubes, (as in a hydrosalpinx) or as part of the surgical procedure for tubal cancer. A bilateral salpingectomy will lead to sterility, and was used for that purpose, however less invasive procedures have become available as tubal occlusion procedures. Process Salpingectomy has traditionally been done via a laparotomy; more recently however, laparoscopic salpingectomies have become more common as part of minimally invasive surgery. The tube is severed at the point where it enters the uterus and along its mesenteric edge with hemostatic control. Salpingo-oophorectomy Salpingectomy is commonly done as part of a procedure called a salpingo-oophorectomy, where one or both ovaries, as well as one or both Fallopian tubes, are removed in one operation (a Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy (BSO) if both ovaries and Fallopian tubes are removed). If a BSO is combined with a hysterectomy, the procedure is commonly called a TAH-BSO: Total Abdominal Hysterectomy with a Bilateral Salpingo-Oophorectomy. Sexual intercourse remains possible after salpingectomy, surgical and radiological cancer treatments, and chemotherapy. Reconstructive surgery remains an option for women who have experienced benign and malignant conditions. History Salpingectomies were performed in the United States in the early 20th century in accordance with eugenics legislation. From Buck v. Bell (1927): The Virginia statute providing for the sexual sterilization of inmates of institutions supported by the State who shall be found to be afflicted with an hereditary form of insanity or imbecility, is within the power of the State under the Fourteenth Amendment.[http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0274_0200_ZS.html Buck v. Bell] Buck v. Bell while not expressly overturned, was implicitly overturned by Skinner v. Oklahoma (1942), in which the Court held that a person's choices whether to aid in the propagation of the human species was a cognizable fundamental right guaranteed under the 14th Amendment of the Constitution, a liberty retained by the people under the 9th Amendment of the Constitution.

B

qw_1719

Calvados apple brandy is traditionally produced in which country?

Calvados is an apple brandy from the Normandy region in France. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known Norman distillation was carried out by "Lord" de Gouberville in 1553, and the guild for cider distillation was created about 50 years later in 1606. In the 17th century, the traditional cider farms expanded, but taxation and prohibition of cider brandies were enforced elsewhere than Brittany, Maine, and Normandy. The area called "Calvados" was created after the French Revolution, but eau de vie de cidre was already called calvados in common usage. In the 19th century, output increased with industrial distillation and the working class fashion for café-calva. When a phylloxera outbreak in the last quarter of the 19th century devastated the vineyards of France and Europe, calvados experienced a "golden age". During World War I, cider brandy was requisitioned for use in armaments due to its alcohol content. The appellation contrôlée regulations officially gave calvados a protected name in 1942. After the war, many cider houses and distilleries were reconstructed, mainly in the Pays d'Auge. Many of the traditional farmhouse structures were replaced by modern agriculture with high output. The Calvados appellation system was revised in 1984 and 1996. Pommeau got its recognition in 1991; in 1997, an appellation for Domfront with 30% pears was created. Elsewhere Cider brandy is also made in the UK, and appears in records going back to 1678. Somerset cider brandy gained European protected geographical indication (PGI) status in 2011. Production Calvados is distilled from cider made from specially grown and selected apples, from over 200 named varieties. It is not uncommon for a calvados producer to use over 100 specific varieties of apples, which are either sweet (such as the 'Rouge Duret' variety), tart (such as the 'Rambault' variety), or bitter (such as the 'Mettais', 'Saint Martin', 'Frequin', and 'Binet Rouge' varieties), the latter being inedible. The fruit is harvested (either by hand or mechanically) and pressed into a juice that is fermented into a dry cider. It is then distilled into eau de vie. After two years of aging in oak casks, it can be sold as calvados. The longer it is aged, the smoother the drink becomes. Usually, the maturation goes on for several years. Double and single distillation The appellation of AOC (appellation d'origine contrôlée) for calvados authorizes double distillation for all calvados, but it is required for the calvados Pays d’Auge. * Double distillation is carried out in a traditional alembic pot still, called either l'alambic à repasse or charentais * Single continuous distillation in a column still The usual arguments for and against the two processes are that the former process gives the spirit complexity and renders it suitable for longer aging, whilst the latter process gives the calvados a fresh and clean apple flavour but with less complexity. In fact, a growing belief indicates a well-operated column still can produce as complex and "age-able" calvados as double distillation. Producing regions and legal definitions Like many French wines, calvados is governed by appellation contrôlée regulations. The three appellations for calvados are: * The AOC calvados area includes all of the Calvados, Manche, and Orne départements and parts of Eure, Mayenne, Sarthe, and Eure-et-Loir. ** AOC calvados makes up over 70% of the total production. ** A minimum of two years aging in oak barrels is required. ** The terroir, geographical area, is defined. ** The apples and pears are defined cider varieties. ** The procedures in production, such as pressing, fermentation, distillation, and ageing, is regulated. ** Usually, single-column distillation is used. * The more restrictive AOC calvados Pays d'Auge area is limited to the east end of the ' of Calvados and a few adjoining districts. ** Extensive quality control, the basic rules for AOC calvados together with several additional requirements, is practiced. ** Aging for a minimum of two years in oak barrels is required. ** Double distillation in an alembic pot-still is used. ** It must be produced within the designated area in Pays d'Auge. ** A minimum of six weeks of fermentation of the cider is required. ** Flavour elements are controlled. * AOC calvados Domfrontais reflects the long tradition of pear orchards in the area, resulting in a unique fruity calvados. The regulation is similar to the AOC calvados and the column still is used. ** A minimum of 30% pears from the designated areas is used. ** A three-year minimum of aging in oak barrels is required. ** The orchards must consist of at least 15% pear trees (25% from the 16th harvest). * Fermier calvados ("farm-made") — some quality-minded producers both inside and outside the Pays d’Auge make "fermier calvados", which indicates the calvados is entirely made on the farm in a traditional agricultural way according to high quality demands. Grades of quality The age on the bottle refers to the youngest constituent of the blend. A blend is often composed of old and young calvados. Producers can also use the terms below to refer to the age. * "Fine", Trois étoiles ***, and Trois pommes must be at least two years old. * Vieux or Réserve must be at least three years old. * "V.O." "VO", Vieille Réserve, "V.S.O.P.", or "VSOP" must be at least four years old. * "Extra", "X.O." "XO", "Napoléon", Hors d'Age, or Age Inconnu must be at least six years old, but are often sold much older. High-quality calvados usually has parts which are much older than that mentioned. Calvados can be made from a single (generally, exceptionally good) year. When this happens, the label often carries that year. Tasting Calvados is the basis of the tradition of le trou Normand, or "the Norman hole". This is a small drink of calvados taken between courses in a very long meal, sometimes with apple or pear sorbet, supposedly to reawaken the appetite. Calvados can be served as an apéritif, blended in drinks, between meals, as a digestif, or with coffee. Well-made calvados should naturally be reminiscent of apples and pears, balanced with flavours of aging. The less-aged calvados distinguishes itself with its fresh apple and pear aromas. The longer the calvados is aged, the more the taste resembles that of any other aged brandy. As calvados ages, it may become golden or darker brown with orange elements and red mahogany. The nose and palate are delicate with concentration of aged apples and dried apricots balanced with butterscotch, nut, and chocolate aromas. In the Canadian Forces Calvados is the regimental drink of The Royal Canadian Hussars, Le Régiment de Hull, and Le Régiment de Maisonneuve, having been taken up as the units passed through Normandy following the D-Day invasion. Known as le trou normand, it is normally taken between courses at a regimental dinner. ================================================== Brandy (from brandywine, derived from Dutch brandewijn, "gebrande wijn" "burned wine") is a spirit produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically taken as an after-dinner drink. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks, some are coloured with caramel colouring to imitate the effect of aging, and some brandies are produced using a combination of both aging and colouring. In broader sense, the term "brandy" also denotes liquors obtained from distillation of pomace (pomace brandy) or mash or wine of any other fruit (fruit brandy). These products are also named eaux-de-vie. Varieties of wine brandy can be found across the winemaking world. Among the most renowned are Cognac and Armagnac from Southwestern France. History The origins of brandy were clearly tied to the development of distillation. While the process was known in classical times, it wasn't used for significant beverage production until the 15th century. Initially wine was distilled as a preservation method and as a way to make it easier for merchants to transport. It is also thought that wine was originally distilled to lessen the tax which was assessed by volume. The intent was to add the water removed by distillation back to the brandy shortly before consumption. It was discovered that after having been stored in wooden casks, the resulting product had improved over the original distilled spirit. In addition to removing water, the distillation process led to the formation and decomposition of numerous aromatic compounds, fundamentally altering the composition of the distillate from its source. Non-volatile substances such as pigments, sugars, and salts remained behind in the still. As a result, the taste of the distillate was often quite unlike that of the original source. As described in the 1728 edition of Cyclopaedia, the following method was used to distill brandy: A cucurbit was filled half full of the liquor from which brandy was to be drawn and then raised with a little fire until about one sixth part was distilled, or until that which falls into the receiver was entirely flammable. This liquor, distilled only once, was called spirit of wine or brandy. Purified by another distillation (or several more), this was then called spirit of wine rectified. The second distillation was made in balneo mariae and in a glass cucurbit, and the liquor was distilled to about one half the quantity. This was further rectified—as long as the operator thought necessary—to produce brandy. To shorten these several distillations, which were long and troublesome, a chemical instrument was invented that reduced them to a single distillation. To test the purity of the rectified spirit of wine, a portion was ignited. If the entire contents were consumed by a fire without leaving any impurities behind, then the liquor was good. Another, better test involved putting a little gunpowder in the bottom of the spirit. If the gunpowder could ignite after the spirit was consumed by fire, then the liquor was good. As most brandies have been distilled from grapes, the regions of the world producing excellent brandies have roughly paralleled those areas producing grapes for viniculture. At the end of the 19th century, the western European markets, including by extension their overseas empires, were dominated by French and Spanish brandies and eastern Europe was dominated by brandies from the Black Sea region, including Bulgaria, the Crimea, and Georgia. In 1884, David Sarajishvili founded his brandy factory in Tbilisi, Georgia, a crossroads for Turkish, Central Asian, and Persian trade routes and a part of the Russian Empire at the time. Armenian and Georgian brandies, called cognacs in the era, were considered some of the best in the world and often beat their French competitors at the International Expositions in Paris and Brussels in the early 1900s. The storehouses of the Romanov Court in St. Petersburg were regarded as the largest collections of cognacs and wines in the world with much of it from the Transcaucasus region of Georgia. During the October Revolution of 1917, upon the storming of the Winter Palace, the Bolshevik Revolution actually paused for a week or so as the participants gorged on the substantial stores of cognac and wines. The Russian market was always a huge brandy-consuming region in which home-grown varieties were common but much of it was imported. The patterns of bottles followed that of the western European norm. Throughout the Soviet era, the production of brandy was a source of pride for the communist regime as they continued to produce some excellent varieties, especially the most famous Jubilee Brandies of 1967, 1977, and 1987. Remaining bottles of these productions are highly sought after, not simply for their quality, but for their historical significance. Technology Except for few major producers, brandy production and consumption tend to have a regional character and thus production methods significantly vary. Wine brandy is produced from a variety of grape cultivars. A special selection of cultivars, providing distinct aroma and character, is used for high-quality brandies, while cheaper ones are made from whichever wine is available. Brandy is made from so-called base wine, which significantly differs from regular table wines. It is made from early grapes in order to achieve higher acid concentration and lower sugar levels. Base wine generally contains smaller amount (up to 20 mg/l) of sulphur than regular wines, as it creates undesired copper(II) sulfate in reaction with copper in the pot stills. The yeast sediment produced during the fermentation may or may not be kept in the wine, depending on the brandy style. Brandy is distilled from the base wine in two phases. In the first, large part of water and solids is removed from the base, obtaining so-called "low wine", basically a concentrated wine with 28–30% ABV. In the second stage, low wine is distilled into brandy. The liquid exits the pot still in three phases, referred to as the "heads", "heart" and "tails" respectively. The first part, the "head," has an alcohol concentration of about 83% (166 US proof) and an unpleasant odour. The weak portion on the end, "tail", is discarded along with the head, and they are generally mixed with another batch of low wine, thereby entering the distillation cycle again. The middle heart fraction, richest in aromas and flavours, is preserved for later maturation. Distillation does not simply enhance the alcohol content of wine. The heat under which the product is distilled and the material of the still (usually copper) cause chemical reactions to take place during distillation. This leads to the formation of numerous new volatile aroma components, changes in relative amounts of aroma components in the wine, and the hydrolysis of components such as esters. Brandy is usually produced in pot stills (batch distillation), but the column still can also be used for continuous distillation. Distillate obtained in this manner has a higher alcohol concentration (approximately 90% ABV) and is less aromatic. Choice of the apparatus depends on the style of brandy produced. Cognac and South African brandy are examples of brandy produced in batches while many American brandies use fractional distillation in column stills. Aging After distillation, the unaged brandy is placed into oak barrels to mature. Usually, brandies with a natural golden or brown colour are aged in oak casks (single-barrel aging). Some brandies, particularly those from Spain, are aged using the solera system, where the producer changes the barrel each year. After a period of aging, which depends on the style, class and legal requirements, the mature brandy is mixed with distilled water to reduce alcohol concentration and bottled. Some brandies have caramel colour and sugar added to simulate the appearance of barrel aging. Consumption Serving Brandy is traditionally served at room temperature (neat) from a snifter, a wine glass or a tulip glass. When drunk at room temperature, it is often slightly warmed by holding the glass cupped in the palm or by gentle heating. Excessive heating of brandy may cause the alcohol vapour to become too strong, causing its aroma to become overpowering. Brandy drinkers who like their brandy warmed may ask for the glass to be heated before the brandy is poured. Brandy may be added to other beverages to make several popular cocktails; these include the Brandy Sour, the Brandy Alexander, the Sidecar, the Brandy Daisy, and the Brandy Old Fashioned. Culinary uses Brandy is a common deglazing liquid used in making pan sauces for steak and other meat. It is used to create a more intense flavour in some soups, notably onion soup. In English Christmas cooking, brandy is a common flavouring in traditional foods such as Christmas cake, brandy butter, and Christmas pudding. It is also commonly used in drinks such as mulled wine, drunk during the festive season. Brandy is used to flambé dishes such as crêpe Suzette and cherries jubilee while serving. Brandy is traditionally poured over Christmas pudding and set alight. The flames consume most of the alcohol but the pudding is left with a distinctive flavour. Terminology and legal definitions In the general colloquial usage of the term, brandy may also be made from pomace and from fermented fruit other than grapes. If a beverage comes from a particular fruit (or multiple fruits) other than exclusively grapes, or from the must of such fruit, it may be referred to as a "fruit brandy" or "fruit spirit" or named using the specific fruit, such as "peach brandy", rather than just generically as "brandy". If pomace is the raw material, the beverage may be called "pomace brandy", "marc brandy", "grape marc", "fruit marc spirit", or "grape marc spirit"; "marc" being the pulp residue after the juice has been pressed from the fruit. Grape pomace brandy may be designated as "grappa" or "grappa brandy". Apple brandy may be referred to as "applejack". There is also a product called "grain brandy" that is made from grain spirits. Within particular jurisdictions, there are specific regulatory requirements regarding the labelling of products identified as brandy. For example: * In the European Union, there are regulations that require products labelled as brandy, except "grain brandy", to be produced exclusively from the distillation or redistillation of grape-based wine or grape-based "wine fortified for distillation" and aged a minimum of six months in oak. Alcoholic beverages imported to the EU from the United States or other non-EU states can be sold within the European Union using labels that refer to them as "fruit brandy" or "pomace brandy", but such a label cannot be used in the EU for products produced in an EU-member state. * In the US, brandy that has been produced from other than grape wine must be labelled with a clarifying description of the type of brandy production such as "peach brandy", "fruit brandy", "dried fruit brandy", or "pomace brandy", and brandy that has not been aged in oak for at least two years must be labelled as "immature". * In Canada, the regulations regarding naming conventions for brandy are similar to those of the US (provisions B.02.050–061). The minimum specified aging period is six months in wood, although not necessarily oak (provision B.02.061.2). Caramel, fruit, other botanical substances, flavourings, and flavouring preparations may also be included in a product called brandy (provisions B.02.050–059). Within the European Union, the German term Weinbrand is legally equivalent to the English term "brandy", but outside the German-speaking countries it is particularly used to designate brandy from Austria and Germany. Varieties and brands * Most of American grape brandy production is situated in California. Popular brands include Christian Brothers, E&J Gallo and Korbel. * Armenian brandy has been produced since the 1880s and comes from the Ararat plain in the southern part of Armenia. Bottles on the market are aged anywhere from 3 to 20 years. * Armagnac is made from grapes of the Armagnac region in the southwest of France, Gers, Landes and Lot-et-Garonne. It is single-continuous distilled in a copper still and aged in oak casks from Gascony or Limousin or from the renowned Tronçais Forest in Auvergne. Armagnac was the first distilled spirit in France. Its usage was first mentioned in 1310 by Vital Du Four in a book of medicine recipes. Armagnacs have a specificity: they offer vintage qualities. Popular brands are Darroze, Baron de Sigognac, Larressingle, Delord, Laubade, Gélas and Janneau. * Cognac comes from the Cognac region of France, and is double distilled using pot stills. Popular brands include Hine, Martell, Camus, Otard, Rémy Martin, Hennessy, Frapin, Delamain and Courvoisier. * Cyprus brandy differs from other varieties in that its alcohol concentration is only 32% ABV (64 US proof). * Greek brandy is distilled from Muscat wine. Mature distillates are made from sun-dried Savatiano, Sultana and Black Corinth grape varieties blended with an aged Muscat wine. * Brandy de Jerez originates from vineyards around Jerez de la Frontera in Andalusia, Spain. It is used in some sherries and is also available as a separate product. It has a protected designation of origin (PDO). * Kanyak (or konyak) is a variety from Turkey whose name is a variation of "cognac" and also means "burn blood" in Turkish, a reference to its use in cold weather. * Pisco is a strong, colourless to amber-coloured brandy produced in specific regions of Chile and Peru. The name Pisco derives from the Peruvian port of the same name. Pisco is still made in Peru and Chile but the right to produce and market it is subject to disputes between both countries. * South African brandies are, by law, made almost exactly as Cognac, using a double distillation process in copper pot stills followed by aging in oak barrels for a minimum of three years. Because of this, South African brandies are a very high quality. * Italian Stravecchio has been produced since the 1700s in the North of Italy, especially in Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, using grapes popular in winemaking such as Sangiovese and Grignolino. Colour, texture and finish are most resembling those of their French and Spanish counterparts. Most popular brands are Vecchia Romagna, Stravecchio Branca and Stock 84. Northern Italy is also noted since the Middle Ages for another type of wine spirit, Grappa, which is generally colourless but has some top-shelf varieties called barrique which are aged in oak casks and achieve the same caramel colour as regular brandies. There is a vast production of Stravecchios and Grappas in Italy, with more than 600 large, medium or small distilleries in operation. Ticino is also allowed to produce pomace brandy under the name of Grappa. The European Union and some other countries legally enforce the use of "Cognac" as the exclusive name for brandy produced and distilled in the Cognac area of France, and the name "Armagnac" for brandy from the Gascony area of France. Both must also be made using traditional techniques. Since these are considered "protected designation of origin", a brandy made elsewhere may not be called Cognac in these jurisdictions, even if it were made in an identical manner. Labelling of grades Brandy has a traditional age grading system, although its use is unregulated outside of Cognac and Armagnac. These indicators can usually be found on the label near the brand name: * V.S. ("very special") or ✯✯✯ (three stars) designates a blend in which the youngest brandy has been stored for at least two years in a cask. * V.S.O.P. ("very superior old pale"), Reserve or ✯✯✯✯✯ (five stars) designates a blend in which the youngest brandy is stored for at least four years in a cask. * XO ("extra old") or Napoléon designates a blend in which the youngest brandy is stored for at least six years. * Hors d'âge ("beyond age") is a designation which is formally equal to XO for Cognac, but for Armagnac designates brandy that is at least ten years old. In practice the term is used by producers to market a high-quality product beyond the official age scale. In the case of Brandy de Jerez, the Consejo Regulador de la Denominacion Brandy de Jerez classifies it according to: * Brandy de Jerez Solera: one year old. * Brandy de Jerez Solera Reserva: three years old. * Brandy de Jerez Solera Gran Reserva: ten years old.

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